Yes, we still need to talk about our friend and activist Giorgio. He left us on Sunday 23 June!
But he will always be PRESENT!
Giorgio, from a family originally from Sardinia, started working at the age of 14. His school of life and struggle was the Belgian YCW, where he was an activist and national leader in the 1970s and 80s, and the European YCW, where he was leader from 1987 to 1991, as part of the International Team of the IYCW.
Married to Joaninha, former president of the Portuguese YCW, they are the parents of a son Vasco and a daughter Inès.
Giorgio, who became a Portuguese citizen, was an activist and leader in the CGTP trade union.
Giorgio and Joaninha also founded and ran a reception and social and professional integration centre for migrants from former Portuguese colonies on the outskirts of Lisbon.
Giorgio and Joaninha have always maintained contact with the current and former leaders of the Portuguese YCW.
In recent years, Giorgio has shown great interest in the IYCW's project to activate former YCW members in order to support the (re)development of the IYCW: he actively participated in the 2019 European Colloquium in Herzogenrath, Germany, which brought together the leaders of the European YCW and around twenty former members who were open to supporting the (re)development of the IYCW in Europe. But illness forced him to withdraw his offer of service.
Giorgio is a shining witness to this process of emancipation and promotion of the person (a young worker is worth more than all the gold in the world!) against the grain of what the dominant system is trying to impose.
He is a shining witness to this process, which awakens a clear awareness of the mechanisms of alienation and oppression (See-Judge-Act), avoiding all paternalism and manipulation ("among them, by them, for them!"). It encourages liberating friendship, solidarity and collective action (all together, all together!).
He articulates the struggle from the local to the international level, and warmly celebrates all the small and big victories of the day.
Giorgio is a luminous, moving and warm witness to this process! He has been a "landmark" for many, a beacon that shows the way that is "right", "true" and that inspires and reassures the activist!
Throughout his life and during the ordeal of his illness, he always showed an astonishing dynamism and a joy in living and fighting!
He will continue to inspire us!
Thank you GIO!
Our best wishes to Joaninha, her children and her friends!
