#Bronislawa Wajs

[djuvlipen]

I grew up along Romania’s Black Sea coast. My father was the first in his family to graduate from university, and my mother went to a vocational school. Being educated was unusual in our Romani community. My parents raised me with a deep sense of justice and dignity. They told me to be proud of being Roma, while non-Romani people told me there was something wrong with me.

My parents still preserved some aspects of traditional Romani culture: They were obsessed with me maintaining my virginity and being a “good woman.” In many Romani communities, women get married as teenagers. Those who attend school often drop out before high school because they get married, or to care for their younger siblings and perform household chores. Others leave school out of fear of the racism they would face.

Romani women aren’t a monolith. But we all contend with patriarchy and marginalization both inside our culture and from the outside world. The contradictions I have witnessed led me to ask questions and eventually, to discover feminism and to fight for equality. Along this path of activism, however, I learned that I had to define my own understanding of what it means to be a feminist within my Romani identity.

Romani people have endured centuries of injustice across Europe, as an ethnic minority, yet we have a long history of resistance. By the late 1990s, I had graduated from university, gotten married and become a mother. I was also an activist in the Romani movement. I started to wonder what elders meant when they said that we struggled for our “rights.” I learned about the discourse around the universality of human rights. As Romani people, did we really believe in human rights? Or did we only believe in human rights when it came to our rights, Romani people’s rights? What about everyone else? And who is in the position of power to define Romani rights? I debated these questions with my soul mate and fellow Romani activist, Nicolae Gheorghe.

At the same time, I began to question the condition of women and girls in our community, and why we were treated differently from the boys and men around us. Even when I joined the Romani rights movement, I was expected to behave in certain ways that men defined. They determined who was a “good” Romani woman activist. Some Romani male activists tried to monitor my sexuality and called me a “whore” when I had a relationship with a man when I wasn’t married. It was the verses of our beloved Polish Romani poet known as Papusza (whose real name was Bronislawa Wajs) that brought me comfort. She wrote about the Holocaust and of being a woman defying constraints and traditional roles for women, for which she was ostracized by the community. Where were women’s rights within the discussion of Romani rights?

Then came feminism. I met Debra Schultz the American Jewish historian, who could see all these questions burning inside me. She bought me the first books about feminism that I read, including works by thinkers such as Simone de Beauvoir. But I really fell in love with the work of Black feminists Angela Davis and bell hooks, whose book, “Ain’t I a Woman” became like a bible for me. And later, I met law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, who introduced me to the concept of intersectionality between race and gender. Finally, the way I saw the surrounding world and my Roma world became clearer to me.

Feminism gave me the lens to question the world’s power dynamics, from private spaces to international politics. Despite this intellectual awakening, I still went on to face horrible racism when I met white feminists, who said they didn’t see the point of including Romani women in feminist agendas when there was already an existing Romani rights movement. When there was a spike in racism against Romani people in Europe around 2005-07, I reflected on how to practice a feminism that did not erase my Roma identity and that did not reinforce the oppression of my community.

Neither of the two social movements that I have moved between — feminism and Romani struggles — wanted Romani women’s concerns to be highlighted unless those in charge got to decide how to portray such issues. Every social movement has its prejudices, I learned.

So, what is Romani feminism? To me, it means I have the freedom to choose what version of a Romani woman I want to be. Romani feminism is the force that makes it possible for our communities to grow and to challenge others around us. Our feminism reminds us that the greater Romani movement should not only be about how to get into the structures of power, but how we should never forget the local communities, and the people. We should be close to our people at the local level, in their daily lives, while challenging both racism and sexism.

We Romani feminists reiterate pride in being Roma by constructing and reconstructing through archive, memory and art, the possibility for the next generation to practice a new identity, without the burden and control that our ancestors faced. Our work ranges from creating collaborations such as the Roma Women’s Initiative, a group of female Romani leaders across Europe, to providing social services to Romani women who continue to face harassment, racism and other challenges. We are creating our own ways to help each other.

