19 Comments
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Brenda Cullen's avatar

Just beautiful. Thank you.

Mary Anglin's avatar

An inspiring and beautifully written essay. I’d like to know more about Ada Gobetti, particularly how she sustained her principles and pragmatically survived over the two decades (or more) of anti-fascist activism.

Sandra Steffen's avatar

I want to read her diary.

Lyra's avatar

ā€œa bond of solidarity, founded not on a community of blood, country, or intellectual tradition, but on a simple human relationship, the feeling of being at one with many.ā€ This is what I saw in Minneapolis. I thank those who realized the pragmatic tactics that truly made sense. Thank you for writing about Ada Gobetti.

Lyra's avatar

I hope to take part tomorrow at 9:30.

Laura Liberman's avatar

Thank you, Ruth, for this beautiful post. It’s so important to celebrate our heroes. And today we have another hero to celebrate- Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Anthropic has safeguards that prevent their AI tool (Claude) from being used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. Pete Hegseth pressured Anthropic to remove those safeguards, but Dario Amodei declined (go to www.anthropic.com and scroll down to ā€œlatest releasesā€ to read his inspiring statement). Let’s thank him & share widely so other corporate leaders know that we the people celebrate those who stand up.

Isabella Bannerman's avatar

I came across the life of Ada Gobetti while researching around some of my mom's stories from that period. She kept detailed diaries of her maneuvers and compatriots, of exactly where they walked, and how they survived. Her level headed nature is still an inspiration.

Rick Kominick's avatar

Isabella it’s so incredible how these women survived and told their stories

Pamela Tanton's avatar

Thank you for this piece! I feel there are many Adas among us now, inspiring more and more of us to persevere.

Sandra Steffen's avatar

What a beautiful essay. I learned so much. Thank you for all you do . ā¤ļø

Rick Kominick's avatar

It’s so inspiring Ruth I hope others will help us in our terrible era of politics as well

The issues are so important and terrifying

Charles Rossi's avatar

Brava, Ana e brava, Ruth.

Charles Rossi's avatar

Mi dispiace. Ada non Ana.

Taren Johnston's avatar

Grateful to read this essay about a female inspiration.

Ada's avatar

Thank you Professor Ruth, for your tribute to this truly heroic activist, Ada Gobetti. What courage it must have taken to continue her resistance in innovative ways to operate under the radar of Mussolini’s repression. Sharing her name, Ada’s story serves to encourage me, while standing alone with my flag and RESIST sign on a ruby red street corner in town.

Kim Sherwood's avatar

Great essay, Ruth. Thank you for shining light on this very inspirational woman. Her perspective on solidarity seems as relevant today as it was back in her time.

Victoria Brown's avatar

Beautiful essay of a brave woman. Thank you Professor Ben-Ghiat.

Steve Rasmussen's avatar

Excellent essay!

Her resistance made me think of our CIA activity in Italy after WWII, where they tried to resurrect fascism in Italy. What a misguided pursuit!

Sdaub's avatar

Thank you for this inspiring portrait. I was also struck by her observation regarding the most profound contribution of the resistance. I have felt for some time that this is the good side of the horrible situations we are living through now. Your last paragraph also rings very true but, for the situations we are most concerned about, coming forward to model the values one wants to see in the world often involves the risk of losing one’s own life.