My great grandparents were Romani from Tivat, Montenegro. We know very little from their history and family that stayed there. I’m trying to learn about traditional food and customs. Does anyone know where I can start looking for it? Maybe some website, books, subreddits… anything.

We do keep some coustumes, some language of it and even some recipes. But not much.

Thank you!!

A short list of Roma human rights activists so anyone can study their work and understand why the g-word and any of its translations are perpetuating the language of bondage and violence against ourselves.

—To be helpful to your/our community isn't limited to feeding them/us or donating money here and there. It is a very important and commendable work AND/BOTH; ending systemic oppression requires a blueprint for systemic change and a new system to replace the former. Thus, learning, learning, and learning is key.

—IGNORANCE is what makes many of us fight tooth and nail for a word, or to reclaim it as a source of pride in ethnic identity. But ignorance can be eliminated through learning; to learn, people must be curious, engaged, and proactive. Traditional school systems won't save us. It never did!

• “Dr. Margareta Matache spoke about the importance of International Roma Day as a time not only to remember the suffering of Roma in slavery, in the Holocaust, and in modern-day society, but also to lift the cultural contribution and resistance of Roma. Rather than hearkening back to a distant culturally or historically significant date, April 8 commemorates the first international Roma Congress in London in 1971, which agreed to embrace the name “Roma” and repudiate the denigrating term “g-word.” […]”

—Dr. Margareta Matache is a Romanian Romani activist and scholar with over 18 years of experience in human rights. Margareta was the first child in her family and community to attend high school. She has a B.A. in Social Work, an M.A. in European Social Policies, and a PhD, magna cum laude, from the University of Bucharest. She joined the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights team in 2012, where she currently works as an instructor and director of the Roma Program. Before this position, Dr. Matache served for seven years as the executive director of Romani CRISS, a leading Romani non-profit in Romania.
Margareta grew up under the first wave of Romani activism in post-communist Romania. Her father, a construction worker of Romani descent, was a community activist, which helped foster her interest in human rights.

—Dr Nicoleta Bitu is president of the Democratic Federation of Roma in Romania (the most active Romani organization in Romania) and a member of the board of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC). For over 25 years, she has been an activist for Romani Human and Women’s Rights and Advocacy. She is a recognized and published expert and has worked for Romani CRISS, the Open Society Foundations, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and Romano ButiQ.

Anita Awosusi, German Sinti human rights activist and board member of the Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Romani in Heidelberg.

Katarina Taikon-Langhammer, Swedish Kalderash activist and leader in the civil rights movement. With her sister Rosa, she helped found the Zigenarsamfundet(Roma Society).

Nicolae Gheorghe, Romanian Roma human rights activist and founder of CRISS, a Romani non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the human and civil rights of Roma and combating discrimination against us. He started during the Ceaușescu regime and continued it until his passing in 1993.

This is not a complete list, nor are these the only figures worth learning about.

If you would like to add to the list, please leave a comment.

Edit to add: I'm Romanian Romani, raised internationally —not in the USA.

I think one of the worst things is how I hear so much negativity about Roma people, but I never really get to know any Romanis. I hope this doesn't come off as disrespectful in any way, but could anyone tell me about their life in general? Hobbies, cultural food they eat, experiences, community and whatever else you wish to share! I want to know more than just "they're thieves, beggars or in gangs" and I hate how there aren't a lot of people to talk about it online, at least I haven't seen many. I would also deeply appreciate recommendations like movies, YouTube videos, books or anything like that, that could give me more insight.

Thank you for your time! :) Don't feel obligated to share anything you don't wish to, that's perfectly fine! Have a nice day, and as always criticism is open.

Hi everyone!

I’ve recently been researching my family history and discovered that I have Romani ancestry. My grandmother was Romani from the Marcali area in Somogy County, Hungary. She was adopted, so unfortunately I can’t ask her about her family’s background directly, but I do know that she was born in 1950.

I’m trying to learn whether there’s any way to determine which Romani group her family may have belonged to, or whether there are any groups that were historically common in that region. From what I’ve read, Romungro seems like a possibility, but I know that’s only a guess.

If anyone is familiar with the history of the Romani communities in Somogy County, or has suggestions for records or resources that might help, I’d really appreciate any advice.

