After An Educator's Journey

Trapani is a beautiful seaside municipality on Sicily’s western coast. It borders the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the waters are an incredibly beautiful turquoise. On this leg of our tour as we were based in Trapani, we explored the wind-swept island of Mozia and the salt pans of Sicily, and we enjoyed a wonderful cooking demo of traditional foods of the area. 

While explorations of Trapani and nearby areas were very interesting, the most impressive, thought-provoking experience came from a serendipitous encounter. We happened to be in Trapani when an annual Sicily-wide anti-Mafia rally was scheduled.

The stereotypical impression of Sicily is that it is overrun by Mafiosi; our culture romanticizes that somewhat. But the truth of Sicily today is more nuanced. The rise in power of the Mafia through Sicily was, of course, due to very many complicated reasons, and those reasons included the area’s pervasive poverty. With the code of silence, the omertà, la cosa nostra flourished, gaining control over the lives of those living on the island. However, in visiting the Sicily of today, that influence seems far less; the stereotype of indiscriminate violence is no longer true. Of course the Mafia has not entirely been wiped from society, but its hold on everyday Sicilian life is very diminished. 

Historically, following the assassination of two judges, Giuseppe Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, there was a general pushback on Mafia. This was a turning point for the Sicily of today. Through anti-Mafia protests there is a greater inclination to remember the bravery it took to oppose the Mafia through public protests and rallies. This is what I witnessed on a sunny March 21 in Trapani; young people gathering to commemorate Anti-Mafia Day.

Each March 21, La Giornata della Memoria, or the day of Memory, is marked by rallies and reading of the names of those victimized when the Mafia was being rejected by citizens. On this past March 21st, we happened to be in Trapani preparing for a day trip to Mozia. But because in 2025, Trapani was named the location for school groups around the Island to convene an anti-Mafia rally and parade, we needed to adjust the timing of our journey out of Trapani.

Even in the short time our paths crossed with the school groups convening in Trapani, we were able to witness pressing crowds of school youth enthusiastically holding anti-Mafia signs and flags, converging on Trapani’s city center. Our group of American tourists, walking in the opposite direction, felt like fish swimming upstream against a tide. While fully comprehending that a tour group from the US would not have been especially welcome to participate, I had a bit of regret that I was not there to witness the rally and the enthusiasm of the participants.  

Here, back in the US, it sometimes appears to me that we have our very own version of the Mafia installed in Washington. Some segments of our government are inclined to tailor action so as to avoid confrontation with a chief executive who, to me, has the same hold over some as a Mafia Don. In place of performing the work of legislating, the majority in Congress seem willing to abdicate their responsibilities for ensuring that government is funded according to the will of the people and that rules are fair and enforceable according to the Constitution. Our traditional system of checks and balances may have run off the rails.  

Travel is a political act. And sometimes the politics of travel comes out in subtle ways.

Perhaps a reckoning is coming. but perhaps it is not. The experience of this traveler in Trapani is that sometimes, when things seem hopeless, the course of history can be changed. When that change happens – if it does – we the people will need our own day of remembrance.