The Confusing Case of Evelyn Mae Boswell

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-by Serenity A. Velasco Valle

Since last week, the country, if not the world, is watching the case of missing 15 month old Evelyn Mae Boswell unfold. Romany Gypsies in the United States are following this particularly closely. Why? Little Evelyn is one of us.
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Based on what has been said, authorities believe Evelyn was last seen (at least by non-family) sometime around December 10 or 11, 2019 by a babysitter.

Evelyn’s mum, Megan “Maggie” Boswell stated that she had last seen Evelyn on December 26, 2019. She claimed Evelyn was with “someone” who was watching the toddler while she worked, and would not say who that was. As time went on and more interviews occurred, Maggie changed her story and said that Evelyn was with her mother, Evelyn’s grandmother Angela (Jones) Boswell. It is unclear at this time whether Maggie did have a job, or where it was.

When asked why she (Maggie) had not reported Evelyn missing in December, she stated because she knew who had Evelyn and that she had not been worried about Evelyn’s whereabouts until February, when “the person who had her” disappeared and stopped answering phone calls.

On February 18, 2020, Evelyn’s grandfather (Maggie’s father) Tommy Boswell Sr .-who is divorced from Angela (Jones) Boswell- called the Department of Children’s Services asking for a well check, as he and other family members had not seen Evelyn since Thanksgiving. The case was then referred to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office. Allegedly at some point around that time, Angela told Tommy Sr. if he called it in, he would “regret it”. It is unclear what she may have meant by that.

On February 19, 2020, at 7 pm CST an Amber Alert was issued for Evelyn Mae Boswell.

On February 20, 2020, Hunter Wood, the ex-boyfriend of Evelyn’s mum Maggie told CBS affiliate WJHL that he never saw the little girl when the two were dating over the course of a few weeks. He said Boswell told him the toddler was staying with Evelyn’s father, who was on military leave for Christmas. Screenshots seen since then show that Hunter was dating Maggie longer than he claimed to media. A photo of them with friends or family surfaced that was posted February 4 by Hunter. Hunter has since locked down or deleted his FB. At this time, we are unaware if he has addressed this discrepancy with media or authorities.

February 21, 2020 at 8 am CST, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced that they were looking for a grey 2007 BMW with Tennessee tags because the people in it may have had information concerning Evelyn’s whereabouts. It came out that the car had been reported stolen. It also came out shortly after that the car belonged to Maggie’s recent boyfriend Hunter’s mum. Maggie appeared in juvenile court for undisclosed reason.

At 1 pm CST on the same day, the Sheriff’s Office held a press conference saying that both Maggie- who has full custody, and Evelyn’s father Ethan, who is in the army and stationed in Louisiana were cooperating with authorities and participating in the investigation. They also stated that Maggie had given conflicting information to them. Tommy Boswell Sr. and Tommy Boswell Jr. (Maggie’s brother) offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Evelyn. The current reward is $59,950 in total.

At 8 pm, The BMW, Angela (Jones) Boswell, and William McCloud (Angela’s boyfriend) are located in Wilkes County, North Carolina. They both are arrested for possession of a stolen property. Allegedly, Maggie was going to purchase the vehicle from Hunter’s mum but the transaction was not completed.

Evelyn’s mother Maggie Boswell tells our news partners WCYB (CNN affiliate) she had a “person she trusted” watch Evelyn while she was at work and they disappeared. Maggie said she didn’t contact police because she was threatened. This was the first time she’d mentioned being threatened.

February 24, 2020, Angela (Jones) Boswell was extradited to Tennessee and placed into custody in Sullivan County. The TBI held a press conference, releasing home video of Evelyn. In the press conference, they said they’d received more than 400 tips, but all are unsubstantiated. Evelyn’s mother, Maggie, told CBS affiliate WJHL her mother, Angela took Evelyn to a campground in Mendota, Virginia to some people in a silver camper. Authorities searched the area but little Evelyn was not found.

On February 25, 2020, Maggie told CBS affiliate WJHL she is pregnant and unable to take a polygraph test because of it. The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office responded, saying they don’t use polygraph tests, and the TBI says Maggie was never scheduled to meet with a TBI polygraph examiner. That same day, Maggie was arrested and charged with false reporting.

February 26, 2020, a second news conference was held by Sullivan County Sheriff’s office, in which they state that Maggie’s conflicting stories have hindered the investigation. They also said they had received over 500 tips at that point.

Early this same afternoon, authorities arrived at an address in Wilkes County, not far from where Angela and William were arrested in the vehicle, to search a pond. Information surfaced that the pond is behind the home of William’s grandmother. The pond search was inconclusive and the search for little Evelyn continues…

An interview by the Bristol Herald Courier with David Jones, Angela (Jones) Boswell’s father and Evelyn’s great-grandfather, offered more conflicting statements regarding the status of the BMW. According to Jones, the car was given to Angela by Hunter and Maggie at his home just weeks ago. His statements also indicate, like the photo of Hunter and Maggie, that they dated more recently than Hunter claims. You can listen to the audio of the interview here. (opens in new tab)

At 7 pm EST, many American Romany Gypsies held a virtual candle-lighting vigil for Evelyn. Mine continues to burn now.
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Many of us have also changed our FB profile picture to a lovely graphic made by our phen Nellieanna. Feel free to use it.

