The Roma people – popularly known by the semi-derogative name of gypsies – have been living in Brazil for ever. In 1574, only a few decades after the Portuguese landed in the country, João Torres was forced to move into the new colony with his wife and kids due to his Roma origins. Official estimates indicate that 800,000 gipsies live in Brazil. “The musician Wagner Tiso and the popular comedian Dedé Santana admitted their lineage in public”, writes Natalia Viana, in a great article just published by the Women News Network.
Viana describes a camp established for 20 years in Itaquaquecetuba, in the outskirts of São Paulo – your average Roma camp, with a dozen tents with embroidered fabrics, no energy or toilets, dirt floors but lively atmosphere.
According to expert Frans Moonen, the majority of the Brazilian Roma do not lead nomad lives anymore, but other traditions remain intact. The Romani language, for instance, is still spoken amongst them. Kids still engage in arranged marriages when they are 13 to 15 years old. To the recently married couple Luana Ferreira, 14-years-old, and Djavan Pereira, 15-years-old, life is “ok” in their brand new tent. “Married life is good”, she says blushing.
The women read palms in São Paulo´s downtown – making as little as 10 dollars a day, according to the interviewees -, the men sell or exchange cars and all sorts of products.
But not all the Brazilian Roma are nomads or poor. Many of those who came with the European immigrants in the beginning of the 20th century are now wealthy and integrated into society. Yáskara Guelpa for instance is a successful journalist who lives in an expensive house in a middle-class neighbourhood in São Paulo. But like many other upper and middle-class Roma, she prefers to hide her identity. “I don’t go around speaking out about this. The prejudice is still too strong”.
Circus teacher Adriana Sbano, who belongs to a traditional circus family, also feels forced to hide her culture. “I work at upper-class schools in São Paulo and simply keep quiet, because one can not know what the reaction will be. I can’t risk loosing my job”, she says. Brazil’s circus history can be traced to the Roma, and even today many are run by them. But according to Adriana, many prefer to deny their origin for fear of prejudice.
Also, check this TV story (in Portuguese) produced last year about their community