by Emil Metodiev
Kadrin Hasanov comes from Razgrad in Northeastern Bulgaria. He has supported the Roma cause for more than 15 years and is now part of the civic movement Roma Standing Conference.
“I am a Proud Roma because I am proud of my parents, my relatives and close family members who are role models for me; but also within our community there are many people who make me feel proud to be Roma. We are spread across Europe and for centuries have been discriminated against, and subjected to assimilation and persecution; however, the fact that our culture, our language, our identity has survived shows that we are one strong nation and we should be proud of our roots.”
Kadrin joined the movement in 2020 when Roma Standing Conference kicked off its census campaign in Bulgaria.
“I joined the movement primarily because of the census: self-identity and the ability to freely declare as Roma was extremely important for me. Furthermore, it was the strong and cohesive team of Roma Standing Conference that inspired me to join the movement – the people united around a common cause.”
Within the movement, Kadrin organizes local groups and activists, and runs political campaigns on a local level to contribute to improving the lives of Roma.
“I am motivated to improve the status and situation of Roma, because despite widespread prejudice, we are not inferior to the rest of society. On a personal level, the majority accepts us as equals, but when we talk about Roma as a group, we often face contempt. This motivates me a lot to work for the Roma community so that we can be treated equally, like everyone else.”
Join the movement yourself!
Roma Standing Conference
founded: 8 April 2017
mission: The Roma Standing Conference is a civic movement comprising Roma, pro-Roma activists and organizations from all over the country, working for social justice and the prosperity of the Roma community. We act with purpose, striving to implement politics and policies for the benefit of our Roma community.
website: www.romastandingconference.org
facebook: www.facebook.com/romastandingconference.org
instagram: www.instagram.com/romastandingconference
how to get involved: https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/hLhWR7
The Proud Roma Movements is a collaboration between the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture – ERIAC and its member Emil Metodiev, sponsored by the International Press Institute (IPI) as part of the NewsSpectrum fellowship.