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Feburary 27, 2020, an article has been published. William McCloud’s grandmother speaks out. She states that she did see William the night of his arrest. You can read the article here. (opens in new tab)

Friday, February 28 2020, Authorities warn that “Social Media Warriors” are harming the investigation. Apparently, people are sending them thousands of screenshots of peoples theories, taking away from the time they could be investigating more credible tips, of which they have now gotten over 600. They have to investigate every tip, even off the wall theories, if they are sent in. Read more on this here. (opens in new tab)

Late Friday morning, investigators searched an RV and trailer park near Boone Lake in Tennessee. The park is owned by Tommy Boswell Jr (Evelyn’s uncle-Maggie’s brother) and allegedly, Maggie and Evelyn had lived there for a time. Investigators took an item from under the trailer. Speculations abound as to what the item is, many say a pillow. We don’t know more, you can read the article here. (opens in new tab)

Police and media interviewed an employee of the KFC in Yadkinville, TN. Employee states she believes she saw the grandmother (Angela) and her boyfriend pull into the restaurant in a silver car. They had a child with them. The sighting occurred before the Amber Alert was issued and it is not yet confirmed if this sighting was actually of Evelyn. When the employee heard of the Amber Alert, she called in the tip. Media talked to the young woman, watch and read here. (opens in new tab)

Angela (Jones) Boswell, Evelyn’s grandmother bonded out of jail. She is required to wear an ankle bracelet. She declined interviews as she left and got into a car with an undisclosed driver.

After a relatively quiet weekend, Maggie appeared in court on Monday, March 2, 2020, regarding her $25,000 bond for the false reporting charge. You can watch it here, but the reverb and echo in the courtroom make it hard to hear at times. Her lawyer argued that it was too high and she would be unable to bond out. Judge upheld the $25K.

Crime 411 posted that another arrest was made in connection to the case, but the PD is saying that is false information!

A photo of Evelyn, thought by some to be the last time she was seen, has been circulating in various FB groups. It shows Evelyn at a motor speedway in Tennessee with her mother, Maggie. A young woman commented on this photo in one of the groups that she could see her family was in the background of the photo and that they were at the speedway on December 28, 2019. This date is two days later than what Maggie had said was the last time she saw Evelyn. In this photo, Evelyn is wearing the outfit that Maggie had identified as being what she wore the last time she saw her. (Pink track suit- which can be seen under the bib in another photo from the same night, and a pink bow. Not seen in this photo the pink socks and shoes.) The date of this photo has NOT been confirmed by law enforcement.

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The Amber Alert is still in effect.

The anti-Gypsy rhetoric started as soon as Maggie mentioned being Gypsy. Many of us have spent hours dispelling “Gypsy myths” about stealing babies, etc. Most are open to education and we continue to address questions of this nature while at the same time attempting to redirect the conversation back to the MOST IMPORTANT THING, finding Evelyn! However, some of our ranks have been blocked from the group within the time I’ve been writing this post.

This investigation is ongoing and I will continue to update as new information comes available.

(please also feel free to distribute the graphic at the top of this post with Evelyn’s info)

Everyone waited with bated breath for some resolution, hopefully some good news, about the whereabouts of sweet little Evelyn Mae. The authorities kept everything very tight-lipped, as they had stated social media “detectives” were hindering the case. Hence, things fell relatively silent for nearly an entire week. Until, we heard that which we’ve all been dreading.

On Friday, March 6, 2020, following up on a tip, TBI and Sullivan Co. Sheriffs returned to the property of Tommy Boswell Sr, Tommy Boswell Jr, and Mary Boswell (Tommy Sr’s mum) and during a search found human remains. [News article-opens in new tab] They believe them to be those of our little Evelyn. Autopsy and DNA confirmation is in progress, so we won’t know for sure until that is complete, but honestly, we’re all pretty sure the remains are her’s. It is a sad day for American Gypsies… a sad day indeed.

I will close out this post now. Once we know for sure whether the remains are or are not Evelyn, I will update. Thank you all who followed this story with us. 😦

UPDATE: The child’s remains were concluded to be little Evelyn. As of now, the case is sealed and we know nothing more except that Maggie is still in jail and that Angela and Tommy were released. (Though at least Angela has been re-arrested at least once on unrelated charges).

I will continue to update this thread as new information is available. For now, it seems that will not happen until someone is officially charged with this unspeakable crime.

UPDATE 2 (3 Apr 2024): Megan (Maggie) is still in jail awaiting trial which has now been postponed until 2025. They are currently debating whether to change venue to another county, bring in jurors from outside of Sullivan County, or keep the trial in Sullivan County with local jurors.

