Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on June 10, 2011 at 3:56

Oh, yes, Allen! Read and respond to anything here, discuss, post something new; it's wide open.

Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on June 10, 2011 at 17:06

Allen, tu san Rom?

Comment by Ciuin Ferrin on June 11, 2011 at 7:21

Dear Allen,

Sorry to have waited so long to greet you, but between work and the severe weather, I've had very little time to keep up on the boards.

 

Which studio do you work for? I have a cousin there who is into guaranty work for all sorts of films. Some of his latests were The Tourist and Iron Man 2, though he's done much more.

 

We are protesting MBFGW as well as some of the TV shows like Criminal Minds and Roadkill. Are you interested in helping us in that venue? What are your interests? We are always looking for new ideas or people willing to help with things we already have going on.

 

Baxt,

C

Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on June 11, 2011 at 21:41

Allen, somewhere all your interesting experience will come in handy, I'm sure. There are some other vardo-builders here.

Comment by Ciuin Ferrin on June 12, 2011 at 2:52

Dear all,

 

The Wagon Display will not make it to the next event due to spacing unless another organization drops out. I'm rather bummed about this since the participant count was between 2 and 3 thousand. We are next in line if the space becomes available. The next event it may be set up at is not until August.

Baxt,

C

Comment by Kristina Burbank on June 14, 2011 at 23:30

What is plan B for display?

Comment by Ciuin Ferrin on June 15, 2011 at 9:24

Dear Tina,

We wait to see if someone drops out. It will be on display in August and September, but I was hoping to get it in somewhere in June or July.

 

Baxt,

C

Comment by Ciuin Ferrin on June 15, 2011 at 21:46

Dear Allen,

 

The wagon display is an 8' long, 6' tall, 4' wide replica of an English Reading wagon from the 18-19th centuries. The wagon has wheels but can't roll and collapses into an 8' long, 4' wide, 8" deep package that wraps up in plastic to protect it.

 

Each side of the wagon has a different theme. The front of the wagon is titled "Where We're Going" and has an explanation of the Romani flag, of "Gelem, Gelem", and of the World Romani Congress and it's goals, with photos of Romani from all over the world.

 

The next side, an 8' side, is titled "Who We Are" and has a definition of the word "Romani" compared to Romania with an explanation that the Romani do not come from Romania. (You have no idea how many people try to correct the spelling of "Romani" to "Romanian" when the see the title of the panel!) Also, there is an explanation of "Romani" vs "Gypsy". These panels are placed where the shutters and windows of the wagon would be. Below that are four picture panels with famous Roma such as Charlie Chaplan, Rita Hayworth, Bob Hoskins, and the Kolpakov Trio, just to name a few.

 

The rear of the wagon is "Where We've Been" and has panels explaining the origins and slavery as well as the Holocaust with appropriate photo panels beside.

 

The other long side of the wagon is "Where We Are" and has three text panels explaining the demand for Romani rights. Two of the panels are newspaper articles taken from the NY Times and another from the London Sun about recent human rights violations in Europe. Again, these panels are where the shutters and windows would be. Below them are four more photo panels depicting Roma slums, violence against Roma, and other events.

 

The wagon made its debut at The Global Village, a one day event for children in Iowa City, Iowa. The children were given passports with the names, maps, and flags of 11 countries around the world. The Romani nation was the 12th country, though in the passport we requested they not have a map, only the flag and various "fun facts" about the Roma for the children to learn. As each child came to our booth, they were given a coloring sheet of our flag. We had the flag flying so the kids could copy the colors if they wanted to. We then hung their pictures around our display tent. Then the kids were given a stamp in their passport. It was a fun event.

 

The wagon is currently undergoing repairs to its paint job but will be ready if we get the spot on the 25th. PIctures will be up soon.

 

Baxt,

C

Comment by Kristina Burbank on June 16, 2011 at 22:40

Hey Group,

Please bear with me with this response. With that being put out there, my comments are just one point of view, so please take it with a lump of salt. Even with good intent, we all have our angles, so I wanted to share mine upfront; I think doing so will create a better understanding how we can all work together to accomplish our goals of a just, tolerant world for all.

I had to take time to collect my thoughts and process what to say / do about the T.V. series “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding”. I am a 40 year old citizen of the U.S. (naturalized at age 5 with aid of my -adoptive- “American” parents); a sociologist, secondary education teacher of teens in treatment centers and public schools, and mentor of teachers for 20 years by trade; an artist, athlete, and naturalist at heart; international Finnish- Rroma adoptee by birth; and a Finnish citizen. On top of that, my man is a master prop maker in Los Angeles, California, and also I have to mention that before we met I had gotten rid of my television because I was so anti-media.  As this person, MBFGW hit many buttons for me, I wanted to be sure that I responded rather than reacted (part of my own life long learning plan).

