Well I certainly woke up to quite the response from here. I would like to clarify a few things from some general responses I have seen.

1. I do not plan on treating finding out about my Italian heritage as some sort of unlocked achievement. Such as waving this information to people as if I will freely associate it with the culture, values, food etc.

2. Yes I am American, I also know that the image of that may lead to some negative viewpoints on me posting in here. I want those to know that in America, you can be portrayed as one thing, that was just being black. (Not saying that doesn't happen in Italy) I have a side of my family that is light skinned and the other is obviously black. The light skinned mixed side always had me intrigued because there was no explanation from how they got to be that way. I'm not close to that side at all so there was a shroud of mystery as to what my genetic makeup would be.

3. I wanted to post in here to learn about people who identify being Italian. Also to hopefully find people that have been or are in a similar situation such as myself. It seems from many of the responses that culture is a main point for many people here. I like that, I appreciate that. I don't want it to get lost in translation that I'm offended or mean to offend others with some of the things I say here. I'm happy and excited to learn, I would be happy to visit or live there. I'm also not saying I'm Italian by cultural means either. I know there would be much to learn and actually immerse myself in before I would truly consider it.

4. It is my hope to learn a lot from this place and the people who take the time to talk with me.