Megan is currently charged with:

  1. Felony Murder
  2. Aggravated Child Abuse
  3. Aggravated Child Neglect
  4. Tampering with Evidence
  5. 12 counts of False Reporting
  6. Abuse of a Corpse
  7. Failure to Report a Death Under Suspicious, Unusual, or Unnatural Circumstances.

-Serenity A Velasco Valle (BA/psych, AA/SocSci, AA/Humanities) is a Spanish Gitana and Romanichal Gypsy activist, author and independent film producer who lives in the USA.

Why the Word Gypsy Should Only Be Used By the Romani people.

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-As interpreted by Geraldine Palmer from Bob Lovell

In our progressive society of today, that is now able to boldly claim its individual right’s in so many ways, it seems we the Romani people and children of the Romani Ratt still are sadly so limited in so many various ways, and that is unfair to say the least. The word Gypsy to us is sacred, as sacred as the word Jew is to Judaism, and as sacred as many of the ethnic terminologies are to other groups of people to their ethnic identities, yet ,those groups can claim their titles and defend them, we -the Romani -are still fighting for the rights over the word Gypsy, which identifies us, and it has since around the 900’s before we backtracked into Iran and Turkey. The Iranian poet Firdausi (c. 930-1020) wrote of the Gypsies in the epic history of the Iranians.

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Why is the word Gypsy sacred to us? First let me say this, we can not claim to be of only Asian Indian origin, and even in many DNA tests of today many Romani DNA markers are confused and grouped with Jewish DNA markers, thus again making it harder and inaccurate to attach to only one Ethnic identity, nor can we claim only Romania, or only Macedonia and Hungary ,we can not lay claim only to Iran, we also can not say that we are only of Western Europe or East, nor can we say we are just European, we can not claim only Bohemia, known now as the Czech Republic, we are not only known as Bavarian, we can not only claim Italian, we can not claim solely Spain or Portugal, and even though we match very highly in DNA tests in modern times with Britain, we can not only claim British DNA, we can not lay claim to only Scandinavia, Poland and Russia, or the Balkans. But, wonderfully, we Romani/Romany/Gypsy, can lay claim to the map we all share in our DNA and we can claim our ancestors the Gypsies. Surely you understand why the word Gypsy is ours by rights, and why the word Gypsy is ours to claim, we can only identify as Romani Gypsy because only claiming one out of our unique DNA structure would be inaccurate, as a unique genetic group we truly deserve to lay claim to our sacred ethnic identity of Gypsy.

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Gypsy, a word the people of the world throw around to describe their eccentric, to describe their fortune tellers, to describe their circus folks, the word Gypsy is thrown around in T.V, in movies and on social media, yet we the Romani -we the Romani ratt and the children of -still fight for our sacred right to lay claim to our own ethnicity, and to lay claim to our titles, just as every other Ethnic group in the world has the right of to do, we too deserve respect, and the right to our ethnic individuality due to our unique genetic map/mix. We are Gypsy, we are the Romani/Romany people and when asked what we identify as -we deserve to exclusive rights to our peoples ethnic identity, a sacred people, the Gypsy.

-Bob Lovell is a direct descendant of Welsh Romani Gypsies, a Rom activist, Story-teller & Singer/songwriter living in New Zealand.
-Geraldine Palmer is a Roma/Sinti/Kale writer and genealogy enthusiast from the USA.

They Deserve Not Horses

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-by Serenity A Velasco Valle

Romany Gypsies, are certainly a race in the sociological sense and, for the most part, by this day and time are not pure in the sense of having only ancestry from predominantly one culture. By definition of our ways (historically and in some cases today) being migratory in nature, and having a sense of departure from an ancient homeland in which almost none still live – the border territories between Hindustan and Pakistan; in the Land of Kings – interactions with people outside of that culture is nearly guaranteed, and in many ways necessary for the survival of the identity of the group as a unit in the first place.

Innumerable comparisons to the Jewish people are available, and should be apparent. The Hebrew language was dead, no more common in the modern time than Latin in the 1800s, yet today is the first language of several millions – largely because of the successful reconstitution of Medinat Yisrael, The State of Israel, in all its continuity of Jewish tradition, both religious and legal; military, social, and community. The result has been the virtually ex nihilo rebuilding of an entire society separated from itself by almost 3000 years.

Romany Gypsy are much the same, prior to the erection of a formal political unit either real or imagined. With the Gypsy Courts being the traditional higher form of political unit available, and with numerous and not always positive interactions between many of the constituent tribes, significant difficulty exists in emulating the accomplishments of our Jewish counterparts, who infamously were targeted alongside ourselves by persons and governments who used incredibly finite definitions of blood relationships to determine who would be exiled, who would be kept; and whom would be murdered en masse.

