The Way of the Land
The Roma were enslaved by the Romanian state, the Orthodox church, and the boyars for 500 years. This multigeneration trauma persists today under the guise of racism and marginalization. Healing demands recognition, reconciliation, and reparations. A series of essays curated by Margareta (Magda) Matache, with illustration by Renata Mihaly.
Why we’re telling the story of slavery
A manifesto for telling the truth about the enslavement of the Roma in Romanian territories for nearly five centuries.
Roma Slavery: from Recognition to Reconciliation
Reconciliation between Roma and non-Roma can only be achieved once both parties have admitted to and acknowledged a painful past.
Romanian Historians Owe Us a Different Telling of the Past
It takes political will, books on slave-owning societies and exhibitions to heal the wounds still traumatizing the present.
What Stones and Walls Tell Us
A researcher identifies “places of memory”, where slavery left traces not only on the Roma community, but on society in general.
“Slavery may have ended 166 years ago, but I can still see the hatred today.”
A young Roma woman wrote a play about slavery to show her peers their history because if you hear your own story, you feel it.
Ristina, the enslaved singer
The history of my family isn’t complete without a past that includes slavery and the Holocaust, but also stories of resistance and survival.
The Hidden History of Our Roma Ancestors
The mechanisms of anti-Roma racism have silenced our families’ stories. To publicly acknowledge this moral rupture, reparations are essential.
The Techno-Witch. A Poem for the Future.
The actress Mihaela Drăgan explores a future in which Roma women are free.
The Great Shame. A Play about Roma Slavery
A young Roma confronts her brother, a priest, with the truth that the Romanian Orthodox church were enslavers for hundreds of years.
Teaching of Roma History is Distorted and Racist
Despite warnings of grave errors, the Ministry of Education continues to approve textbooks that minimize Roma slavery.
Copper. An Anti-Racist Poem
Writing about slavery is like giving up on life. You have to feel the pain in order to be able to put it into words.
The power of racism, its trauma, and the road to healing
To heal on a societal level is to recognize and repent, so that we can begin to imagine a future in which no one has to feel the painful effects of racism.