Samet blues (Velvet Blues)

How did the events of the turbulent 1990s affect the lives of twelve Romani authors, their loved ones, and Romani society in general? A perspective spanning more than thirty years and the themes running through the entire collection Samet blues - Drsná devadesátá v povídkách Romů (Velvet Blues - The Tough Nineteen-Nineties in Romani Stories) provide insight into how the social atmosphere changed over time and affected the Roma. This is reflected in this anthology in the form of post-revolutionary euphoria over the newly acquired freedom and the possibility of ethnic emancipation, through the soon-experienced existential uncertainty, social exclusion, the threat of rising racism and pathological phenomena, to the loss of traditional Romani values, which could not withstand the demands of individualism and success measured by wealth. The diverse voices of the authors come together in a unified chorus, not unlike the African-American blues lamenting the difficult fate of an unequal minority.

The writers Gejza Demeter, Eva Danišová, Michal Šamko, and Květoslava Podhradská had to take care of their families at that time. Stories similar to theirs, but captured from the perspective of children—the generation of Husák's children and millennials—are brought to the collection by Iveta Kokyová, Stanislava Ondová, Rena Horvátová, Maria Siváková, Věra Horváthová Duždová, Patrik Banga, Lubomír Čipčala, and Martin Kanaloš. They express not only disappointment at the wasted opportunities offered by democracy, but also the hope that it is possible to lead a dignified and fulfilling life if Roma are allowed to receive non-segregated education and obtain fulfilling professional employment.

Original illustrations by Tereza Šiklová.

This book has been published thanks to the kind financial support of the Government Office of the Czech Republic, The City of Prague and Bader Philanthropies, Inc.