Author: Jan Horvath, Sr.Location: StudenkaIt all started about four years ago in Brno, where my family was living at the time. In those days I was working with documents in the Museum of Romany Culture. Someone came to see me and introduced himself as Adolf Vesely. He asked me if I could help him see […]
Meeting Others
The Czechs could have whistled until they were blue in the face
Author: Tereza VrbovaLocation: PragueMy uncle Jan Vrba, a hardworking, well-traveled man in his early sixties, tells this story.“When I was a kid I didn’t know any Gypsies. I paid very little attention to that sort of travelling people. I had heard that they often put up their camp close to landfills outside our suburbs. And […]
We showed the whites that we were also human
Author: Jan Horváth, Sr.Location: StudenkaNot long ago our organization “Romano jilo” (Roma Heart) organized an event with the title “Traditional Romany Folklore and Music.” Whoever organizes similar actions and is active with Romany issues knows what that involves. But we fear nothing and we have demonstrated to the town leaders, to Madame Mayor and the […]
Are you surprised that some of us emigrate?
Author: Vera GynovaLocation: Kolin[transcribed by Jan Horvath, Jr.]Every young person wants to have fun: that’s natural. These days you have places to go, and you have your favorite disco. Of course if they don’t want to let you in because your skin is darker than theirs, that’s not so good. Probably every Rom, like me, […]
They have a dog too and know what it’s like
Author: Tereza Vrbová and Ludek ŠtastnýLocation: PragueWe heard this story in a pub from Bóda, a barfly, on Friday, June 30. Bóda seems to have no family name. He is between thirty and eighty, and looks like an unsuccessful imitator of Lou Reed who decided to drown his sorrows in beer. We don’t know whether […]
We’re trying to make the horse thirsty
Author: Tereza VrbováLocation: PragueLast week our friend Filip came to visit us, and we thought we could ask him to tell us a story. Filip is about thirty, quite handsome and an introvert – unless he grabs a drink. For several years he’s been living in a housing estate in Prague. There’s a Romany community there as […]
They seldom stop to think
Author: Martina HudeckováLocation: BrnoVery few people know about the Tour of Tolerance. At least, as a member, that’s how I see it.The week before Easter I went with the Tour to Havírov and Karviná in the Ostrava region, where the statistics say that there are the most racially motivated attacks. I didn’t know what to […]
Imagine a stretch of road eight kilometers long
Author: Jiri ValecekLocation: OstravaOne weekend my friend Kamil and I went to a dance in Holasovice. We had a good time as usual. We had a few beers, we chased babes and the time went quickly. So we missed our train and had to walk home: about twelve kilometers. And it was raining. We were […]
As if we were divided by gray glass
Author: Martina Hudeckova/Zbynek AndrstLocation: DoubravkaZbynek told me his story one evening in the club room after a Romani youth meeting."When I was a kid I was interested in other cultures. I read lots of adventure and travel books. Most of all I was interested the Indians, and longed to meet them. When I got older […]
I too had walls in my head
Author: Honza Cerny/Iveta FoniokovaLocation: Usti nad LabemI first met Iveta last December: Martin Cichy introduced her to me at a Romani party in Trmice. Iveta is a student at the Lovosice High School. She lives alone with her mother in Usti and travels to the school every morning. She is about seventeen.At first she was […]
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