Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
Dude, that Black Obama is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of that is lost on a Russian? I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white Russians against those students of color. I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have those pressures at least. - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians society Russia’s Black Community Kevin O’Flynn , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.” Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter despite having a college degree. He soon left for the Soviet Union with his Polish-American wife, Bertha Bialek, in one of the groups of black Americans actively encouraged by Bolshevik leaders to pull up stakes in their capitalist homeland and help build a new society in the U.S.S.R. Golden traveled to Uzbekistan to work on cotton cultivation. He and his wife soon gave birth to a daughter named Lily, Khanga’s mother. Khanga says her grandparents worked hard to show Lily — who went on to marry Abdullah Khanga, a political leader from Zanzibar whom she met in Moscow — that she was free to achieve whatever she wanted. “The Obama campaign said, ‘Yes we can.’ My grandmother and grandfather said the same thing to my mother: ‘Yes, you can. You can do it,’” Khanga says. “And my mother was the best pupil in school, she graduated with a gold medal She was practically the first black person to study at MGU [Moscow State University] in the Soviet Union. She played tennis; it was the dream of my grandfather that she, a black girl, play tennis. She was the champion of Uzbekistan.” The most famous African-Russian is legendary poet Alexander Pushkin, who was the great-grandson of an African brought to St. Petersburg under Peter the Great in the early 18th century. During the Soviet era, African students were actively encouraged to travel to the Soviet Union for their educations, leading to a number of mixed marriages and African-Russian offspring. But black skin remains extremely rare in Russia. One estimate says
RE: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
This is just so frelling weird, because one of Russia's greatest heroes, Aleksandr Nevsky, was reputedly of African-Arabic ancestry. _ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469230/direct/01/
RE: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
Keith, in the case of Black Russians, they became Russian in much the same way we became American. If memory serves, Russian raiders, foraying out as far as north Africa, brought back Blacks and Arabs as slaves. Eventually, after being freed, they settled in enclaves, rather than risk the arduous trip back to their native lands. If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:19:57 + Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Dude, that Black Obama is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of that is lost on a Russian? I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white Russians against those students of color. I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have those pressures at least. - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians society Russia’s Black Community Kevin O’Flynn, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile EnvironmentSociety: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.” Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter despite having a college degree. He soon left for the Soviet Union with his Polish-American wife, Bertha Bialek, in one of the groups of black Americans actively encouraged by Bolshevik leaders to pull up stakes in their capitalist homeland and help build a new society in the U.S.S.R. Golden traveled to Uzbekistan to work on cotton cultivation. He and his wife soon gave birth to a daughter named Lily, Khanga’s mother. Khanga says her grandparents worked hard to show Lily — who went on to marry Abdullah Khanga, a political leader from Zanzibar whom she met in Moscow — that she was free to achieve whatever she wanted. “The Obama campaign said, ‘Yes we can.’ My grandmother and grandfather said the same thing to my mother: ‘Yes, you can. You can do it,’” Khanga says. “And my mother was the best pupil
Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
The watermelon seller remark is kind of lost in translation but it does sound racist doesn't it? From some of my reading last night on this it is like some of the comments that they used to that were positive stereotypes about jewish people. One of the things that always intrigued me about this is having the guts to pick up and leave a country. At the time of the small exodus from the US to Russia, Russia was billing itself as the new country for the people. Sort of a land of opportunity. This was of course in between the Bolshevik revolution and the Russian civil war. They were probably better off moving to Haiti at that time. On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 8:19 AM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote: Dude, that Black Obama is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of that is lost on a Russian? I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white Russians against those students of color. I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have those pressures at least. - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/ societyhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/articles/society/ Russia’s Black Community *Kevin O’Flynn*, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.” Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter despite having a college degree. He soon left for the Soviet Union with his Polish-American wife, Bertha Bialek, in one of the groups of black Americans actively encouraged by Bolshevik leaders to pull up stakes in their capitalist homeland and help build a new society in the U.S.S.R. Golden traveled to Uzbekistan to work on cotton cultivation. He and his wife soon gave birth to a daughter named Lily, Khanga’s mother. Khanga says her grandparents worked hard to show Lily — who went on to marry Abdullah Khanga, a political leader from Zanzibar whom she met in Moscow — that she was free to achieve whatever she wanted. “The Obama campaign said, ‘Yes we can.’ My grandmother and grandfather said
Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
Not all of the Africans in Russia were there because of slavery. Pushkin's grand father was Ethiopian royalty and was a guest of the court. There are others as well during that time frame. There were slaves there but not as many that were brought to Europe, Brazil, and America. The former USSR is a mixture of a lot of different peoples. There are some people that resemble Arab, Asian Indian, Inuit, others Chinese, and other still a mixture of Caucasian and Asian. On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@hotmail.comwrote: Keith, in the case of Black Russians, they became Russian in much the same way we became American. If memory serves, Russian raiders, foraying out as far as north Africa, brought back Blacks and Arabs as slaves. Eventually, after being freed, they settled in enclaves, rather than risk the arduous trip back to their native lands. If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:19:57 + Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Dude, that Black Obama is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of that is lost on a Russian? I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white Russians against those students of color. I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have those pressures at least. - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/ societyhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/articles/society/ Russia’s Black Community *Kevin O’Flynn*, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile EnvironmentSociety: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.” Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter despite having a college degree. He soon left for the Soviet Union with his Polish-American wife, Bertha Bialek, in one of the groups of black Americans actively encouraged
RE: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