I empathize with the misrepresentations of Rroma in this series, while I have only been able to watch clips (still no T.V.!) and read the commentary. I understand the anger and the urge to boycott. I also understand from my work in education and treatment, that this anger and urge is part of the process of overcoming obstacles, and letter writing is a good activity to access these emotions.  

While it is important to recognize these feelings as part of our own healing process, it is equally important to then put those feelings in their place before moving forward to a space less fettered with emotional feces! Not to say this is the only way, but simply sharing another perspective for visualization: Buddhist teachings speak of being mindful to disallow a second, third, fourth arrow to penetrate an initial wound. Related to the general situation of subjugated peoples, the subjugated daily must work tremendously at deflecting the secondary arrows of intolerance that are flung unintentionally within ourselves.

When we react from the place of intolerance (where we have been allegedly affronted) without healing the anger first, we will get the results we inadvertently and unconsciously mirror from our subjugators. In other words, the subjugated often only have the space to react from defensive position, and that can get as offensive as the initial act of intolerance received real quick! What this means is we have to force ourselves to step out of the tit for tat mentality.

I think it is important that we make a conscious effort to push through that anger within our own community first. There are enough of us that we can process the anger / wounds from the injustices ourselves, ridding ourselves of the toxicity of societal intolerance ourselves rather than demanding for society to do it for us. I think that this would empower us, clearing the path for righteous action.

Now, to really get to the point of what to do about MBFGW. We want to educate folk on the nature of tolerance. To do this effectively, we need to model tolerance in every action / letter we put forth in order to peacefully channel what we truly want to accomplish. It’s hard to model tolerance when all around us is intolerance; it’s a natural reaction to simply mirror the intolerance back with our own perspective and expect that our own correctness makes it all good. It’s heavy lifting...

The reality of 21st century media is that humanity across the globe are sucked in immediately by reality, especially personal stories, from American Idol to Desperate Housewives of New Jersey to the Bachelor to MBFGW. Across the world, people are people doing the amazing and the dumb, despite race or culture, and it is being documented. Why fight what we are inherently a part of as denizens in the 21st century (not that we enjoy it all the time!)? The other reality of media is that it is a huge tool of assimilation and marketing. To fight the boycott battle seems daunting, to take the back door into educating people seems more embracing, fun, joyful, and kind.

So, now, let’s shift gears a bit and  just for fun, let’s pretend for the sake of modeling tolerance, that the media has the same goal as us: to uncover injustice and correct so we all can live a prosperous life, even silly reality shows. It feels better to think that way, even if it’s not true sometimes, because then we can use media to our advantage rather than look at it as the enemy.

So, since we are now pretending to look at MBFGW as our friend - great news, the show is already rolling and humanity loves these kind of shows, why fight that? Let’s use it! Let’s thank the media and advertisers for being so edgy as to make MBFGW so Hollywood because it’s bringing attention to the plight of the Rromani in order to enlighten people worldwide (just sidestep the cash they are making for the endeavor by accepting the universality of desired financial recognition)...After thanking them so graciously we could then solicit: could they / would they run a Rroma educational infomercial that Artists’ Initiative prepares before and after every showing...maybe it could be a shots of the display Wagon with a narrator talking about what is on each panel.

Could we convince the relevant bigwigs to run educational infomercials on Rroma / Travelers directly prior and after every show? Is it an avenue we’d like to travel?


Respectfully yours,

Tina

Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on August 14, 2011 at 18:17

I like Ciuin's idea of a press release. And Casimir is right, things are bad and getting worse and I think we must be proactive to avoid more horror.

Two things that are pressing:

One, there is an attack on many of our leaders (Ian Hancock, Ronald Lee, Yvonne Slee, Valery Novoselsky, and more) on a web site that must be taken down. See what I mean here: http://www.romano-liloro.org/erio-mixed-countries.htm

Below is the link to a petition asking that the web site be taken down. If you haven't signed it yet, please do. We do not know for sure who is behind this--I mean we know one woman, but I suspect there are many more. But clearly this is an attempt to cut off our head. We often have trouble with designating leaders, but the people who hate Roma are not confused about who are our leaders at all. They see who is speaking out effectively. We must act.

http://www.petitiononline.com/opreroma/petition.html

Secondly, a move is building via the Romas in Americas listserv to call for a boycott of the sponsors of MBFGW. Just a few weeks ago, I was accosted at a conference by a woman who spouted falsehoods from the show and said (paraphrasing) "we have to do something about those poor Roma women who can't work outside the home and are forced to marry whomever their fathers select. And all those sexual assaults at weddings!" This show is damaging to us and will make it a hard for our young people in school and elsewhere.

Could we draft a letter with the WAIK logo and ask other Romani organizations to sign on?

I am sorry I am pressed for time, as I am traveling. So many good comments here to digest. I hope I am not breaking the stream of thought.

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