Endlösung der Judenfrage – The Final Solution for the Jewish Question was a political euphemism used to assuage the milder passive constitutions of those in positions of authority in central Europe between 1920 and 1945. At least, that is what the words were. The action itself was a formal declaration of genocide against several millions – and not themselves even always German citizens. Or, at least; citizens before the racist laws were passed stripping them of citizenship, and thus from any protection of the law. The Wannsee Conference established all the protocol by which the industrial strength of a then-modern country would be spent in the most efficacious eradication of large fractions of the population of Europe as the machinery and technology of the time would allow. It defined the entirety of the Europe, and specifically Germans and Germanic derived people, into classifications entirely by the proportion of Jewish blood compared to an assumption of Aryan.

The very delusion of Aryan blood is laughable, specifically because it refers to Persians. Ask any citizen of Teheran or Ctesiphon today what they call themselves, and get ready to laugh when a person would compare that concept to any National Socialist. We, the Romany Gypsy, have more in common with Persians, Turks, and any number of people continuing East of there back to India, than we do with any member of ABBA, despite their song Dancing Queen; we have had no monarchs but hordes of dervishes. And we were executed by droves alongside our Jewish compatriots, by a heartless mechanical state which had no concept of its own limitations or frailty.

NA BISTER: The Red Army liberated Auschwitz – Birkenau on 27 January 1945. Let it never be forgotten both, that it was this day which freed those prisoners of the concentration camps; nor that it was valiant men and women making the Volga red with the rotten blood of damned Fascists who did it. Chelmo, Majdanek, Sobibor, Belzec, Maly Trostenets, Jasenovac; Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau were all names of places where we were slaughtered because of how much blood of a certain type we possessed; as determined by ingrate sophists who stole the identity of a group of those whom they obliterated for no better reason than hate.

There are those in the modern world who want to identify correctly, all the Rom as ourselves and this is good. There are those who want to divide away persons who have not had their entire lives to learn about being Romany Gypsy; those who are Gypsies who want to hurt the inquisitiveness of people who just recently learned they had another facet of their existence. People who may have had, for perhaps a good three generations, not known they were Romany Gypsy, just for the same reason that someone might not have known they were Jewish – to protect themselves from the vitriol and anger from people who really want to find everyone who has that heritage, round them up, and remove them from the planet.

The sort of person who is going to use this kind of anger against people who are learning about being Gypsy is using the same argument, the same logic, as a bunch of uneducated, arrogant, self righteous sorts who thought that they had enough piss and vinegar to undo the Soviet Union just because they did have enough to compel all the armies of Eastern Europe who had been so abjectly decimated by a previous engagement a few years prior. The same sort of person who thinks that honorable soldiering is the same thing as running down pedestrians, chasing people through alleyways with firearms and adding a bunch of holes to bleed out of when those pedestrians have no weapons to fight back; is just something Tha Boiz do for a good time.

Fuck These People. All of them. Neither is that conduct indicative of a professional soldier, nor is it exemplary of any kind of role model to adhere any desire to emulate.

If we are so lucky, one day we may have a little place of our own full of dikhlos, bangles, fuzzy horses, fantastic competition sports like only Cossacks and Scots could be admitted for cross-league games; with a national ensign of a red wheel imposed on a blue over green square, quartered on some magnificent field with artistry showing freedom and a mustang inability to be broken or caged.

Much like Dawlat Israel. Until that time, we have only each other for strength in a world which is becoming smaller and more oppressive with each passing year. And, for any of the Gypsies who are comfortable being compared to actual Nazis, with actual logic; go forth and be happy. Continue to be the lapdog of the forces of literal evil that brought humans to the real brink of our own destruction. Enjoy your fever dreams of conquest. But enjoy them alone, because we disown you, who are worse than an enemy – you have become a traitor to your own kind. Much like Judas, go spend your 30 bits of silver on whatever whoredom lets you sleep at night.

As for the rest of Romany Gypsies; who have borne ourselves with aplomb; know that our time is soon, and not to be spent concerned with the idiosyncrasies of Nazis. One more time, just in the event that this got confused along the way: FUCK THEM. They deserve not horses.  

-Serenity A Velasco Valle (BA/psych, AA/SocSci, AA/Humanities) is a Spanish Gitana and Romanichal Gypsy activist, author and independent film producer who lives in the USA.

A Rant

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-by Antonia Noël Gardiner

The majority of my family were terminated in the Holocaust, with the only known survivors being those who came to America before WWII. In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, I’m going to go on a little rant.

I got a whole slew of experiences throughout my life that I’d like to talk about and open some peoples’ eyes regarding my ethnic heritage, Rromani.

I used to work with a bunch of Europeans. I got told that I was probably dirty and uneducated, disgusting, trashy, that I would probably try to hex them (not entirely untrue after their treatment towards me), etc, etc, etc, all because I’m Rromani. A few of them were all from the same region (Bulgaria). They started talking to each other about me in Bulgarian, making racist jokes about me, right in front of me, and when I asked them to translate they said “oh no, you wouldn’t like them.” Yeah, no shit, because it’s probably incredibly racist. I don’t tell Europeans what race I am when they ask because I can only bet that they are probably incredibly racist.

