When the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia invited our Party to visit Moscow during the last week of May, we had no idea of what we would find upon our arrival.
Comrades Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Bakari Olatunji were the two members of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) that made the May 26-31 visit. The U.S. government’s lies which are backed by its State-supported white ruling class media became obvious almost immediately.
Although security was obvious at the Moscow airport it was nothing like the unnecessarily intrusive, fear-inducing probing done at U.S. airports.
The polite treatment received at immigration passport check was strikingly different from the near-hostility Africans experience at most European airports, especially in the U.S., Canada, France and the United Kingdom.
Our Party members were met at the airport by the president of the Anti-Globalization Movement, Alexander V. Ionov, and his assistant, Slava.
The comrades were taken to the Ornate Hotel, built for the Moscow Summer Olympics of 1980 and rushed right away to a roundtable conference of the Federation of Russian Migrants. The conference was held in a beautiful center that was the site of Warsaw Pact meetings, during the era of the Soviet Union.
The Federation of Russian Migrants is an organization supported by the Russian government to solve the problems of migrants that live in Russia, some dating back to the era of the Soviet Union.
The conference attendance was massive and the Syrian Ambassador to Russia made the keynote presentation. In addition to a host of speakers from different ethnicities and nationalities, at least three Soviet era generals, two in uniform, were prominent in the conference.
APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela was also one of the speakers at the conference. He immediately united with the general expression of concern by conference members about U.S. world military aggression and especially in Ukraine and the region of the former Soviet Union.
Chairman Omali called on the conference participants to understand that the U.S. is itself a State that was created on the stolen land of the Indigenous people called Indians and became wealthy in part because of the theft of half of Mexico and the forced free labor of Africans who were captured and forced into slavery.
The Chairman’s presentation was well received and he was one of three people awarded Medals of Honor for his work for peace between peoples and nations.
The award by one of the Soviet generals was met with resounding applause by the entire conference.
For the next several days Comrades Alexander and Slava toured Party members through Moscow, a city of 15 million people, and shuttled them to meetings with different institutions and organizations that proved to be invaluable contacts.
The comrades arranged some interviews that helped us to get the word out to the Russian people and the world about the role of U.S. imperialism in keeping our people oppressed and impoverished in Africa, the U.S. and elsewhere.
We were interviewed by Pravda (Truth) newspaper, Iranian media and we did a video interview with the Anti-Globalization Movement that has its own media capacity.
Moscow is a modern, bustling city. Its Eurasian heritage was evident in the exquisite architecture that had a mixture of European and Asian characteristics.
The comrades from the Party visited the Moscow military museum that commemorates the Russian sacrifices during the second imperialist world war and the victory of the Red Army and the Soviet people over the German Nazi war machine.
An outstanding component of the tour to Moscow was a visit to the Kremlin—the seat of power of the Russian government. The Kremlin is a grand architectural example of power and beauty sitting on the bank of the Moscow River.
There was also a visit to Red Square and Lenin’s Mausoleum. Here, the comrades were able to mix with all the tourists, mostly Russian, and witness the changing of the Soviet-era guards at the Eternal Flame in the square memorializing the brave soldiers, citizens and cities that contributed to the victory over Nazi Germany.
Perhaps the most unusual visit during the stay was with the Night Wolves. The Night Wolves is a motorcycle club that is a favorite of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Thousands strong, this patriotic organization owns its own clothing line and does major concerts and other resource-generating ventures.
The club also hosts annual events for Russian children who get an opportunity to visit the Night Wolves’ elaborate compound, affixed with various displays of wolves created by club members and adorned with discarded but functioning Soviet-era war materials.
Our comrades had an important meeting with the Motherland Party. This party has seats in the Russian Parliament and was the first to go to Crimea after the European annexation of Ukraine following the U.S. organized coup early this year.
The Party also met with representatives of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia. Following a meeting where political materials and gifts were exchanged, Chairman Omali was presented with another medal of honor from the Communist Party of Russia by Comrade Alexander Ionov, who is a member of that organization and many others.
The meeting with the Anti-Glalization Movement of Russia ended with a videoed interview that the organization shared with us for our joint use.
During the Party’s visit to Moscow we were struck by the warmth and generosity of the Russian people wherever we went.
We were also moved by their patriotism and convinced of the folly of U.S. policy that assumes the Russian people can be turned against their government by U.S. economic sanctions that are designed to hurt the Russian people and force them to submit to the will of U.S. aggression.
A people who lost more than 26 million people during the second imperialist world war in defense of their country are hardly likely to bow to Obama and imperialist white power because of sanctions.
Secondly during the Party’s visit to Moscow we saw only one-beggar in this thriving city of 15 million people. Moscow is one of the cleanest cities in the world and the morale of the Russian people is high.
Even in the subway, busy by any standard, filled with statues of Russian heroines and heroes from the Russian Revolution and the defeat of the Germans, there was no sign of graffiti or any other evidence of the demoralization so common in U.S. and European cities.
Venezuelans, Syrians, Palestinians, Iranians and other victims and opponents of U.S. and imperialist policies were to be seen all over the place and in many of the meetings attended by the Party.
On the first day of the visit the Party was introduced to two Africans from Ethiopia who have been in Russia for 24 and 29 years respectively.
The Party found Russia different from any other European country that we have worked in or visited. As modern as Russia is and obvious as the capitalist penetration, including many iconic U.S. brands, Moscow is not characterized by the shallow, plastic-like features of Europe and America.
We are clear that Russia is far from perfect. After all capitalism does reign supreme in Russia. However, we are reminded that with all its contradictions, modern Russia is a product of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution that changed Russia from a semi-feudal country and to a socialist country that liberated the Russian people from tsarist barbarism.
It was socialist Russia that forged the character of modern Russia, socialist Russia that stood on the side of the oppressed of the world. It was the Russian people who made the sacrifices to support the Viet Nam struggle for freedom from the French and the Americans.
It was the Russian people through their participation in the Soviet Union that supported the Chinese Revolution against the U.S. and other imperialists.
It was the Russian people who supported the Cuban people during the many years of the U.S. economic blockade and armed the Cuban soldiers with military equipment, including the katusha rockets used to defeat U.S.-supported South African soldiers in Angola.
And, although our Party often had serious disagreement with its political line and various positions of the Soviet Union, the consciousness and character of the Russian people were surely shaped by the politics of generosity and solidarity that was its formal policy.
We think we glimpsed remnants of this generosity and solidarity during the Party’s visit in May. In any event, we are certain we have won solidarity from sectors of the Russian people for the struggle of African people in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Long live the unity of the African and Russian people!