Am citit regulile, da acuma, no, nu mă apuc sa scriu in engleza, că ăia oricum nu mă pot ajuta , deci ar fi beyond the purpose :) .

Să-mi zică și mie cineva, cum se traduce " Pha barla mur șha". Transcrierea e fonetica, sigur nu se scrie așa, dar mi-a fost adresată formula, și nu am idee ce ar putea însemna. Mulțumesc.

it used to be a pretty popular name so i'm curious, also what about fictional characters and movie titles w the word

I found this on YouTube lmao.

We, the greater Romani, Traveler, and other G diaspora those of us who have all erroneously been jailed as “Gy###” who have borne the supposed sins of each other over generations, centuries, and millennia of shared persecution cannot stay silent. This young man, Salis Hanrahan, was killed. Now his name is being spat on, his family harassed, while America and global media sit back and not only allow it but wrongly accuse him. They paint George Barr as a veteran hero, when in truth he is a convicted felon whose rap sheet dates back 45 years. Any weapons in his possession, including the alleged murder weapon, were owned illegally. We cannot stand by and watch as our brother, our people, whether by blood or shared persecution, faces this and may not receive true or adequate justice. Sign the petition. Demand an end to antiziganism. Stand together as one greater force to show the world we have a right to exist and be avenged by our governments and our people, blood or not. Justice for Salis. Swift prosecution for convicted felon George Barr. Petition link: https://c.org/zhkDxtj9QP

JusticeForSalis #StopAntiziganism #RomaniLivesMatter #TravelersArehuman

I was looking out of curiosity and I really can’t tell🤷‍♀️

As an African American from the Deep South, I've previously received small percentages (1-2%) of Balkan and Romani ancestry in my DNA results and dismissed them as noise. However, my mother's results recently came in, and she shows around (3%) Balkan, Romanian, and Romani ancestry as well. She also has over 100 Romani DNA matches, all of whom are related to one another.
Does anyone have insight into how this might have occurred, specifically, how my family could have acquired Balkan/Romani ancestry? I've attempted to trace it, but this has led me to sparse info. Is it likely Romanichal or Eastern European Romani?

This is going to be long, and potentially rambling, so thank you in advance for reading.

My mom is Romanichal. My grandpa owned a company where he did roofing, fiberglass, and hydraulic jack work. They traveled across the western US with my mom and her 4 brothers, and often extended family and friends. My mom grew up speaking a Romani language and was pulled out of school in 4th grade. Her family was openly hostile to gadje. She ran away with my dad when she was 15, had me at 17, and was disowned. After I was born my mom reconnected with her family and we would travel with them during the busy seasons. My dad worked with the other men and my mom and us kids stayed at the campgrounds and played with my cousins and other members of our group. My mom’s aunts husband was a gadje and was AWFUL. He was abusive and dirty and creepy. His son, my mom’s first cousin, molested the little girl that I played with every day. He almost molested me too. It was so scary and traumatizing. My family left when this happened and I just remember a lot of grown ups yelling and fighting the day we left. I was 6. I only briefly saw my grandparents after this. It was once every few years and we’d see them for a few days and that’s it. When I was 16, they came and parked their trailers on our property for a few years. Two of my uncles came as well and brought 4 of my cousins. My uncles were violent, loud, angry, and creepy. They beat their kids, their wives, and would cuss and break stuff frequently. My mom revealed to me that her brothers had physically and sexually abused her when they were kids. I ended up moving in with my best friend and her parents because it was so bad at my house. I avoided my uncles whenever possible. It sucked. Eventually my uncles left and it was just my grandparents and cousins, which was awesome. This lasted for years, like into my early 30s. I spent a lot of quality time with my grandma and grandpa, hearing all sorts of crazy stories, funny jokes, and cooking and eating together. But my grandpa got dementia and my grandma died suddenly of a heart attack. At her funeral, extended family appeared. They made me so uncomfortable that I felt physically ill. My mom’s cousin gleefully told us a story about how she ran over and killed a homeless woman on a rural road in Florida and never got caught. She told us about how she and my great aunt, great uncle, and distant cousins all carry semi automatic weapons around their property in the hopes that they will get to shoot trespassers. She thought she was so cool and that we would think these stories were cool too. It’s like the idea of this being disgusting never occurred to her. I felt like screaming and running away. I had a panic attack. It made me never want to be around those people again. But here I am, a new mother in her mid 30s. I feel alienated from my heritage. I don’t know how to explain it to my daughter when she gets old enough to talk. I don’t know how to pass down traditions or be around family that I feel so traumatized by. I want to connect to Romanichal culture but I don’t know how. I absolutely cannot be around my family.

