Melina’s father, a Romani man from Prilep, first came to the USA in 1967, followed by the rest of his family who gradually settled in New York. In this first episode of the series, Melina tells the story of her paternal grandparents, who grew and sold tobacco in what is today North Macedonia. Her grandfather first emigrated to Vienna, Austria, where he worked in various jobs to raise money so the family could emigrate to the USA. After arriving in New York, Melina’s grandmother did her best to take any job that came her way, working in factories producing sausages or staples.
Melina’s grandfather also tried his hand at business and took care of several properties. “More of our family members gradually came here. According to what my parents told me, they first all lived in one apartment and then gradually arranged their own separate housing. It was a big family community,” Melina explains.
For a long time she never suspected that she was Romani. As a child she believed she was of Spanish origin because she looked like her Hispanic friends, and she took on some of their cultural features.
“For almost 10 years I thought I was Puerto Rican, so that’s great,” she says cheerfully, adding that she realized her origin when she visited Macedonia at the age of 12. “That’s where I saw how my father lived, which was a small room with his parents and three sisters. Back then, I could see how badly they were living. If I went just two blocks down there were pebbled streets, beautiful stores, this, that and the other,” she says about what it was like to realize she is of Romani origin.
“The sense of community there is much larger, you could feel it as much bigger. That’s where my love for my own community comes from. When I come back here [to the USA] and I hear the word ‘Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy’, I said ‘No, wait, wait, wait. That’s not it. We’re Romani, we’re not ‘Gypsy’,” Melina, who lives with her own children and husband in the Bronx, explains with determination.
The #me.Rom documentary series is being filmed for ROMEA TV by František Bikár and offers viewers a unique view of the lives of Roma living in three different US states. ROMEA TV will publish five interviews from this series over the next few weeks.
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