Roma

Lens: Four Hours at Lageso

This is Lageso (Das Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales), the State Office for Health and Social Affairs. This is Berlin's primary registration center for the initial reception of asylum seekers. This is Germany's most infamous symbol of the refugee crisis. Two days prior I had signed up to volunteer on a website called Volunteer Planner. After a cursory registration process, a click of a button was all it took to commit to a shift at a registration center, refugee home, or other institution in the city where help is needed (read: basically everywhere). [Read More!]

Roma in Berlin: Bureaucracy in Lichtenberg

On the first Tuesday of every month, the Migrantenrat Lichtenberg (immigrants' plenary) meets to address issues of migration affecting the district and its neighborhoods. The gospel of November's session: The Roma are coming! 2014 will be a year of change for Roma in Berlin, primarily for those who have come from Bulgaria and Romania. They will have access to the social welfare system, the situation will change dramatically. But this is about families, not simply numbers... [Read More!]

Rave: Education Per Square (Kilo)Meter

After all this talk about Nazis, N-Words, and negative stereotypes, I think it's time we had some good news around here, don't you?

Enter Ein Quadratkilometer Bildung, or "Square Kilometer Education".

Quadratkilometer Bildung (QKB) is an educational development and learning platform that addresses education on a regional basis, with a focus on disadvantaged populations. They call it "closing gaps". I call it common sense... [Read More!]

Happy Weekend: A Roma (Re)Image

Your perception of the Roma is inaccurate. I apologize for the bluntness, but you and I both know it's true. And I know you and I both know it's true because it's true for me, and I've studied this stuff. Not only have I studied this stuff (e.g. migration, integration, intercultural relations), but I consider myself a beacon of political correctness, yet I've still dressed up as a gypsy for Halloween more times than I care to admit. Why? [Read More!]