Trin or shtor beshes pauli kennā yeck o’ the Petulengros dicked a boro mullo baulor adrée a bitti drum. An’ sig as he latched it, some Rommany chals welled alay an’ dicked this here Rommany chal. So Petulengro he shelled avree, “A fino baulor! saw tulloben! jāl an the sala an’ you shall have pāsh.” And they welled apopli adrée the sāla and lelled pāsh sār tacho. And ever sense dovo divvus it’s a rākkerben o’ the Rommany chals, “Sār tulloben; jāl an the sāla an’ tute shall lel your pash.
GUDLO XL. EXPLAINING THE ORIGIN OF A CURRENT GIPSY PROVERB OR SAYING.
Translation: “Three or four years ago one of the Smiths found a great dead pig in a lane. And just as he found it, some Gipsies came by and saw this Rommany. So Smith bawled out to them, “A fine pig! all fat! come in the morning and you shall have half.” And they returned in the morning and got half, all right. And ever since it has been a saying with the Gipsies, “It’s all fat; come in the morning and get your half.”
Leland, Charles Godfrey. The English Gipsies and Their Language. New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1873. Print.
London memorial service for 500,000 Roma victims of Holocaust [Ekklesia] →
A commemoration service will take place at the Hyde Park Holocaust Memorial in London, at 12 noon on 3 August for the 500,000 Roma who died as victims of the Nazi genocide during the Second World War.
Those attending will wear replicas of the badges worn by death-camp inmates, yellow stars and white triangles embossed with ‘Z’ for Zigeuner. White and yellow flowers will be laid, a black-edged flag lowered and a minute’s silence observed, followed by the singing of the Romani national anthem, which includes the line “The Black Legion murdered them.”
This commemoration is linked with the observance beside the Holocaust Memorial stone in front of the Palais de l’Europe, Council of Europe, which is held by the European Roma and Travellers Forum.
On the night of 2/3 August 1944, the SS carried out the final liquidation of what was known as the Zigeunerlager at the Auschwitz death-camp. Witnesses say the last 3000 inmates, mostly women, children and old men, fought back with their bare hands as they were forced into the lorries taking them to the gas-chambers.
In a statement the Roma said: “We are concerned that today we ‘Gypsies’ are again being made scapegoats, often in the media. We are seeing all over Europe the re-emergence of anti-Roma racism and violence on a growing scale. Witness the acts of wanton home-destruction, forced move-ons, evictions and deportations, vigilante attacks and arson, and racially motivated murders.
“Therefore in remembering the Holocaust, we urge all to help combat racism and halt the downward spiral that could in another dark epoch result in a second genocide.”
History of Cardiff’s Gypsy and traveller communities explored in new exhibition →
A new exhibition looking at the history of Gypsy and traveller communities in Cardiff will open at the Cardiff Story museum on Friday.
“Pots n Pans: A Cardiff Gypsy and Traveller Way of Life” has been organised by The Romani Cultural and Arts Company to explore the traditions of Gypsies and travellers in the city.
There will be photographs, objects and stories about what it was like growing up on the city’s Shirenewton and Rover Way Gypsy sites now and in the past, and details about travellers’ traditions such as cooking and food, and why china always takes pride of place in trailers and modern day wagons.
Pots and jugs made by children aged five to 14-years-old at the Shirenewton Gypsy site’s home club will also go on display at the exhibition, and it is hoped some of the children will come along to see the launch on Friday.
All the artefacts will be displayed in the Cardiff Story’s city showcase exhibition space.
Lillie Bramley, from The Romani and Cultural Arts Company, said: “We’ll be looking at the heritage of Gypsy travellers. It’s about breaking down the stereotypes and celebrating the Gypsy culture.”
The “Pots n Pans” exhibition will run from Friday until August 28.
From June 16-30 there will be a second exhibition at the Cardiff Story museum by international Romany artist Delaine Le Bas, and both exhibitions coincide with Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month.
This will include a national symposium at Cardiff’s City Hall on June 22.
Czech and Slovak Roma students leaving special schools behind →
Roma students who migrated with their parents to the United Kingdom from the Czech Republic and Slovakia have fared relatively well in mainstream British schools despite having been placed in special-needs schools in their home countries, according to new research by the Roma Education Fund and Equality, a minority-rights organization.
