Romano voďi

Interactive game "Czechoslovakia 1938 -1989" teaches students about the Romani Holocaust

Prague, 24.6.2014 20:40, (ROMANO VOĎI) The phrase "school through play" applies literally to the case of the instructional simulation game "Czechoslovakia 1938-1989" (Československo 38-89). Using a combination of a computer game and interactive comics, students are led through key moments in contemporary Czechoslovak and Czech history so they can "experience" the events of that time from the perspectives of various people.  full story

Who is Germany really afraid of?

Prague, 24.6.2014 18:21, (ROMANO VOĎI) The first double issue of the monthly journal Romano voďi featured a three-part series on the topic of foreigners and minorities in film and television. In the three segments from various countries - the Czech Republic, Germany, and the USA - our authors have discussed film and television productions and touched on the depiction of Romani people in literature as well.  full story

Andrej Giňa: Paťiv. - We Still Know What Respect Is.

Prague, 10.4.2014 22:43, (ROMANO VOĎI ) It is no exaggeration to say that without Andrej Giňa (born 1936) there would be no Romani literature. At the very least it would be deprived not only of a number of excellent texts that can absolutely be compared to the better works of Czech literature, but also of a distinctive author who brought to Romani writing an irreplaceable variety of styles, themes and topics.  full story

Czech segregation of Romani children as a reality show

Prague, 31.3.2014 21:07, (Romano Voďi) In the first double issue this year of the monthly Romano voďi we have prepared a three-part series for you on the topic of foreigners and minorities in film and television. In articles about various countries - the Czech Republic, Germany, and the USA - the authors discuss film and television productions and touch on the depiction of Romani people in literature as well.  full story

Commentary: For whom is the bell tolling in Ukraine?

Prague, 25.3.2014 23:05, (ROMEA) This article was written for the print edition of Romani vod'i magazine at the start of March.  full story

The Roma in Czech film

Prague, 25.3.2014 4:29, (Romano Voďi) In the first double issue this year of the monthly Romano voďi we have prepared a three-part series for you on the topic of foreigners and minorities in film and television. In these three articles about various countries - the Czech Republic, Germany, and the USA - the authors discuss film and television productions and touch on the depiction of Romani people in literature as well.  full story

Book contrasts Eastern and Western European approaches to Roma

23.1.2014 11:37, (Romano Voďi) Last September a book by German author Norbert Mappes-Niediek, Arme Roma, böse Zigeuner (Czech title Chudáci Romové, zlí Cikáni - "Poor Roma, Evil Gypsies") was released in Czech translation by the Host publishing house. Even though at first glance it might seem to be yet another simplifying publication on this topic (such books are a dime a dozen), it is actually a very instructive and refreshing read.  full story

Czech Republic: A conversation between educators Vladimír Foist and Martin Kaleja

Prague, 9.1.2014 2:22, (ROMANO VOĎI) The monthly Romano voďi publishes a regular column entitled "Two Points of View". Two public figures, one non-Romani and one Romani, who are members of the same profession or who work in the same field, are invited to ask one another questions.  full story

Czech director of Association of Homeless Shelters on "A Night Outside"

Prague, 6.1.2014 22:09, (ROMANO VOĎI) In summer one can more or less live on the street, but in the winter it can cost you your life. In addition to a knapsack or plastic bag you also have to get yourself a blanket or a sleeping bag, and if you can't find an old mattress, you need to collect enough cardboard boxes to make your own.  full story

videoCzech rapper Bonus: Alone in the dead of night, heading upstream

Prague, 15.12.2013 22:07, (ROMEA) Bonus, aka Bourek, aka Martin Tvrdý - real name Martin Hůla - is a DJ, musician, rapper and songwriter. He was behind the creation of the band Sporto and has recently been performing with the Martin Tvrdý Trio project.  full story

A conversation between Romani activist Čeněk Růžička and Czech Senator Alena Gajdůšková

Prague, 2.11.2013 0:01, (Romano vod'i) The monthly Romano voďi publishes a regular column entitled "Two Points of View". Two public figures, one non-Romani and one Romani, who are members of the same profession or who work in the same field are invited to ask one another questions.  full story

Czech Police Inspector-General doesn't know who released video of assault in Duchcov, but DSSS seems to

Prague, 10.8.2013 2:09, (ROMEA) According to a report published by news server iDNES.cz, the Inspector-General of the Security Forces has shelved its investigation into the release of a video capturing an assault committed by several Romani people against a non-Romani married couple in the town of Duchcov earlier this year. Police say they did not succeed in determining who was behind the release of the footage to the media.  full story

Andrzej Mirga: We should be cautious about making empty claims

Czech Republic, 23.5.2013 6:44, (Romano vod'i) First Romani university student in Poland  full story

"I don't want my children to feel like foreigners in their own country"

Czech Republic, 16.3.2013 0:07, (ROMEA) Not quite one year ago, the monthly Romano Voďi devoted an entire issue to the theme of identities in which ethnologist and social anthropologist Zdeněk Uherek reviewed the issue of the plurality of identities in his column "Beneath the Surface" ("Pod povrchem"). The first issue of Romano Voďi this year has returned to the topic of identity construction and the mechanisms through which identity is realized, this time through the lens of the recent Czech presidential election and its reception among members of the Romani minority.  full story

On transforming the Czech "practical primary schools"

Prague, 27.12.2012 17:37, (Romano vod'i) Iveta Němečková is the coordinator of the Together to School coalition and has worked as a special educator, a director, a lecturer in education programs, a coordinator and a specialist in education methods for the Step by Step program. She has implemented a project aimed at integrating Romani pupils into primary education and has participated in designing an international education program focusing on working with prejudices and stereotypes. She has long been an advocate of inclusive education and has worked as the coordinator of early childhood care projects. She is a lecturer in adult education and a coordinator and organizer of educational events. She contributed the following commentary to the latest issue of Romano voďi.  full story

Interview with Romani composer Roger Moreno Rathgeb

Prague, 26.12.2012 23:31, (Romano vod'i) Roger Moreno Rathgeb is, like many Romani musicians, self-taught, but he gradually began to use musical notation and to compose. Several years ago he decided to compose a requiem for the victims of the Auschwitz extermination camp, but his work was interrupted by a visit there which strongly impacted him and blocked his creative capabilities for several years. The impulse to complete the work came in the form of a request from Albert Siebelink, who suggested presenting the "Requiem for Auschwitz" at the International Gipsy Festival in Tilburg and then in other European cities.  full story

Michaela Marksová-Tominová: The strange Czech practice of "inclusion"

Prague, 31.10.2012 3:05, (ROMEA) I am very involved in advocating for inclusive education in the Czech school system. For a year and a half I had the opportunity to work at the Education Ministry as the director of its Equal Opportunities in Education Department, which was involved in introducing inclusive education and collaborating on transforming the special - or rather, today the "practical" - schools. I will use the original name, "special schools", in this piece, even though that name is no longer used in practice, because that term corresponds best to what these schools still are in reality.  full story

videoPetra Gelbart: I don't study the Roma, I study the gadje

New York, 24.10.2012 17:58, (Romano vod'i) Dr. Petra Gelbart was born in Ústí nad Labem and considers Prague her home. At the age of 10, her parents moved the family to the USA. She studied musicology, specializing in ethnomusicology and education. During the school year she lives with her husband and two children in New York, in the predominantly Hispanic/Indian neighborhood of Jackson Heights. She lectures on Romani cultures at colleges and for the general public. Her lectures often feature accordion playing and singing.  full story