Chicago should not continue to publicly honor Italo Balbo, a leading official of Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime.

Balbo was not simply an aviator. He was a Blackshirt leader, a central figure in the rise of Italian Fascism, and later a colonial governor in Libya under a regime responsible for repression, racial violence, and authoritarian rule.
The monument near Soldier Field was not placed there as a neutral piece of history. It was a political gift from Mussolini’s government in 1933, given during the Century of Progress World’s Fair as propaganda for Fascist Italy.

This campaign is not about erasing history. It is about telling the truth.

The ancient Roman column should be preserved, but it should not remain in public space as an honor to a Fascist official.
It belongs in a museum or educational setting where its full history can be explained honestly:

the 1933 propaganda flight, Mussolini’s use of spectacle, Balbo’s role in the Fascist regime, and the harm caused by the dictatorship he served.

We are calling on the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District to:

1. Remove the Balbo Column from public honor and relocate it to a museum or educational context.
2. Rename Balbo Drive.
3. Begin a public process to replace this Fascist honor with a memorial dedicated to people and communities who resisted dictatorship, racism, colonialism, and authoritarian violence. Chicago’s public spaces should reflect truth, dignity, and democratic memory.

They should not continue to honor a man who helped build and represent a Fascist regime.

Italian American history is not Fascist history.

It includes workers, immigrants, radicals, Catholics of conscience, artists, teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, families, and ordinary people who contributed to Chicago without serving Mussolini’s dictatorship.

The Balbo Monument does not belong in Chicago’s civic landscape as a place of honor.
It should be removed from public honor, preserved responsibly, and replaced with something that reflects the values of the city today.

Sign and share to support removing this Fascist honor from public space. Click here to fill out the  Google Form as well.

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