Eighty-one percent of the students in the study had been placed back home in special or de facto segregated schools. But after coming to the UK and studying in non-segregated and mainstream schools, the Roma students performed at just below average in comparison with their non-Roma British counterparts. Eighty-nine percent spoke fluent or almost-fluent English, and only 2 to 4 percent actually required special-needs education. Most reported having experienced bullying or discrimination in schools in their home countries, while students in seven of the eight locations studied in the UK said they had not experienced racism in their new schools.
The researchers say that the comparative success of the Roma students in the UK shows that they need not have been placed in special schools in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. They called on the Czech government to implement measures from a landmark 2007 European Court of Human Rights decision to end discrimination against Roma children in the education system.
(source: Transitions Online)
Dale Farm United in Face of Racism →
News Line
30/11/2011 – DESPITE conditions at Dale Farm being harsh now, following Basildon Council’s brutal multi-million pound attempted eviction, the community is defiant, united, cheerful and determined to stay together. There are now more caravans on the estate than before
the attack.
Hundreds of riot police, bailiffs and contractors with heavy digging equipment moved in on 19 October throwing families and their caravans off the site and leaving a trail of destruction.
In order to make living conditions on the estate as intolerable as possible, the council dug huge trenches where many of the caravans used to be situated on 52 separate private
yards.
Now there is mud everywhere and residents are very fearful for the safety of their children when the trenches fill up with water.
‘Richard Sheridan, Chairman of Dale Farm Residents Association, speaking at News Line Anniversary Rally in East London on 27 November said: “The police led the eviction and it was a very brutal eviction such as I have not seen in my lifetime.
“This government has to be changed. It’s appalling what they have done, especially
the Home Office, depriving people of education and disrupting lives.
“We’re up against a racist policy from a council which is spending millions on ethnic cleansing.”
He said: ‘They are getting rid of 429 jobs in Basildon Council because they say they have to cut their budgets, but they’ve spent millions trying to get rid of us.
Back at Dale Farm John Sheridan told News Line: ‘There are young kids here with no facilities. We all had toilets, running water, electric, but it’s all been cut off. It’s a human disgrace.
‘Human beings, old and sick people, are being treated like rats.
‘The reason there are more caravans here than before is that people have come home.’
Brian O’Shea said: ‘Hitler’s been dead since 1945 and genocide is over. But if you look up there you’ll see it’s like Beirut, or Iraq. It’s madness.
Margaret Flynn said: ‘There’s mud everywhere and the site has been left in such a dangerous position for children and adults.
‘Tony Ball (Tory Basildon Council Leader) has ruined people’s lives.
‘He’s dug huge swimming pools next to the five legal pitches, blocking the roads into them.’
Mary Slattery said: ‘We were so happy and united here, but they paid £22 million to move us out of our lovely homes.
‘The country is moving into recession, they’re closing hospitals and look at all the people unemployed. Then look at all the money that they have spent trying throw us out of our homes. But we’re still here and we’re staying, because we’ve got nowhere else to go.
‘You’d think they could have left us alone in our homes, where we’ve never harmed anyone.
‘I put it all down to racism, 100%.
‘I’ve heard the council say it over and over, let them go back to Ireland.
‘And I’ve heard the prime minister David Cameron say it on live TV – get them out at all costs.He also said why can’t the Irish government deal with them.But the big majority here are all born English, it’s just a few of the elderly here that are Irish.
‘Again today a 14-year-old fell on the pathway there and they’ve taken her to the hospital.
‘We don’t know if her leg is broken or not.’
Nora Egan said: ‘We need to get this government out now, they are only there for the rich and what they’ve done to us here is criminal.’
Bridget O’Brien said: ‘Why is Cameron left in government? He’s putting so many families in poverty, he’s ruining the NHS and putting so many people out of work.
‘His is a government for the rich and against the poor and he needs to be put out at once.
‘I support what the people are doing down at St Paul’s, they are fighting the government and people should back them.How come there are people in parliament with seven or eight homes and yet they want to make us homeless.