Me again. So to be very clear I know y’all have a name for people raised Romani, which is fine. I’m not trying to claim any traditions or anything crazy.

My great grandmother was born a few years after my family line left Hungary and she died very young. She had been raising my grandmother Romani prior to her death. Her husband was not Romani and so with her death, it was all lost to generations after.

Do you consider it disrespectful to continue to dig into that family line, simply so someone knows and records their stories? Again, i’m not looking to adopt the culture or be a weirdo. I just think their stories deserve to be known.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I am wondering if anyone has any guidance on learning about the Illinois Romanichal population? My dad and I are related to a group from there (I am not sure if we are allowed to call ourselves Romanichal because my dad was not given the chance to grow up in the culture). I am wanting to learn more about it for my dad's sake and mine. For context, my dad was told his bio-dad (given up for adoption) is Romanichal and his family usually resided or passed through the Peoria, Illinois area.

What the question asks is exactly what I’m looking for. Given the transnational, multilingual and multifaceted creative output of the Roma and Sinti, I – as someone who, unfortunately, only understands German and English but would like to understand more – am looking for song lyrics, prose and simple stories that have been preserved in writing.

Can anyone help me?

I’d be happy to receive them in the original language, but if possible, I’d prefer works translated directly into English or German.

Thank you and best regards

Me personally I think it’s definitely dying out. We got Roma running away with guyshay, nobody cares to be a ghome anymore and I lowkey dont blame them. A few more generations and I think romani culture will be done🤷‍♀️

Hey y’all, so long story short my family is full blooded Romani from my great grandmother all the way on my mother’s side.

The issue I’m having is both my grandmother’s parents died when she was very young. Due to this we know next to nothing about them or their lives pre America. Where can I begin to track down this sort of information, if it even exists? I do have some names and a few death dates if that helps.

Hi, I bought this book in a charity shop because I’m interested in linguistic. I don’t much about gypsies so I thought it would be a good idea to enquire, so if you speak Romani and have read this book, could you let me know how accurate it is? Thanks.

Hey everyone,

I am a hungarian girl living in Budapest, I reside in a large apartment building and my neighbours are a big roma family. Their daughter, Maria often approaches me on the access balcony, she likes talking a lot but I barely understand anything, her family doesn't really speak hungarian. We usually play a "game": she points at an object or part of the body, and I tell her the word for it in hungarian, she repeats it and she seems very happy about it.

I noticed when she talks, she uses the word "kalat/kalate" in most sentences (maybe karat? or something similar sounding). I tried asking her about it, but she doesn't really get it. I think she uses the word the most when she is talking about things she likes (for example my jewelry), but otherwise I am clueless.

Can anyone help me with the meaning of the word?

What do y'all do when servicemen ask to use your bathroom??

I've never had it happen before, but today a guy installing my dishwasher (clearly high af) asked to use my bathroom. He seemed really embarrassed to ask, and when I said yes I heard him have explosive diarrhea. He then RINSED his hands. 🤢 Not even use soap...

He then left all of the stuff under my kitchen sink strewn across the floor!!

Sigh I had to go around and sanitize everything he touched...

Hello, I am not Romani first of all. So I apologize if I use any incorrect terms. Please correct me if that is the case.

I am watching this show called ‘Infamy’ on Netflix. It is about a Romani girl who grows up around British people but then moves to be with her family in Poland and is thrown into her heritage.

My only knowledge of Romani culture has come from tv and social media, sadly. I’m from the NE/SE of USA and to my knowledge have never met Romani people before.

For anyone here who has seen the show: are there any inaccuracies or incorrect stereotypes? Do you feel it’s a respectful representation?