džulory ladžala

I watched a video this morning simply titled “Lunk IX: A Short Documentary” by Romani photographer and film maker, Artur Conka. Lunik IX is a Romani “ghetto” in Kosice, Slovakia. I am 3/4 Slovakian Romani. My family come from around Bardejov, which is further north, but seeing my people forced to live like this?

It breaks my heart.

There are allegedly over 400,000 Romani in Slovakia (though the official census only recorded 89,000) and many of them have been settled for generations. They are also heavily discriminated against. In the Slovak language “to gypsy” (cigániť) means “to lie”. In the village of Ostrovany a wall was erected between the Romani neighbourhood and the rest of the village to keep us out.

Read more at the link.