Soul to Soul: Americans’ Discovery of Yelena Khanga and the Promise of Russian-American Relations

This essay analyzes US press coverage of the Black Russian journalist Yelena Khanga in conjunction with her 1992 memoir Soul to Soul to illuminate how discussions of racism remained central to the late Cold War competition for moral superiority and the nascent Russian-US rivalry that replaced it. Khanga’s Soul to Soul challenged the dominant US (mis)representations of the USSR and her own life story which impeded closer relations between the two countries that her own family proved possible. Khanga advocated that the “connected differences” between Russia and the United States serve as the basis for greater cooperation, solidarity, and respect.