‘We had lovely homes here, a proper community with lovely homes.But Basildon Council and Tony Ball have destroyed our homes and destroyed our lives. Now we’ve got no electricity.
‘We have water but it’s giving us dysentry and the children are choking. About four people have fallen because of what has happened and broken their legs.It’s cruel what they have done to us. It’s cruel having to live like this.”
(source: Roma Buzz Monitor)
Eliva and Me is about one woman’s two lives. Her family in Romania call her Elvira but in England she is known by the name on her passport, Ramona. It is a collaboration, with photography by Ciara Leeming and words by Ramona Constantin.
Elvira hai Me si vorba a dac îc ciuvli tàrni chai càlàtoril dai România andâi Anglia hai parpale dinou. I colabularea hai i poze catai Ciara Leeming hai âl vorbe le Ramona Constantin.
Elvira și Eu este despre o femeie tânără care trăiește două vieți. Familia în Romania o strigă Elvira, dar în Anglia este cunoscută după numele ei din pașa port, Ramona. Este o colaborare, cu fotografii de Ciara Leeming și scrisă de Ramona Constantin.
Ciara Leeming is a wonderful photographer with a wonderful project and I recommend everyone to please check out her gallery. She has a book-preview of Elvira and Me available, and nobody should miss the chance to see it.
oh gosh, this is so amazing. It really tells what it’s like for Rroma in England. I knew so many who sold the Big Issue, and it’s such a great help to them. Most people think only homeless people sell it, but that’s not true.
I want to buy her book so bad.
^ A video of Elvira/Ramona talking about her life.
If you haven’t gone to look, go look! Reblogging for video :)
Elvira and Me →
Eliva and Me is about one woman’s two lives. Her family in Romania call her Elvira but in England she is known by the name on her passport, Ramona. It is a collaboration, with photography by Ciara Leeming and words by Ramona Constantin.
Elvira hai Me si vorba a dac îc ciuvli tàrni chai càlàtoril dai România andâi Anglia hai parpale dinou. I colabularea hai i poze catai Ciara Leeming hai âl vorbe le Ramona Constantin.
Elvira și Eu este despre o femeie tânără care trăiește două vieți. Familia în Romania o strigă Elvira, dar în Anglia este cunoscută după numele ei din pașa port, Ramona. Este o colaborare, cu fotografii de Ciara Leeming și scrisă de Ramona Constantin.
Ciara Leeming is a wonderful photographer with a wonderful project and I recommend everyone to please check out her gallery. She has a book-preview of Elvira and Me available, and nobody should miss the chance to see it.
Poet fighting battle to end stereotypes →
AN INTERNATIONALLY-acclaimed poet is pledging to break down the stereotypes of the underprivileged Roma children in Chalvey by teaching them the ancient art of taekwondo.
Lennox Carty, 52, from Slough, made his name with his ‘dub poetry’ that confronts issues such as slavery, war and racism. He has also worked with the BBC to write a poem for The Queen’s 80th birthday.
But Lennox, British taekwondo champion through the 80s and 90s, is using the power of his other passion to break down barriers in Slough and inspire children from the most deprived communities.
He said: “This has given me a new lease of life. It’s not just about taekwondo - there’s a lot more to it.
“It is about looking after your body and staying away from drugs and partying - it is a serious discipline.
“I’m now able to talk to the kids about behaviour and discipline and how to show respect. I know how to connect with young people and how to engage them.”
He started the six-month programme at the YMCA Hangout, in Ladbrooke Road, five weeks ago - engaging the 20 plus youngsters, mostly from the Roma community, that come along every week through the teachings of the ancient art.
He added: “I feel because I have already got the respect of the group we can start to look at community and behaviour issues.
“I want to turn this group around and make the community think not all Roma kids are out on the streets begging.”
Lennox currently works as a freelance poet and organises and runs creative writing workshops in universities and schools, across the country, teaching youngsters to express their feelings and issues through poetry. His free taekwondo classes are open to any youngsters and run from 6-7.30pm on Wednesday nights.
