Džulory ladžala

Baxtalo Romano D’ives

Qristina — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:31:14 +0000

When I think about how important this date of April 8th has become to me, it sort of blows my mind. Growing up, I didn’t know the word “Romani” as an appellation for my people. We referred to ourselves as Gypsies when forced to identify ourselves to outsiders. At home we used our names, or [...]

Bařostuni čirikli ~ Stone Bird

Qristina — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:52:07 +0000

Miro jilo o cikno kalo čirikli Mire phaka bixasnakero barore E čeri hibaj paxoti sune ča tu des man tiro jilo jel hodno te ljecinav © Qristina Zavackova Cummings (2013)

Parno manřo

Qristina — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:30:12 +0000

It hasn’t escaped my notice, you know. It’s not as though I’m oblivious to it. Nicknames have always brought it sharply into focus, Parno manřo, thudvaľi kaveja, paješći čirikli. White bread. White coffee. White wagtail. parné jakha, loki, khiľavune jakha, jiv. Light eyes, Light, Plum-blue eyes, snow. I would ask my grandmother over and again, [...]

Divesutno (dňevniko lil)

Qristina — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 23:40:28 +0000

Čhines (hramosares) tut o divesutno? Me čhinavas jekh… akana, nane las vacht. Adadjives, me dikhljom o čačikuno filmos. E paramisa amen rozrudnja. Kada pribehos hin pal čore čhavale andre škola. Lengero sikhľarďi sas… maj, but.. čudesni (rajkani) thaj šukar. Lakero anav si Erin Gruwell thaj o filmos akhares “Freedom Writers”. Sikadja pra sikhľavne ko godjarel [...]

Me Som Rom

Qristina — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:26:04 +0000

I am not German. I am not Romanian. I am not Italian or French. What is so hard to understand about that? Why do non-Romani people get to ascribe nationhood and ethnicity to my body? When did my body become a text they get to co-author? It is not a wall on which you get [...]

Intersectionality, Interpretation, and Inertia

Qristina — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:18:23 +0000

This morning I was lucky enough to read the “Statement on Why and How does Ethnicity Matter in Academics: The case of Romani women with intersectionality” (Brooks, Carmona, Kócze, and Vincze, 2013), which I have copied in full below. As bell hooks stated, “In a culture of domination, preoccupation with victimage is inevitable”, and I [...]

Never Forget

Qristina — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 02:48:15 +0000

I won’t. I won’t ever forget this weekend and what it meant to our people. When I was a child, my grandmother would never talk much about certain parts of her past. I didn’t realize when I was young that they were always the same parts. I remember one particular day. I must have been [...]

April 8 Movement – Roma Nation Day

Qristina — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:31:36 +0000

From my email: Mukhas te dzanen sarine kaj o “8 Aprili Ushtiben” (8 April Movement) nane nevi organizacia. Ni kamas te keras “nevi organizacia”. Nisavi. Salde te dikhas sar t’ovel maskar amen, sarinen, polachi koordinancija. Jekhipe – ko godi. O razismos bajrola. E neve-fasistora, e gavutne, vi e themutne, panden amaro drom. Odoleske isi amen [...]

What can we do?

Qristina — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:41:00 +0000

A couple of days ago, I posted the translation of the filth spouted by Zsolt Bayer, Hungarian minister and friend to Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister. I’ve watched it unfold with several organizations I’m in who wrote letters to European MEPs and so forth. I’ve only been watching because, well, who am I? I’m not [...]

“They should not exist, these animals, nowhere. One has to solve this – immediately and by all means!”

Qristina — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:34:08 +0000

News hit yesterday about Zsolt Bayer, confidant and personal friend of Prime-Minister Viktor Orbán, and his most recent commentary about the Roma. I found the words in German (below) and had them translated by a German friend: (…) Der Großteil der Zigeuner ist zum Zusammenleben nicht geeignet. Nicht geeignet, unter Menschen zu leben. Diese Zigeuner sind [...]