Soviet Russia and the Negro -- Claude McKay (Codename "Sasha" Marxist Poet)

Crisis Magazine ^ | December 1923 | Claude McKay

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I received a similar message from the Propaganda Department of the Petrograd Soviet which is managed by Nicoleva, a very energetic woman. There I was shown the new status of the Russian women gained through the revolution of 1917. Capable women can fit themselves for any position; equal pay with men for equal work; full pay during the period of pregnancy and no work for the mother two months before and two months after the confinement. Getting a divorce is comparatively easy and not influenced by money power, detective chicanery and wire pulling. A special department looks into the problems of joint personal property and the guardianship and support of the children. There is no penalty for legal abortion and no legal stigma of illegitimacy attaching to children born out of wedlock.

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Claude McKay was educated at Kansas State University in the early 20th century and was his writings were cited by Frank Marshall Davis (Θbama's mentor). McKay created a code name "Sasha" to evade investigations and scrutiny of his life which included support for communist principles and his involvement in bisexual relationships.

Sasha was also the nickname of Lenin's elder brother who was involved in terrorist acts including the plot to assassinate the Tsar of Russia, for which he was executed. Barack Θbama's daughter also happens to have a nickname of Sasha. Looking at the history of Sasha and Vladimir Lenin, there seems to be parallels between the terrorist William Ayers and the writer intellectual Barack Θbama.