Speaking of shopping… When visiting Sicily, please patronize stores and restaurants that display the sign (pictured), Addiopizzo. When you do, you are supporting a business owner who refuses to pay “protection money” (i.e., extortion money) to organized crime. When you support such businesses, you are expressing an anti-mafia position and helping dis-empower criminal organizations that have crippled Sicily for centuries.
Here is an explanation of Addiopizzo, summarized from their website:
“Addiopizzo is an open, fluid, and dynamic movement, that through its members and followers, acts as a ‘cultural revolution’ against the Mafia. It is made up of women and men, boys and girls, merchants and consumers who identify with the phrase, ‘A nation which pays protection money is a nation without dignity.’ ”
Addiopizzo is a nonpartisan, voluntary association that focuses on a single-issue: critical consumption.”