"The Human Rights Crisis No One Is Talking About"
Jezmina Von Thiele has dealt with it her whole life.
The racist stereotypes. The assumptions. Others labeling her as a nomad, runaway, and a thief.
But rather than shun her Romani heritage, Jezmina leans fully into it. Through her podcast, social media channels, and new book, Jezmina represents swaths of "outcasts" in this country. A nonbinary woman of Romani heritage, Jezmina uses her platforms to fight for the world she's dreamt of feeling safe in -- a world where people of all belief systems, sexual orientations, and physical appearances can live in harmony.
But for that world to exist, the rest of us non-Romani people (gadje) need to understand first who the Romani people are, where they come from, and why -- in an era when we're heightened to the experiences of outcasts -- no one seems to care about the Romani people.
In today's conversation from my makeshift home studio in downtown Portsmouth, Jezmina Von Thiele and I discuss this subject and much more, including:
Who are the Roma? (00:00)
Identifying as queer + nonbinary (11:56)
How COVID ravaged Jezmina's life (19:50)
Grappling with a new life (26:53)
Jezmina's new book (34:52)
Palm reading, Evil Eye, and talking to horses (37:40)
The normalization of anti-Romani racism (46:30)
Book tour details (51:37)
What's your mission? (54:12)
Jezmina Von Thiele is a popular Seacoast-based Romani fortune teller, podcaster, writer, and now, an author! Jezmina's new book (co-written with Paulina Stevens), " The Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling ," is now available on Amazon. You can also check out her Romanistan podcast or follow her on Instagram @jezmina.vonthiele .
This podcast is hosted, written, researched, and produced by Spotify's Troy Farkas . To support this show, please leave a review of "Seacoast Stories" on our Apple Podcasts page.
BACKGROUND LISTENING:
Jezmina's appearance on "The Found Generation" podcast in 2023
The LA Times podcast "Foretold," which centers on Jezmina's co-author Paulina Stevens