Now as far as things on the internet go… I have a comment on a youtube video about Rromani people talking specifically about how they are uneducated and disgusting trash people (but trying to go about it “nicely”) and so in this comment I said that I was educated, had several degrees, am a nurse and help people, etc… hundreds of people responded to me, most of them calling me a disgusting trashy whore/filth/etc and that they wish all of my people had died in the Holocaust and that just because I have degrees or help people that it doesn’t change “WHO” I am, I am still a disgusting “gypsy” who deserves to die.

In the United States, most people don’t even know what my race is, and they think it’s completely okay to culturally appropriate “gypsy” by living a loosely-based lifestyle of said Gypsies (a term that some Rromani have attempted to “take back” with a capital G, as opposed to a lower-case G) just because they like to travel a lot and maybe read Tarot cards or wear a head scarf thinking it’s cute. Then they tell me when I am calling them out for being racist, that the term “gypsy” has changed and that “it’s not racist anymore” and that I don’t “own the phrase” and don’t have the right to “tell them how to use it.” Just like white people who culturally appropriate black people and use the N-word. But here it goes so far to have the term blatantly transcribed across buildings as business names and Halloween costumes and T-shirts and wall decals and phone cases and tattoos and vernacular like “gypped” (a term which means swindled, tricked, thieved, etc) and even peoples’ names or worse, their DOGS’ names. My people are reduced to the name of someones’ dog, who probably gets treated better than my people do even to this day. Can you imagine the N-word being on a business? Can you imagine a white person naming their child or their DOG the N-word and then trying to tell a person of color that they are being insensitive towards THEM for trying to inform them that what they are doing and have done is completely racist?

Sorry, not sorry, I will not tolerate your racism. I am a Rromani Gypsy (the latter word you are not allowed to use because it is mine and my peoples’ and my claim of power to take back from my oppressors) and I will be heard. Opre Rroma!

Just for fun, I decided to copy down some of the comments on this youtube post.
My comment:
Noël
1 year ago
In America we are called Gypsies (some find this racist, but others have “taken the word back”). We prefer Romani or Roma. We are treated like normal people and have normal jobs. Most of the time in America, no one knows we’re Romani. I am an Emergency Medical Technician, just obtained my bachelor’s degree in nursing, and will be starting my new career as an Emergency Room nurse in less than two months, continuing in the service of others in their worst moments. I am active in community service, educated, play violin, and still hold pride in my people. It is a shame to see such remarks from the people of Europe. You all should be ashamed of yourselves, and learn not to throw stones in glass houses. Be better people. Nais tuke tah Atch Devell. (“Thank you, and God is with you and yours everywhere and forever” in Romanes).

Their comments: (note: these have not been edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation)
ScratchFormula
1 year ago
Shut up gypsy pig

Big Ounce
1 year ago
We have way worse words for Gypsies in Europe. Most European gypsies are thiefs and beggars. You are not Roma or Romani because you are not Roman, Romanian or European. Even in the most liberal nations in Europe you have extreme discrimination against Gypsies. For example in my country of Iceland a gypsie can’t enter the country if there are children with the people. Gypsie beggars are regularly robbed by the locals and often assaulted. If a gypsie is caught begging here in Iceland he will be deported and he will have no chance in courts. Most of our Gypsie population is either in prison, in school (yes Gypsies can learn it was a shock for me) or they are hatd working people that pay their taxes.

Amaze World
1 year ago
Go back to India

THEO the agenda shill
1 year ago
LMAO,what a hypocrisy,not we but you should be better people and stop stealing,murdering,leeching,ect.

Roy Batty
1 year ago
Noel – So you are a normal member of society. Good for you. But not all Romani people are you, now are they? The bad reputation they have in Europe is largely deserved. But hey, let’s ignore people causing the problem, and let’s instead focus on, and blame, the ones pointing it out, shall we? That will surely work…

Morgan Hayward
1 year ago
Noel
You could just replace the word “Romani” with “ woman” because like most woman you use your own Solipsistic world view as a template casting aspersions.
Narcissistic would be a better description
“I’m wonderful, talented and educated, hence all Gypsies are excellent like me”
Cool story.
Meanwhile the only thing you can accomplish is to rally the online racists who chime in with their melanin about solidarity and understanding. Veiling their socially accepted racism against ‘white men’
Pathetic.

No Name
1 year ago
You offend Romanians by being called “Romani”.

Kevin sSOLOo Beasley
1 year ago
Do not shrink me, gypsy. I serious

Christus Rex
1 year ago
Your particular case doesn’t change the fact that most Romani in Europe are petty criminals living on begging for money, scam, theft and other criminal traffics linked to international criminal networks.

