Who We Were; Who We Are is a text with links to oral history interviews with members of the Roma community. It was published in 2004 by a team of researchers – Sebastian Šerifović, Adem Osmani, and Afërdita Berisha – led by Bobby Anderson. Anderson kindly gave us permission to include it in our living archive. This project was sponsored by the Open Society Institute Roma Culture Initiative, with the logistical support of Communication for Social Development and Balkan Sunflowers.
By Roma, which is the Romanes word for “man,” or “us,” the researchers meant to encompass Roma, Ashkalija, and Egyptian, as well as a variety of sub-groupings, identified by the individuals interviewed as: Gurbeti, Muhadjeri, Arlija, and Bugurdjije. There is no better way to introduce the publication Who We Were; Who We Are than with the words of Bobby Anderson in the introduction:
“This project is a document of what has been lost. It’s about a language choked with
foreign words; traditions often followed by rote; a people removed from their past,
trying to preserve the things they have left that make them Roma. It’s about a people
who have lived in Kosovo for hundreds of years and have never been afforded a true
place there by others. It is said that the Roma version of history is simply the earliest
memory of the oldest member of the community. And when they die, they take their
history with them.”
Anderson, Bobby- Who We Were, Who We Are- Kosovo Roma Oral Histories 2004