by Emil Metodiev
Adrian Tudor is from Romania, and has an MA degree in Business Administration and Negotiation. He grew up in a middle-class family surrounded by many Roma middle-class peers. He considers himself a lucky Roma, and believes it is his duty to do something good for Roma who are less fortunate.
“I am very proud to be Roma, because of the values all of us share. And this is not just a romanticized view – I can really see the difference between Roma families and non-Roma families. The way we treat our children, the way we treat our parents… All of these are extremely important Roma values – family, love, respect, respect for one’s neighbors. Roma hospitality is also legendary. Whenever you go to a Roma house, no matter how much or how little they have, they will offer you everything. It’s not just talk, but real things that you see in every Roma community – family and hospitality.”
Adrian joined the Bucharest-based Roma movement ARESEL as somebody who wanted to learn something new, but also to share his knowledge in photo and video editing. Once he got involved, he fell in love with the movement and his colleagues.
“Within the movement, we are organized into different working groups. Whenever we have big ideas, we do the same things. All of us should know how to do a little bit of everything. I do some community organizing sometimes, but mostly, I work in communications. I’m trying to send messages to people; messages that would sometimes rally them, messages that would make them feel proud, messages that could change Roma, not only in Romania, but all over Europe, because we have a huge diaspora.”
Join the movement!
Aresel
founded: 2018
mission: The Aresel platform is a civic initiative that was launched as a result of one of the largest anti-racism protests organized in Romania against the low participation and political representation of Roma citizens.
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlatformaAresel/
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/platformaaresel
how to get involved: contact@aresel.ro
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.