Ангел Господинов
1 year ago
You will never find a romani like you here in my country they are just doing criminal stuff and are so hated in the Balkans for that cuz they don’t pay taxes,they don’t edutaced them selfs they just steal.I am not being any racist to you but i hate romani(gypsis) and here in my country (Bulgaria) we call the attetude of the people dosen;t matter if you are bulgarian or romani if you are like a the mass of gypsis you are one of them

Bella
1 year ago
Noël You are an educated gypsy. One in a million, in general gypsies are scammers, robbers, uneducated and so on… and I’m romanian, I grew up seeing gypsies doing nothing but bad things to others, 90% I must say. Similar to Indians but Romanian speakers, always dirty and trying to pass as Romanians in other European countries so they can give us bad reputation!

Grog Frt
1 year ago
Good for you…here in europe gypsies are completely different…they steal,beat up people for just looking at them,theyre trully a pest in this continent

Ego Twistick
1 year ago
As you show, there is nothing wrong with your race, just the culture which is disgusting and backwards, watch videos on the Applebee’s fayre or your people’s illegal land settling or the crime rates or anything else and realise that the only thing keeping your race in the stone age is your culture

Ego Twistick
1 year ago
IT IS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE, IT IS THE GYPSY COMMUNITY AND CULTURE THAT ARE CANCEROUS

Asako262
1 year ago
Stfu shitskinned idol worshippers

Lorik Ibraimi
11 months ago
Noël Just be real! 90% of Romani are thieves and illiterate…

Larry Medina
11 months ago
Noël some asshole gypsies stole exctasy from his best friend here in San Diego. I think u guys naturally steal. It’s part of your genetics. U will steal from hospitals.

-Antonia Noël Gardiner, BSN, RN, EMT is a Lovari Gypsy who lives in the USA.

75th Anniversary of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau Liberation

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-by Jon Steffens

Between June, 1940 and January, 1945 unspeakable horrors were visited upon the over 1.3 million tragic souls unfortunate enough to have been transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Jews, Romani, Poles, and multiple others perceived as enemies of the Third Reich endured torture, experimentation, and for at least 1.1 million, a cruel death.

Much is said about the suffering of the Jews in Auschwitz, and rightfully so, as every victim of that horrific camp is as important as the next, but little is told of the Sinti and Roma exterminated there.

Approximately 23,000 registered Roma and Sinti were sent to Auschwitz, where they were held in the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Gypsy Family Camp) of Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Primarily used as camp construction labor, at least 20,000 Romani died there. In early August 1944, the SS loaded the remaining population of the Gypsy camp into trucks after an unsuccessful attempt at fighting their captors. They were all later killed in gas chambers. Men, women, children and the elderly. Entire families, all wiped from existence over the ludicrous ideas of racial purity and superiority.

Mercifully, on January 27, 1945 Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet army, who were then joined by the Polish Red Cross. The crimes of that camp were vast. Some of the tragedy was documented, while much of it lives on in the memories of survivors.

Today, lets remember all those lost, and all those affected – be they Rom, Jew, or otherwise, familiya or not – due to the terrors of that wretched place. May they never be forgotten, and may the Porajmos never happen again. Opre Roma!

-Jon Steffens is a Czech/Romanichal writer from Texas.

Gypsies Worldwide Mourn the Loss of Ronald Lee

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-by Serenity A Velasco Valle

Ronald Lee, Romany Gypsy author, scholar and activist

Lee passed away overnight, 25 Jan 2020 at age 86. He was born in Montreal, Canada. He spent a few years in the UK as a child, due to the outbreak of WWII he and his family were unable to return to Canada until 1945.

As a young boy, he worked with his uncle at fairs and amusement parks while going to night school. In 1965 he began activism, working with other Canadian Romany Gypsies. In the 1970’s he worked with Romany Gypsy refugees from the Communist bloc and spoke at the United Nations. In the 80’s-90’s he continued to help those seeking asylum from their countries.

 In 1997, he initiated and was one of the founders of the Roma Community and Advocacy Centre in Toronto and in 1998 the Western Canadian Romani Alliance in Vancouver. Continuing his work and advocacy for the Romany Gypsy people, he taught a course on Romani Diaspora at the University of Toronto from 2003-08. In 2014, Lee was awarded an Honourary Doctorate of Law by Queen’s University in Ontario.

His books can be found by doing a simple search on Amazon. Some have been translated into numerous languages, while others have been and remain lifelines for Romany Gypsies who, for whatever reason, did not grow up speaking their own language.

In his last days, he spent time with family and friends, playing music and singing and surrounded by his loving daughters. The outpouring of love, sympathy, pictures, videos and personal stories on his Facebook page just goes to show how many lives he touched during his long and fruitful life. Achen Devlesa Kako Ronald. Latcho Drom.

-Serenity A Velasco Valle (BA/psych, AA/SocSci, AA/Humanities) is a Spanish Gitana and Romanichal Gypsy activist, author and independent film producer who lives in the USA.

King of the Gypsies

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Who really has the authority to speak on our behalf.

