april 8th is interntional romani day, a day where we celebrate our cultures and identity, but also speak up about our abuse

thus, a thread on how to appreciate romani culture without appropriating it and how to be a good, useful ally

first of all, learn the difference between appreciating a culture and appropriating it

"you are surrounded by people of the culture, you’re using it as a means to relate them in that environment and nobody’s profiting off of it" http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/28767/1/how-to-culturally-appreciate-and-not-culturally-appropriate

1) consume romani media

may it be radio, movies, visual arts, music... consuming media is one way we can actively engage with and learn about another culture without being disrespectful

ex: radio romano, tony gatlif's movies, romarchive...

2) buy your "gypsy" clothes at actual romani owned stores

remember the difference between appropriation and appreciation while doing so. http://romani.hu  allows you to buy romani inspired clothing without being appropriative through modern designs with beautiful patterns

3) learn out languages (without appropriating it)

learning a language is a wonderful way to acknowledge and understand a new culture, how they view the world, but also to develop your brain ;)

ressources:
* romlex
* romaniprojekt
* dictionaries
*

4) consume and support romani art

you can purchase art made by roma or go see a festival, buy romani artists' albums, buy dvds... the list is long. learn to consume our art first, instead of putting it in second place after non-roma's depiction of us

5) learn our history

learn how we live, learn how we came to europe, learn why we're a "closeted people", learn where racism comes from to better fight it

resources:
* http://kopachi.com/articles/a-new-look-at-our-romani-origins-and-diaspora-by-ronald-lee/
* romafacts

6) lend an ear

listening to ethnic roma speak about our culture, or reading and sharing articles written by ethnic roma are efficient ways to not fall into some sort of twisted (white) savior complex and acknowledging us

read romani newspapers, retweet us, hear us

video: how not to be a white savior
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1094334604041379

when fighting antiromanism or talking to a romani person about romani issues, always try to put them first, and not you.

7) donate to organizations

one of the most famous romani organization is the ERRC. donating to the ERRC is helpful in many ways: paying lawyers to defend romani interests, trial state and institutionalized racism, bring justice to communities and people...

8) dont hesitate to speak with us

we are not closed to the non-romani world, we interact with it on a daily basis, we don't mind your (respectful) questions and how you acknowledge us and our feelings. if you're not sure about something, if you want to learn more: reach out