Some may call me a pioneer, or a traitor for splintering the Romani rights movement. For others, I am not radical enough. But after three decades as a Romani feminist, I am still acting against “anti-gypsyism,” manifesting the love of my people, crying out loud with pain when I feel and see how others hate us.

Nicoleta Bitu is a Romani feminist activist and scholar based in London.

[gregor-samsung]

Papusza (Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze - 2013)

[iludico]

[fer-jiro]

papusza (2013)

[mascheradiraso]

Silenzio

Il traballante cigolio del carro zittisce il bosco e i suoi rumori. Fermati, ascolta. Solo dal silenzio attinge vita la parola. Così stai tu, attenta a quel barbaglio di luce che filtra tra le foglie e solo per qualche istante svela i confini del mondo. Bronislawa Wajs detta “Papusza” Dipinto di sir Alfred James Munnings

[pairedaeza]

Once, at home, the moon stood in the window, didn’t let me sleep. Someone looked inside. I asked— who is there? —Open the door, my dark Gypsy. I saw a beautiful young Jewish girl, shivering from cold, asking for food. You poor thing, my little one. I gave her bread, whatever I had, a shirt. We both forgot that not far away were the police. But they didn’t come that night.

Bronisława Wajs (Papusza), tr. Yala Korwin

[sahnelervediyaloglar]

-Bu da senin telif hakkın. Şiirler için. +Ama niye ki? -Şiirler için işte. +Onlar bana ait değil ki. İstedikleri zaman gelip istedikleri zaman gidiyorlar.

[danielaandsurroundings-blog]

accadde...oggi: nel 1910 nasce Bronislawa Wajs, di Paolo Statuti

accadde…oggi: nel 1910 nasce Bronislawa Wajs, di Paolo Statuti

Papusza (Bronisława Wajs) nacque il 17 agosto 1908 o il 10 maggio 1910 a Lublino e morì l’8 febbraio 1987 a Inowrocław a 76 anni. Da bambina apprese a leggere e a scrivere in segreto, sfidando i divieti della tradizione familiare e del clan, aiutata dai ragazzi che frequentavano le scuole e da una commessa ebrea. Cresceva in mezzo alla natura, osservava attentamente gli alberi, i fiori, gli…

[7venti]

Canzone

Tra molti anni,

o forse non molti, prima,

le tue mani il mio canto ritroveranno.

Quando è nato?

Di giorno, o nel sonno?

E ricorderai, e mi penserai

è stata una favola,

o era tutto vero?

E i miei canti

e tutto il resto

dimenticherai.

Papusza (Bronislawa Wajs), poetessa rom (Lublino 1908 – Inowrocław 1987)

Traduzione di Paolo Statuti

[clunce]

Select any 2 poems provided below about the Holocaust. List of Poets/Poems: Bro

Select any 2 poems provided below about the Holocaust. List of Poets/Poems: Bro

Select any 2 poems provided below about the Holocaust. List of Poets/Poems: Bronislawa Wajs: Tears of Blood Primo Levi: Buna Chaim Nachman Bialik: After My Death; On the Slaughter Martin Niemöller: First They Came for the Jews Mary Elizabeth Frye: Do not stand at my grave and weep Carl Sandburg: Grass Miklós Radnóti: Postcard 1; Postcard 2; Postcard 3; Postcard 4 Bertolt Brecht: The Burning of…

[diananorma]

Center For Social Justice Fellowship Grant

Center For Social Justice Fellowship Grant

https://vcfa.edu/center-for-arts…/center-fellowships/ I am honored to accept the Center for Arts + Social Justice Fellowship at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, which will support my book of Romani poetry in translation. I am a first-generation American of Romani Hungarian heritage, and I am translating the work of Romani poets such as Alexandre Romanès, Magda Szécsi, and Bronislawa Wajs…

[gregor-samsung]

Papusza (Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze - 2013)

[gwen-chan]