– by Rebekka Lee

There are varied opinions on our cultural issues, in the Gypsy community, or rather, I should say communities. There are many ‘vitsi’, or tribes for lack of a better word in English, throughout the world with their own differences incorporated into our culture, their own languages, foods, traditions, and…opinions. Therefore not one of us can speak for another, and any that say they can, say they are the authority (don’t even get me started on the fake kings and queens…suffice to say, we have none. Period.), or silences other’s opinions, are suspiciously questionable…or narcissistic, take your pick. Usually it is people who only recently learned of their heritage, or just simply don’t want to be what they really are, who do such a thing.

Take Natalia Ivend, for example. If you have been in the Gypsy circles, you will likely have heard of her. Despite insurmountable evidence to the contrary, she claims she is of Gypsy heritage. She is, in fact, white British. The more you question her, the more she doubles down trying to silence you and discredit you to others. But even our scholars have pointed out her language is made up, and her claims of things like there are Irish Romanichal Gypsies, are patently false….Also, her real name is Julie Winter.

Another example would be any number of the folks who took dna tests (btw, no tests show ‘Gypsy’ as an ethnicity), or found the word ‘Gypsy’ in some document, and started out asking questions online about their heritage, but then very quickly started to shut down those who grew up in the culture, and start writing articles, or joining a Harvard “Gypsy” team, as though they are well versed in our culture and an authority to speak on it. They are not. They often make claims like the very racially charged “the word ‘Gypsy’ is a slur”, as they often fancy themselves the next generation of activists and are attempting to make every aspect of our culture somehow a victimhood, in order to garner more attention to themselves, or their organizations that profit from such controversy. The word is not a slur. Though, I do recognize those, even well established Gypsies, who find it to be, and respect their choice not to use it. I have written an article on the origins of our names, also in this blog, if you are interested to read it.

Another disagreeable practice that occurs too often among us are those who have taken it upon themselves to determine who is allowed in the club. And by this, I don’t mean those of us who tell a 40-something white hippie that she is not Gypsy…you’re not. Sorry. I mean those who have decided we are a culture, not a heritage. We are a heritage. So if, say, you were born to Gypsy parentage, but you were adopted by gadje (non-Gypsies), or your family hid your heritage to protect against the rampant racism, so you weren’t raised in the culture, that doesn’t magically make you not Gypsy. If someone of Chinese heritage is raised by Latinos in Brazil, they are still of Chinese heritage. That doesn’t change.

It is a strange time with many misguided individuals within our community who have made decisions that do not connect with reality. It wasn’t like this when I was growing up, it started up mostly around the early 2000’s. They are issues I hope will be dissolved in the near future as more and more gadje learn about us, and our history and culture, and can begin to discern between fact and fiction, removing any power from those who seek to deceive for their own personal gain.

So, in the end, as you can see, we have no kings, and no single Gypsy can speak for all of us. As you might with any ethnic group or culture, I hope you will strive to learn from several sources, and people of Gypsy heritage to get a more well balanced idea of who we are. It is a wonderful, and colorful heritage, worthy of learning about.

~ Rebekka Lee is a Gypsy and Blackdutch artist in Miami, Florida.

Gypsy Clean Up Week

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~by Serenity A Velasco Valle

My internet is spotty today, so this will be a short post, with links to outside articles on the subject.

On 13 June 1938 German police began a week of operations against Roma and Sinti people in Germany. Now called “Gypsy Clean Up Week“, over 1,000 Roma and Sinti were arrested and deported to concentration camps between Jun 13 and Jun 18.  

Throughout the Nazi “reign of terror ” known to most as The Holocaust, but to Roma as The Porajmos, many Romany people were murdered, or died in concentration camps. The SS and police incarcerated Roma in Bergen-Belsen, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Ravensbrück. Some Gypsy families were completely obliterated, with every member being killed or dying in the camps. I have friends who are only here today by sheer luck, that one or two of their ancestors somehow survived the camps. This article has a pretty good timeline and differences among the various countries in which Gypsies were affected by the Nazi regime.

The actual number of Gypsies killed by the Nazis in gas chambers, mass firing squads, or by the disease and illness found rampant in the camps is unknown. A conservative estimate is 220,000 with it more likely being closer to around 500,000. One researcher, Ian Hancock, a well-known Romany scholar, says in an article on The Romani Archives and Documentation Center’s website: “The count of half a million Sinti and Roma murdered between 1939 and 1945 is too low to be tenable; for example in the Soviet Union many of the Romani dead were listed under non-specific labels such as Liquidierungsübrigen [remainder to be liquidated], ‘hangers-on’ and ‘partisans’. . .The final number of the dead Sinti and Roma may never be determined.  We do not know precisely how many were brought into the concentration camps; not every concentration camp produced statistical material; moreover, Sinti and Roma are often listed under the heading of remainder to be liquidated, and do not appear in the statistics for Gypsies .” The 1997 figure reported by the late Dr Sybil Milton, then senior historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Research Institute in Washington put the number of Romani lives lost by 1945 at “between a half and one and a half million”.

While many more Jews and other groups than Romany were dead at the end of The Holocaust, we Roma suffered a huge blow, as it is estimated that up to 75% of all European Roma were victims of the Nazis. Unfortunately, we are often forgotten. I, however, will not forget. I hope you will not either. Opre Roma!

