Red Africa

February 6, 2016 4:28 PM

The Calvert Journal's Special Report: Red Africa: When international socialism met the developing world

Building blocs — How Ghana’s architecture was reimagined with a little help from communist Europe

The sound of independence-era Africa

Black in the USSR — The children of Soviet Africa search for their own identity

Art, image and ideology — The history of Soviet relations with Africa, told in pictures

Waiting for Tito — Unofficial scenes from a presidential tour of Africa

posted by the man of twists and turns (6 comments total)

I lived in Uganda on the grounds of a Soviet-built agricultural college, in one of the former professors' residences. The Russians were long gone, but some of the Ugandan professors who lived there had huge collections of Russian books and records in their houses, or rooms wallpapered with '60s Soviet magazines. I remember there was a lounge on campus with a bust of Lenin sitting casually up on top of a bookshelf.

It felt so strange being there, like I was living inside two foreign countries at once. I loved learning about the history of that place.
posted by gerstle at 7:06 PM on February 6, 2016 [4 favorites]

Previously in Soviet and Russian connections to Africa: African-American migrants to the Soviet Union
posted by XMLicious at 8:31 PM on February 6, 2016

When I was in Africa I met more than a few people who had won scholarships to study in Russia back in the day.

The architecture link especially is neat.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:01 AM on February 7, 2016

This is a really cool post!

I also want to acknowledge all the young communist and socialist leaders who stepped up across the continent as independence spread, only to be meddled with, discredited, and even assassinated by the US and other Western powers, and the shadow wars and conflicts touched off or coopted because of the overwhelming fear of communism. Patrice Lumumba and the utter destabilization of Congo. Angola. Mozambique. Egypt. Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, etc., etc., etc.
posted by ChuraChura at 5:54 AM on February 7, 2016 [8 favorites]

The piece about Abram Gannibal, Pushkin's African forebear is very interesting, and the story is potentially FPP material in itself.
posted by acb at 6:32 AM on February 7, 2016

Speaking of all of those wars, I recently noticed an image of the Throne of Weapons, a sculpture by Mozambican artist Cristóvão Canhavato, in a news report appearing on the web site of a group supporting the Oregon wildlife refuge standoff guys. Maybe they're outraged about conflicts and exploitation in Africa too.
posted by XMLicious at 7:07 AM on February 7, 2016