InstructionsFor this assignment, select one of the following options.Option 1: P

InstructionsFor this assignment, select one of the following options.Option 1: P

InstructionsFor this assignment, select one of the following options.Option 1: PoetrySelect any 2 poems about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list of poets/poems or conduct additional research on Holocaust poetry. Bronislawa Wajs: Tears of BloodPrimo Levi: BunaChaim Nachman Bialik: After My Death; On the SlaughterMartin Niemöller: First They Came for the JewsMary Elizabeth Frye:…

[gritvan]

InstructionsFor this assignment, select one of the following options.Option 1: P

InstructionsFor this assignment, select one of the following options.Option 1: P

InstructionsFor this assignment, select one of the following options.Option 1: PoetrySelect any 2 poems about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list of poets/poems or conduct additional research on Holocaust poetry. Bronislawa Wajs: Tears of BloodPrimo Levi: BunaChaim Nachman Bialik: After My Death; On the SlaughterMartin Niemöller: First They Came for the JewsMary Elizabeth Frye:…

[astillasdetinta]

Bronislawa Wajs “Papùśa”

Bronislawa Wajs “Papùśa” (1908-1987) fue una romí de una excepcional personalidad que se dio a conocer como poetisa a partir de 1951. Es poesía en estado puro. Este poema que os ofrecemos forma parte de su poemario “Papuśaqere Gilă” (1956) y está escrito en el alfabeto oficial aprobado por el IV Congreso Mundial Gitano (Varsovia, 1990) tal cual lo preparé para su publicación en el nº 8 de la Revista Archione (Madrid, 1994).

VEŚENQRI GILI

Ax, mire veśa!

Na parudŏm bi tumen

ando svèto baro ta parno

ni pal so, ni pale sovnakaja

ja laćhe bara;

E laćhe bara

keren śukar jaga

ta but pheren manuśenqe jakha.

A mire bèrga barìtka

ta paśo pani e bara

kućeder desar kućbara,

kaj keren śukar jaga.

Ando miro veś ratĕnça

paśo ćhon xaćòna jaga,

dèna dud sar laćhe bara,

kaj barvale liȝan pe vasta.

Ax, mire butkamle veśa,

kaśt kaj sungal sastipen.

Keci,

keci rromane ćhavorren barăkerden

sarkaj tumare tiknen!

A geça sar patrinăça i balval ćalavel,

ogi khanćesθar na darel.

Ćhavorre gilă bagen,

tov trosale, tov bokhale

xuten aj khelen, zer o veś len

adă siklărkerdă.

CANCIÓN DE LOS BOSQUES

¡Ah, mis bosques!

No os cambio por nada

en este gran mundo blanco,

por nada, ni por el oro

ni las piedras preciosas;

las piedras preciosas

hacen hermosos fuegos

y llenan los ojos de muchos hombres.

Pero mis montañas de piedra

y cerca del agua las rocas

me son más queridas que las deseadas piedras

que hacen hermosos fuegos.

En mi bosque por la noche

cerca de la luna brillan los fuegos,

lucen como las piedras preciosas

que los ricos llevan en sus manos.

¡Ah! ¡Mis bienamados bosques!

Arboles que huelen a salud

¡Cuántos

Cuántos chavorrillos gitanos habéis criado

como si fueran vuestros pequeños!

Si el viento mece el alma como si fuera una hoja,

el alma nada teme.

Los niños gitanos cantan,

aunque sufran, aunque estén hambrientos

saltan, juegan y bailan, como el bosque les

ha enseñado.

@GitanizandoWorl

https://gitanizate.wordpress.com/2017/11/21/poemas-en-romano-de-4-gitanas/

, Bronislawa Wajs “Papùśa”

[roricomics]

#100Days100Women Day 80: Bronislawa Wajs was a poet and singer nicknamed "Papusza" (Doll). She was interested in reading & writing from an early age, and would catch chickens to sell a local Jewish family in exchange for teaching her. Her family was insular and didn't approve of her learning outside ways, but Bronislawa persevered. During the Nazi era she hid from Germans in the forest, as they hunted Romani to send to concentration camps. Afterward she and her family would take in a Polish poet who they would befriend and who would publish her poems, but also things he learned about the Polish Romani, causing much strife in her family.