Mishto avilyan!

Welcome to Romano Kopachi, the Romani Tree

My name is Ronald Lee. I am a Canadian-born Romani author, journalist, lecturer and folk musician.

The purpose of this site is not only to present my books, articles and CD, but also to promote the works of other Romani writers and scholars who are writing about Romani culture, identity and politics. Roma have been defined by outsiders for too long. It is time for us to define ourselves.

This site does not represent an organization and is not a news site. The Roma Community Centre in Toronto serves refugee, immigrant, native-born and long-established Roma in the Toronto area. Their site contains resources for Roma in Canada. For news about Roma civil rights issues around the world, see RADOC's News and Resources page and the Roma Virtual Network (RVN).

Romano Kopachi receives no funding from any source. It is my own professional website which I work on in my limited spare time with the help of my wife Nina who is a web designer.

"Ame le Rroma, sam ekh baro kopáchi kai si lês but kriyênzhi. Swáko kriyánga si ekh nátsiya thai swáko nátsiya si la but vítsi."

"We the Roma are a huge tree that has many branches. Each branch is a nation and each nation has many clans."

Romani refugee claimant while waiting for his hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Toronto, 2002.

ALERT!
August 27, 2011

I have been targeted, along with a number of other Romani civil rights activists, by a campaign from a group of hate sites, all owned by one person. My wife, who is also my web designer, has become a target as well. These sites are anti-Roma and antisemitic, and they are spreading lies and slander. The author of these sites falsely claims to represent the Romani people, while at the same time accusing its well-known leaders and spokespersons of being imposters who are working in collusion with Jews to destroy the Romani people. These sites are spreading false information and promoting hatred. We need to see these sites for what they are. They are anti-Roma sites. Efforts to have them closed down and removed are underway.

I advise readers not to be taken in by false conspiracy theories. The responsibility for hate crimes against Roma rests on the perpetrators of the crimes, as well as on those politicians, political parties, hate groups, writers and any other individuals who promote stereotyping and hatred of the Roma. Responsibility also rests on governments who fail to prevent persecution of the Roma, and media organizations that continue to allow publication of misinformation about Roma and to allow mention of ethnicity in crime reporting only when the crime is attributed to a Romani person. All of this is true, but the idea that there is a secret network of Jews promoting hatred against Roma is obviously false. There is no credible evidence for it, and such an idea contradicts common sense. A close look at these hate sites reveals a collection of illogical arguments, manipulated photos, unsupported accusations and outright lies that are being presented as "truth".