Author: Martina HudeckovaLocation: BrnoOne day a friend of mine called Katka and her cousin took a tram to see their aunt. They were speaking Romany. An older man shouted at them to speak Czech. Katka reacted angrily: “It’s none of your business what language we speak. What makes you angry is that you don’t understand […]
Meeting Others
No agreement on minority rights will turn fools into better people
Author: Honza CernyLocation: Usti nad LabemI went to Romania as a member of a Czech delegation to participate in a seminar on the protection of minorities. The seminar was organized under the auspices of the Romanian government and the EU and took place in Praedal, a beautiful Transylvanian town. Most of the fifty-odd participants were […]
None of our guys would have done anything like that
Author: David FerkoLocation: Usti nad LabemChristine told me this story.“I went to a bank to withdraw some money. As I was waiting in line I was looking around, watching people.Suddenly a big ugly fat guy came up close to me and said, ‘Well, you really gave me some last night. It wasn’t bad.’I stood there […]
Even if a Rom were made of solid gold
Author: Pavel HorvathLocation: Kolin[transcribed by Jan Horvath Jr.]I’m eighteen, and I had this bad experience six month ago, when I went into a shop to buy some food. I walked into the shop and already when I took the shopping basket, I noticed the saleswoman looking me over. I picked out some stuff in the […]
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 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 […]
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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