(source: Slough & South Bucks Observer)
Romani Cultural & Arts Company » Remembering the past, Recording the present →
More than 20 families from Cardiff’s Gypsy and Traveller community will get the opportunity to share their history, culture and traditions thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Despite having been part of British society for over 500 years, members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community are often thought of negatively. This new project which involves residents from the Rover Way and Shirenewton sites, will share their experiences of their lives in Cardiff and their nomadic way of life.
The project, which will be managed by the Romany Cultural & Arts Company in Cardiff, will recruit volunteers and train them in recording oral histories, create a new exhibition which will tour venues throughout Cardiff and produce learning and interpretation material which will help people to have a better understanding of the heritage of the cities’ Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community.
Isaac Blake, Director of the Romany Cultural and Arts Company said, “Many people have documented the heritage and culture of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community, but much of that has been documented by people outside of our community. This project will create an opportunity for Cardiff’s Gypsy and Traveller community to lead the project itself and be sure that it becomes a true representation of its culture and values.”
After the mechanisation of traditional rural work, the lives of people from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community changed dramatically and many people moved to towns and cities.
In addition to the financial support from HLF, the project will also be given practical help and support from St Fagans: National History Museum; The Cardiff Story; Cardiff Council’s Traveller Education Service and The Black Voluntary Sector Network Wales.
Beth Thomas, Keeper of Social and Cultural History at St Fagans: National History Musuem Beth Thomas said “The Museum is glad to support this project and provide an archival home for the material collected. The role of Welsh Gypsies in preserving aspects of Wales’ traditional music and dance has been well documented by others. This is a very timely opportunity for the travelling community to tell their own stories, present a fuller picture of their culture and way of life, and preserve that knowledge for future generations”.
Supporting the HLF grant award, Equalities Minister Jane Hutt, who recently launched ‘Travelling to a better future’ a Gypsy and Traveller Framework for Action said:
“Wales as a nation has always prided itself as a diverse society with a rich mix of cultures and traditions. Gypsy and Traveller culture and heritage forms a part of this diversity. Thanks to this project more people will be able to learn about that heritage directly from the Gypsy and Traveller community that plays such an important part of everyday life in Cardiff.”
Jennifer Stewart, Head of the HLF in Wales added, “The lives of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities have changed significantly in the past 50 years. This project not only offers the opportunity to record this history before it is lost, it offers exciting opportunities for people to get to know more about the history of the community in Cardiff”.
(source: Romani Cultural & Arts Company)
Coming out from under the camouflage net →
Mark Penfold
Three years ago our school in England had no Roma pupils on roll yet in fact it did! Roma heritage pupils had joined our school without telling us they were ROMA. We now know the Roma are a people without a country but with a culture, a proud people with talent but bitter experience of discrimination and unjust treatment in schools in their country of origin. They are a people with a proud oral tradition but a language which only had a written form recently.
We now know these children were instructed to tell nobody they were Roma for fear of the discrimination starting again. I know one pupil who spent 4 years at a neighbouring school and never told anyone he was Roma.
We sought advice from Slovak speakers. Then we discovered why they were told to keep quiet. “They are not real Slovaks”, we were told. “They are Gypsies. Some are dirty Gypsies and some are clean Gypsies.“ “The first thing you need to know about working with Roma is that 75% have special needs.”
Then later I sought advice from Roma adults. “I was one of the few Roma to go to normal school. In my class if the white children were naughty their punishment was to spend the day sitting next to me, the dirty Gypsy.”
Now we knew why it seemed so hard to engage the pupils and their families. Now we knew why they travel under a camouflage net of their own construction. They hated white Slovak nationals for the way they had treated them but to avoid a repeat here they took sanctuary in the identity given them by their Slovak and Czech passports. That was their shield against us treating them in the same way.
We have worked hard as a school and now the rewards are coming. These pupils now say publicly “We are Roma and proud to be Roma.” The Roma flag is seen around school. A Roma enrichment day has added to their confidence. Last year at the first parents evening 52 out of 52 Roma pupils had an adult attend to discuss their report. Roma pupils have performed music and dance which has had an audience of 168 pupils on their feet cheering. Three Roma pupils left this summer with 5A*-C. One year-10 Roma girl has three GCSEs now, including maths at grade B. Teachers from our school have been invited to a Roma wedding.
