Black man from US flees to Serbia after George Floyd murder: I'm safe here, I'm a black Serb!

The racial unrest in America after the murder of an African-American is deepening, and many in that country don't feel safe in their skin. One of them is Jibri Bell, an American by birth, called Jovan Crnovic in Serbia, who has converted to Orthodox Christianity and decided to take refuge from adversity by going to the only country where he is free - to Serbia.

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Jovan and his wife Miona Bell were Telegraf's guests, and we spoke to them about the unrest in the United States, racism and the horrific death of George Floyd. Asked how he felt about it, he replied:

"Sad, angry.. I'm tired, I'm tired of being black! I feel like I just want to be viewed as human. For me, Serbia has been the one place where I can go where I don't feel judged by my skin color. And maybe I am being judged by my skin color, but I think that Serbian people are good, they're good to people who are tourists and they are friendly people, so it's always been my second home, a home away from home for me. I've always had to come here just to escape the feeling of being afraid. And when I come to Serbia, there is no problem, I am not black, I am human. I'm not human in America, I am, I don't know, I'm garbage, not Gibri, and I don't like it," Jovan Crnovic, that is, Black Serb, as he likes to describe himself, begins his testimony for Telegraf.rs

He says that before he came to Serbia for the first time, everybody told him that country is filled with hate, that people are not open minded and are judgmental, and American people were scared because of the propaganda, everything they hard about Serbia.

"But then when I came here... this has been my second home. My wife's Serbian, and my life's Serbian, and everything Serbian to me is right. Serbia is my second home and I want everyone to see and see how open and friendly it is here. I brought my grandma here. My grandma was in Serbia, she is 65 years old and she was in Serbia, in the kafana (Serbian tavern), with me, drinking rakija (Serbian brandy) at two o'clock in the morning and everything was OK. Both my cousins, Brandy, who's in my band, 'Black Serbs', and my other cousin, Lamaria, I brought lots of people here. And they've all been safe and felt comfortable," explains the Black Serb.

Black Serbs promote Serbia - only kebabs, three finger salute, and brandy!

"Black Serbs" became popular with their first video, "Serbia Coming to America" in which dark-skinned Jovan speaks Serbian at in a McDonald's in the US, trying to order kebabs and brandy, swears, argues and sings Serbian songs in the street.

This unusual duo already has numerous fans both in Serbia and in America.

Photo: Telegraf

This young man adds that by founding the band "Black Serbs" he wanted to introduce African Americans to Serbian culture, but also to introduce Serbian culture to other cultures.

"(Through music) you can open people's minds and people won't be judging. That's why racism still exists, because everything's segregated. Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the world. There's not a lot of diversity. And what's going on in the United States right now is more separation based on fear. People are afraid of being different and having new friends," Jovan told Telegraf.

Black Serbs perform at Exit

"Black Serbs" is a band made up of young people from Chicago who first shot humorous YouTube videos, building a bridge between the Balkan and American mentality, and shortly afterwards conquered the domestic and world hip-hop scene with their songs - "Srbija do Tokija," "Ballin Like Jokic," "Rintam," "Kako Hoces"...

For some, they combine incompatible with their songs, and also deal with difficult topics, so a few months ago they released the song "I know it's not easy" ("Znam to nije lako"), which talks about depression and suicidal struggles, which they performed last year for the first time at the Exit Festival in Novi Sad, where they would like to perform this year as well in order to send a powerful message to the world from the Petrovaradin Fortress!

Watch the conversation with Jovan and Miona in the video at the top of the page.

(N.K./Telegraf.rs)