You're right, Mr Worf, and forgive me for not delivering all the facts. _ Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469229/direct/01/
Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
I think another motivation for folks to leave the US at the time was the lynchings that were going on. What I don't understand is why folks didn't go to Canada. On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 1:04 PM, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@hotmail.comwrote: You're right, Mr Worf, and forgive me for not delivering all the facts. -- Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. Sign up now. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469229/direct/01/ -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
ahar...@earthlink.net All this is very fascinating. Amy Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Not all of the Africans in Russia were there because of slavery. Pushkin's grand father was Ethiopian royalty and was a guest of the court. There are others as well during that time frame. There were slaves there but not as many that were brought to Europe, Brazil, and America. The former USSR is a mixture of a lot of different peoples. There are some people that resemble Arab, Asian Indian, Inuit, others Chinese, and other still a mixture of Caucasian and Asian. On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@hotmail.com wrote: Keith, in the case of Black Russians, they became Russian in much the same way we became American. If memory serves, Russian raiders, foraying out as far as north Africa, brought back Blacks and Arabs as slaves. Eventually, after being freed, they settled in enclaves, rather than risk the arduous trip back to their native lands. If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:19:57 + Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Dude, that Black Obama is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of that is lost on a Russian? I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white Russians against those students of color. I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have those pressures at least. - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians society Russia’s Black Community Kevin O’Flynn, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.” Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter despite having
Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
Maybe 1920s Canada didn't seem progressive enough for them? There was a lot of intellectual growth during that period, but conservatism killed it in this country. There is a documentary on this called Black Russians by Kara Lynch, but it is not available from Netflix. (which is something that has been bugging me about them for a while now.) On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 1:51 PM, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@hotmail.comwrote: Neither do I. Been there a couple of times, and I love it. -- Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. Sign up now. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469229/direct/01/ -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
It is something that I have been wanting to do a documentary on since the 1990s after hearing about a trip to Russia by Louie Armstrong in a documentary. There are so many untold stories about our people that we will never really know them all. On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 2:02 PM, Amy Harlib ahar...@earthlink.net wrote: ahar...@earthlink.net All this is very fascinating. Amy *Subject:* Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Not all of the Africans in Russia were there because of slavery. Pushkin's grand father was Ethiopian royalty and was a guest of the court. There are others as well during that time frame. There were slaves there but not as many that were brought to Europe, Brazil, and America. The former USSR is a mixture of a lot of different peoples. There are some people that resemble Arab, Asian Indian, Inuit, others Chinese, and other still a mixture of Caucasian and Asian. On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@hotmail.com wrote: Keith, in the case of Black Russians, they became Russian in much the same way we became American. If memory serves, Russian raiders, foraying out as far as north Africa, brought back Blacks and Arabs as slaves. Eventually, after being freed, they settled in enclaves, rather than risk the arduous trip back to their native lands. If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:19:57 + Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Dude, that Black Obama is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of that is lost on a Russian? I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white Russians against those students of color. I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have those pressures at least. - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/ societyhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/articles/society/ Russia’s Black Community*Kevin O’Flynn*, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile EnvironmentSociety: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would
[scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/societyhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/articles/society/ Russia’s Black Community *Kevin O’Flynn*, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.” Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter despite having a college degree. He soon left for the Soviet Union with his Polish-American wife, Bertha Bialek, in one of the groups of black Americans actively encouraged by Bolshevik leaders to pull up stakes in their capitalist homeland and help build a new society in the U.S.S.R. Golden traveled to Uzbekistan to work on cotton cultivation. He and his wife soon gave birth to a daughter named Lily, Khanga’s mother. Khanga says her grandparents worked hard to show Lily — who went on to marry Abdullah Khanga, a political leader from Zanzibar whom she met in Moscow — that she was free to achieve whatever she wanted. “The Obama campaign said, ‘Yes we can.’ My grandmother and grandfather said the same thing to my mother: ‘Yes, you can. You can do it,’” Khanga says. “And my mother was the best pupil in school, she graduated with a gold medal She was practically the first black person to study at MGU [Moscow State University] in the Soviet Union. She played tennis; it was the dream of my grandfather that she, a black girl, play tennis. She was the champion of Uzbekistan.” The most famous African-Russian is legendary poet Alexander Pushkin, who was the great-grandson of an African brought to St. Petersburg under Peter the Great in the early 18th century. During the Soviet era, African students were actively encouraged to travel to the Soviet Union for their educations, leading to a number of mixed marriages and African-Russian offspring. But black skin remains extremely rare in Russia. One estimate says that there are between 40,000 and 70,000 Russians of full or mixed-African heritage. That distinction has singled many black Russians out for treatment that they say swings between curiosity, at best, and open hostility, at worst. Grigory Siyatinda, an actor at the Sovremennik Theater in Moscow, grew up as the only black man in his hometown of Tyumen in the 1970s. His experience was that of an object of fascination in an isolated Soviet society where foreigners, and especially black foreigners, were exotic. “How to put it? It wasn’t racism, what I experienced during my childhood in Tyumen,” Siyatinda says. “I was the only black person in Tyumen—Tyumen is a Siberian city and there were no black-skinned people at all. ...That’s why there was simply this heightened curiosity toward me. It was heightened so much at times that it crossed over the borders of tact.” Racism, long officially denied under the communist regime, is a reality in modern-day Russia, where nationalist groups and xenophobia are on the rise. Russia’s Sova center, which tracks issues related to race and ethnicity, reports that 97 people were killed in racist attacks in 2008. Statistically, Central Asian migrants have become the primary victims of attacks in recent years. But African-Russians and African students remain constant targets as well. Still, Khanga—whose