You want advice? Yes Roma pupils may present themselves with prior learning which is not what you would hope for. They may have literacy skills below age related expectations but that is not their fault. They do have aspirations and ability which need nurturing. The Roma community has enriched my school and enriched me as a teacher.
Equality and the Roma Education Fund’s report, ‘From Segregation to Inclusion: Roma pupils in the United Kingdom’ is available to download and read.
(source: Equality.co.uk)
A Gypsy Life for Me →
If you hated Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, watch this response from the Gypsy and Traveller community starting next week for the next 8 weeks on TV…
A Gypsy Life for me
Whether they are avoiding eviction in Celebrity Big Brother or being ejected from Dale Farm, Gypsies and Travellers continue to fascinate the British media.
In a brand new series BIO.™ goes beyond the headlines to meet key figures in the travelling community to understand the colourful and often controversial Gypsy world. Commissioned exclusively for BIO comes a brand new look at real people who live extraordinary lives in A GYPSY LIFE FOR ME.
The series takes us across the UK to get an understanding of Travellers’ culture by going to locations such as Dale Farm, The Epsom Derby, the Lee Gap Horse Fair in Yorkshire and a festival Evangelical for born-again Christian Gypsies hosted by the Light and Life Gypsy Evangelical Church in Essex.
Following news stories and stereotyping, accused by some of the Gypsy community as being biased and exploitative, Jake Bowers, a Romany Gypsy journalist for The Travellers’ Times and Tracy Nedic who are both co-promoters of “Traveller’s Got Talent” are on a mission to improve the portrayal of the Gypsy people in the British media.
The pair intends to improve the Gypsy image by showcasing the history, culture, and most importantly the talents of the Traveller’s community through a national talent competition.
We follow Jake and Tracy as they plan the contest with their select team of gifted judges through the tears, tantrums and tiaras as they whittle down the cream of the travelling community from the length and breadth of the British Isles in their search for the next Gypsy star.
Tracy Nedic says: “This is the third year for this competition and it has continued to grow year on year to become a big success. By showcasing the talent of my people we are able to offer an insight into our lives, our culture and heritage to the rest of the world.”
Jake Bowers, promoter of “Travellers Got Talent” says: “The Gypsy and Traveller community is considered to be guilty of many things but capable of nothing, so this series will bypass the crude stereotypes and reveal a nation that has survived for over a thousand years. By throwing open the doors on the Gypsy and Travellers’ own annual talent contest we will be revealing the tales and talents of those determined to follow in the footsteps of other famous performers with Gypsy heritage such as Charlie Chaplin, Cher Lloyd and the Gypsy Kings.”
There will be singing, dancing, fashion statements and surprising performances along the way with the colourful members of the Gypsy world before the national road-show reaches its climax in the London final.
With access to Jake’s hunt for stories to fill his newspaper, we also explore Travellers’ rights and Travellers’ wrongs, lifestyles and evictions as well as learning about Gypsy history and culture.
Starts on Bio (Sky 156 & Virgin 242) on 15 November at 9pm.
http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/shows/a-gypsy-life-for-me.html
(source: Roma Daily News)
Irish travellers ethnic status →
irish travellers have already been recognised as an ethnic minority in england and in northern ireland because they fit all of the criteria of what it is to be an ethnic group and they are a minority, yet the irish government still refuses to grant ethnic status
- ethnic status must be granted if travellers are to achieve full rights within irish society
“GIPSIES OF THE NEW FOREST & OTHER TALES” First Published In 1909.BY HENRY.E.J.GIBBINS
There are Gipsies and Gipsies, but those of the New Forest , the Tent-Dwellers,are many of them descendants of the old Tribes (Orientals) who have made the Forest their home for centuries past. These Camping -or Tent-Dwelling-Gipsies compare very favourably with their more unruly nomadic brethren, the Romany of the towns, the Van-Dwellers. They are amenable to kindness and are civil and polite, most inoffensive, and nevr known to commit crimes of robbery or violence; in fact, an old local magistrate toldme that he had never known a case against any of these Forest Gipsies more serious than the stealing of such small trifles as a fowl or a rabbit,or some park railings for firewood,during the fifty years he had sat on the bench.
