rom

With the blue veins of the wrists
text and photos by Daniele Bortoluzzi

The house of cards and the pilgrimage of fear of the gypsies. Reports from the annual international meeting of nomadic peoples in the land of Provence, between spontaneity and joy. With the specter of racism. .

 

595 km may be an unbridgeable gap. 595 km are geographically trifle, a little over six hours by car, a short hour of air. 595 km are like an impenetrable wall between two human conceptions, so far apart, to determine an abysmal distance.
Italy has become an extremely racist country. Racism was so ingrained that they have created a paranoid nation. The Roma, in particular, are regarded as the ultimate evil. They are the ones that undermine the security of ordinary citizens, in a strange conception of normality. Perhaps most terrible is that this country, now in free fall does not include clear and culturally because of their racism and ignorance, encouraged and used instrumentally by the "liberals" parties to the government, mainly the Northern League. The witch hunt was perpetrated in the darkest moments of our civilization, but you can not see what is very functional in a nation of fools like this. The climate is now exasperated. I still scenes in the eyes of clashes in Milan, where brave cops crushed a group of dangerous troublemakers: the majority were women and children in the field via Triboniano.

Triumph of colors

Legend has it that shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus, to save themselves from persecution, Mary Salome, Mary Jacob, with their black maid Sarah, Mary Magdalene, Martha and Lazarus fled on a boat with no oars and sails, miraculously landing on the shores of the Provencal town . The cult of the two Marys and Sarah remained in the city where they had landed, was born shortly after their deaths, but in 1484 King Henry I anointed worship. The Church has never recognized Sarah as holy, but the people of the trip proved to be immediately obedient, perhaps because of its humble beginnings, perhaps because of dark as some of them. Perhaps because she was a persecuted and forced to travel without a goal in order to survive. The cult is so strong that a tradition has it that Sara is Roma Ironically it was an Italian, the Marquis Folco de Baroncelli, to fight against the archbishop, because the Romans could freely express their religion and their traditions. On 24 May, the statue of Saint Sarah is sunk and carried in procession to the sea, where it is wet. The next day the same ritual touches to the statue of the two Marys.

To Gens du voyage these two celebrations are important. In the town of Provenza pouring from May 24 about 10,000 people belonging to various ethnic groups. Without counting the tourists, who were numerous. I am in the church where the relics of saints and statues of the procession. I look at the votive offerings, next to a crucifix, in the crypt, are hung with a violin and a guitar. I smile. The church is crowded with travelers and tourists, there is room for everyone and many are out. Start the Mass and are still there. Listening to the priest for a while, absently. He turns now to the Roma from Italy. Him courage and invites them to move elsewhere because the situation has deteriorated and dangerous. I am deeply ashamed and go out.

Initially there are two more senses involved: sight and hearing. Everywhere is a triumph of color, from the colorful clothes hued flowers, colored fabrics, the clothes hung out to dry in the sun. While strolling through the city groups or artists playing solitaire on the corners or on makeshift stages, trying to sell their own CD. The music is the most diverse, to underline the belief of a people truly European: the Spanish-Balkan music rhythms, everything gets confused. Here and there, people dance in small groups, the weather is calm, relaxed, peaceful. It's a party, is their party. In a dirt parking lot near the church, some nomads have organized a market is all the rest, you do not think, but many of the traders in our markets are Sinti and Roma.
Account throughout the day, three police officers of the Gendarmerie, which mostly diverted traffic and six municipal police, which mostly turn out fines to those who had parked in no parking. No deployment of forces, no evacuation, no problem. The idea that one gets is that it is peaceful people, as you ostinino to make us believe, violence and coercion are not dominant features.

Lie over lie

In the evening the party continues, including beer, singing and dancing. Nothing is organized, everything is spontaneous.

The Roma problem was created by television in Berlusconi's campaign to win the election. For months the media have bombarded the people creating the problem of security, as Roma were defined thieves, murderers, rapists. Not only that. Added to this is that in effect the authorities do not consider the Roma people as bearers of constitutional rights, but allow their use in agriculture, construction and ghettoization in the field, then ordered to leave, where services are lacking essential, without seeking the minimum. The only action that these enlightened minds can think of are things like filing and removal: they had already thought, and with more success, Hitler and Mussolini.
595 km separate the Varese area, the stronghold of the Northern League, from Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mere, Provence, France. There every year the Roma, Sinti, Gitanos, Kalé, Manouches, or, as the French call, the gens du voyage, gather to celebrate Santa Sara, their patroness.