From a Pan-Africanist perspective; Joseph Stalin played a direct role in the collapse of Western European Colonization of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Stalin and the Soviets were the enemies of Western Fascism, Nazism, and Imperlism; which is the highest stage of Capitalism.
From a purely Pan-African perspective, Stalin was at least useful, at the most one of the true Heroes of White History.
But, unfortunately, most Africans in the world were indoctrinated and educated by their former colonizers and enslavers; so we hate who they tell us to hate, and the West universally hates Stalin and the USSR.
I don’t hate the USSR, not because they have love for Africans, but like Ireland; the USSR never colonized Africa, for many reasons (which we won’t get into). The USSR was a chief supplier of arms and other supports to Africans fighting against colonization, their motives were not pure of course, but we didn’t need them to be. #MyEnemysEnemy
It’s funny, I just had a Black woman, in her late 50s who came up during the Cold War cuss me out because I suggested that the US and Capitalist nations were the villains and aggressors during the Cold War not the “Russians.” I didn’t just suggest it, TBH, I was presenting historical evidence pasted on US stated Cold War objectives. She got so mad, she started trebling, she even told me to “go back to Africa,” a Black, educated, woman; with a MA in history told me this. I wasn’t surprised, we hate who Massa tells us to hate, so Stalin was evil and an enemy to all humanity in the view of most Blacks as well as Whites.
So, we should give all respect that’s due to Stalin; and fuck the West’s hang ups about him, and the USSR; their hang ups are not our own. Those who have an African perspective determine on their own who the villains of history are; I’ll take him over Cecil Rhodes, King Leopold, and Andrew Jackson any day.
Oh, and before I close out, don’t buy all the negative propaganda about Stalin being all blood thirsty and killing muthafuckas wholesale just for kicks. The Communist body count don’t even come close to the Capitalist and Western Imperialist body count; and the Capitalist are still adding to their body count while the USSR has been extinct since the early 90s.
We know the West lies about every damn thing, so why would be believe them about Stalin’s crimes against humanity? In my own reading, I’d say much of what we know about the Soviet Union and the famines, prisons camps, and other atrocities is all twisted and taken out of context.
If you are interested in looking deeper into the alternate history and analysis of Stalin and the USSR I encourage you to check out the research of Grover Furr and Raymond Lotta; there are many others who are exposing the real history, but these two have the best research and references, I’ve found. Then drawl your own conclusion.
I’m not saying Stalin was a saint, or that he wasn’t a bastard, but sometimes a bastard is what is needed. Africa and the African Diaspora should not adopt the West’s conclusions about him and the history of that era. I used to have a Stalin and Marx button I loved to wear way back in the day just to provoke this very discussion, African (in the US) really need to break the propaganda spell and see the world and history through our own eyes.
One more thing; the Pan-African Perspective is often the deleted or distorted perspective of World History and Analysis.