[source: Romanyjib]
Dale Farm is far cry from the Gypsy lifestyle romanticised by the arts →
Garth Cartwright
Mark Rylance as Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron in the play Jerusalem. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
Wednesday 19 October will be remembered as a bleak day by those who claim allegiance with the UK’s Traveller and Romany Gypsy communities. If the Dale Farm eviction marked a brutal beginning to the day, the screening on BBC2 of Panorama’s Britain’s Child Beggars marked a chilly close. Dale Farm’s residents were Irish Travellers. The child beggars and their Fagins were Romanian Roma. Two very separate communities united only by a historic memory of roaming and a tendency to be described (and to describe themselves) as “Gypsies” – that catch-all term derived from “Egyptians”, as Constantinople’s citizens labelled the dark-skinned people who arrived at their city in 1068. These pioneers were, it is thought, fleeing the Islamic armies then invading north-west India. Admittedly, the Travellers and the Roma also share a common plight: whether in Ireland, Romania or their adopted UK home, they are perceived as outsiders, their communities ostracised and marginalised.
As the author of a book on travelling with Gypsy musicians, I’m often asked what I make of the showdown at Dale Farm or the virulent reactions east Europe’s Roma stir up from the tabloids and rightwing politicians. There are no easy answers, but one thing is for certain: at the dawn of the 21st century, Gypsy culture is denigrated and celebrated in equal measure. In the West End, Johnny “Rooster” Byron, the protagonist of Jez Butterworth’s much-praised play Jerusalem, is Romany. Memoirs such as Mikey Walsh’s Gypsy Boy, Rosie McKinley’s Gypsy Girl and Sam Skye Lee’s Gypsy Bride have proved UK bestsellers. Romanian Gypsy bands Taraf de Haidouks and Fanfare Ciocarlia have lit up the world’s greatest theatres and attracted voluble praise from all manner of critics.
Gypsy culture has moved in and out of fashion over the centuries: DH Lawrence described the Gypsies as noble savages while Jimi Hendrix wrote songs and named a band after them – and in my post today was a CD called Brass Noir, which finds Berlin-based DJs championing Fanfare Ciocarlia and other Balkan brass bands as club tunes. Indeed, Serbia’s annual Guca brass festival – the Gypsy Glastonbury – is now on every adventurous backpacker’s list. American rock bands Gogol Bordello and A Hawk and A Hacksaw both borrow elements of eastern Gypsy music to spice up their sound, with Gogol’s vocalist seemingly sharing the same stylist as Mark Rylance in Jerusalem. Scruffy chic seemingly being the trademark Romany fashion.
History always repeats itself and this is nothing new: from Caravaggio’s palm-reading, pick-pocketing hustler to Bizet’s Carmen, the arts have loved the Roma. At least as inspiration. While the Nazis were intent on committing genocide upon Europe’s Gypsies, their top officers flocked to see Django Reinhardt play in Parisian clubs. And Roma communities across eastern Europe are today more impoverished and threatened by rightwing groups than ever since the end of the second world war.
Slovakia, not a nation noted for its tolerance of the Roma populace, has entered Cigan (Gypsy) – a film that transports Hamlet’s son-and-stepfather struggle to an impoverished rural Gypsy village – into the 2012 Academy Awards for best foreign film. The Gypsy cinema of Emir Kusturica (Serbia) and Tony Gatlif (France) has proved profitable on arthouse screens and Cigan (which screened at the London film festival last week) may follow suit. But those few who get ahead in music or film don’t account for the multitude left behind. Some of whom, as the Panorama film suggests, end up being trafficked to the UK to beg on our streets. Many of Dale Farm’s former residents might be forced to join them there this winter.
In spite of all this, Dale Farm’s struggle has attracted almost no support from artistic voices beyond that of Vanessa Redgrave. The 2009 Belfast pogroms against Romanian Roma, likewise, were met with silence from the likes of Bono and Bob Geldof. Romanticised but despised, the life of the Gypsy as celebrated by so many songs and paintings, novels and films, looks less enticing on this freezing October morning.
(source: The Guardian)
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