Afro-Polish

Afro-Polish are citizens or residents of Poland who are of African descent.

Afro-Polish
Total population
5,000-10,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Warsaw (Wola), Łódź, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Szczecin
Languages
Polish, French, English
Religion
Islam, Roman Catholicism, Atheism

History

The origins of the Afro-Polish community are rooted in educational immigration to the Polish People's Republic. The Communist government strongly supported anti-colonial movements in Africa as part of broader Soviet policy. From the 1950s to the 1980s, many Africans emigrated to Poland to pursue their educations. While most African students in Poland returned to their countries of origin, many decided to remain in Poland and acquire citizenship. The contemporary Afro-Polish community is composed of many of these Africans and their descendants.[2]

In 1955, the 5th World Festival of Youth and Students was held in Warsaw. Organized by the leftist, anti-imperialist World Federation of Democratic Youth, the festival invited thousands of delegates from around the world, including almost 1,000 Africans. The Communist leadership of Poland wished to express solidarity and promote socialism to Africans from colonized nations. This was one of the earliest Polish encounters with non-white people following the end of the multicultural and multiethnic Second Polish Republic following World War II. The Polish Press Agency was given the task of documenting the African visitors, which began an ongoing series of Polish press photography depicting African visitors and residents of Poland.[3]

Notable Afro-Polish

References
  1. "Valid documents". Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  2. "Poland: Sub-Saharan Africans and the struggle for acceptance". Minority Rights Group International. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  3. "Afro-Poland: a revolutionary friendship, captured in rare photographs from 1955-1989". The Calvert Journal. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
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