Roma News & Views: International Roma Day Speeches
The following texts are speeches written by Sammy and Natalia for International Roma Day. Both took part in Romano Lav’s ‘Community Catalysts’ course, in which a group of 12 Roma young people spent 8 weeks learning about their rights and how to fight for them.
Natalia
Hello everyone, my name is Natalia and I am Slovakian Roma. I work with the Govanhill Roma Youth Project. I am delighted to see everyone coming together to celebrate our culture. I am going to talk about my journey as a Roma individual and speak about the catalyst course I have recently attended.
Roma people are capable of so much more than they think. When I was in school, I never understood the work that was given to me, so I always thought I was not capable enough to get a good job. I got comments from people saying I’ll never get anywhere due to being Roma and being different. Don’t you think the world we live in can be cruel and cold hearted at times? But that doesn’t mean we should give up. I started to process everything in my head and realised that I can be more than what others say. I took all those negative comments into consideration and changed my mindset. I started to believe in myself more. I pushed myself to remain open minded and I challenged myself to try new things – and this is where I’ve got to. Thanks to everyone who has helped me come this far; I am so thankful to work with an organisation where I feel respected and socially accepted.
The catalyst training has taught me about my rights as a human being, along with other amazing things, such as always standing up for yourself, using your voice and helping others who need your help. I call on each and everyone of you to always stand up for yourself and others when you see an injustice. That is what I have learned in this course and that is what I'll continue doing!
Sammy
Hi everyone, my name is Sammy. Today is such a special day for all of us. This is our opportunity to show people what our culture is all about. I can say that I’m proud to be Roma and to be different from other cultures. I want people to know what Roma is and what being Roma means to us. This is why I joined Romano Lav. Romano Lav taught me so much; many new different things that I never knew about. They taught me that I have the right to stand up for other people. I have the right to have rights, and to have freedom.
Ever since I was little I experienced so much racism and hate from other people just because of my skin colour and for being Roma. Hateful comments made me hate my skin colour; made me wish I wasn’t Roma. But I’ve learned how to embrace that, I’ve learned how to love myself, and love my culture. Being different is okay! I gained confidence, I’ve learned how to stand up for myself and for others.
Romano Lav made me realise that we’re not alone, that we can use our own voices and that we have great power. When we work together we are strong. I ask you to stand with us, your Roma brothers and sisters, to fight for a beautiful world free from the ugliness of racism!