Na bister (never forget).

-Serenity A Velasco Valle (BA/psych, AA/SocSci, AA/Humanities) is a Spanish Gitana and Romanichal Gypsy activist, author and independent film producer who lives in the USA.

A Brief History of the Gypsy Language, and its People

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-by Rebekka Lee

Let’s start off with identifying who the Gypsies even are. According to research from Dr.Ronald Lee, Coptic Egyptians had a bit of an easier passage through Europe due to the papal documents they had, stating they were on pilgrimage, so Gypsies took to claiming they were also Coptics, to gain this easier passage, as well. As a result, people called them Egyptians. Over time this was shortened to Gypsians, and eventually to Gypsies. However, we originate from Gurjara, in Northwestern India. The people of this region spoke a mixture of Indo-Aryan languages.

In the beginning of the 11th century, constant warring began between these Indians, and Turkish Muslims, displacing many of the Indians, recruited as soldiers, or taken as slaves, up until 1071, when the Byzantine Army was defeated at the Battle of Manzikirt. This is when the Seljuks established the Sultanate of Roum, from which several researchers now believe the term Rom, originates, from the Romiti, the name given to the people who were conquered by, and lived under this rule (and personally why I reject being called Roma, instead of Gypsy).

That’s the short version of the lengthy history Dr.Lee details of our beginnings, now to explain how it ties into our language. These Indians, speaking their mixture of Indo-Aryan languages, ended up in an Armenian speaking region before moving on to a Greek-speaking region, taken over by the Seljuk Turks, who spoke Persian, during war times over the course of several centuries.

It’s quite an amalgamation of languages that were collected under these circumstances, and it resulted in a new language. A military-speak, a combination of all these languages and loan words picked up along the way called Koiné, the common language of the Byzantine Greeks.

It’s during this period the Gypsies were mistakenly referred to as Atsingani, which was Greek for “not to be touched”, much like the Dalits of India, which are referred to as untouchables, but in this case, the term actually originally referred to Persian Mystics, not Indians, at all. But the term stuck and now has many variants throughout Europe. Most notably, Tigan, in Romania, where the word is synonymous with ‘slave’ due to the more than 500 years Gypsies were held in slavery in the region.

This Koiné carried on through the rise of the Ottoman Turks who ended the reign of the Sultanate of Roum, after which, over time, the Indian families grew and began to migrate, generally in one group, until they reached Romania, at which point, families began to split off different directions and continue with migration. It was up to this point that our ancestors carried a generally common Gypsy language. That changed when we spread out. Different families picked up different loan words, resulting in a number of different dialects, very similar to how Native Americans have many tribes, such as Navajo and Blackfoot, and each tribe has their own distinct dialect, but they are still all one ethnic group from the same origin.

The earliest documentation of Gypsy is from Andrew Borde, who published a transcription of 13 sentences in Gypsy with an English translation, under the heading ‘Egipt Speche’ in 1542. It was an oral language, only, in the past. For example, Slovakian Gypsies orthography was codified only in 1971. Due to this, much of the history of the Gypsy language is lost, and mentions of it are few and far between.

Today, it is recognized as a minority language in many countries, and there are also some attempts to create a unified standard language. But many have lost much of the language, and speak primarily the language of the region they are from, but with Gypsy words peppered in, much the same as what is referred to as Spanglish. However, there is a concerted effort, now, to begin teaching the language again, fluently, to our youngest generation, to prevent losing a key part of our culture. More and more dialects are being developed into written form, and there is a widespread interest within our communities to learn it, and teach it, through a growing number of dictionaries and language books. Though still, none are really comprehensive yet, as you can find for other languages.

It is my hope that all the various groups of ethnic Gypsies will come together and embrace a unified image and the effort to pass on our culture for generations to come. There are certain people trying to divide us with different titles, but we are one people. The Gypsy people. And our language is beautiful, and worth every effort to keep alive.

~ Rebekka Lee is a Gypsy and Blackdutch artist in Miami, Florida.

Trúpa’s Origins

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Baxtalo!

On Facebook, there’s this kushti little group of American Gypsies, who, over a very short period of time, have become a family. The fact that many of us actually ARE distant cousins only sweetens it all the more.

One day, back in December of 2018, we were discussing wanting a place where we could link our businesses and educate others about us, American Gypsies. We’re not quite like what you see on TV, at the same time, we’re quite different in some ways to European Gypsies.

So, we did the obvious thing and ran a poll in our group as to what to call the site and this is it.

What might you find here? Well, definitely links to our businesses. Cultural posts, rants, who really knows… our subject matter will be as diverse as we are. We can’t promise regular updates, but we will put stuff up as the mood strikes us. As of right now, it’s a work in progress, we’ll be adding links on the “Our Trades” page in the coming days and weeks, and more posts, so travel back often. ~Latcho Drom!

“We identify how we want.” — American Gypsies

Adja Pookar