First black politician elected to office in Russia

Jean Gregoire Sagbo has become the first Afro-Russian elected into a political position in last month's elections in Novozavidovo, Russia.

According to the Associated Press , Sagbo, who was born in West Africa, arrived to Soviet Russia in 1982 to study economics. After marrying a native Novozavidovo woman, they moved to her home town seven years later. Novozavidovo, 100 kilometers north of Moscow, was once a thriving district, near Zavidovo, a place frequently used by Soviet leaders. But since the fall of communism, it has fallen into disarray, plagued with a high unemployment rate, corruption, alcoholism, and pollution. Sagbo, who works in real estate, never planned on entering this field, considering it to be a dirty and dangerous business. So why would a father of two agree to this stressful position that does not pay a salary?

"Novozavidovo is dying," Sagbo said in an interview in the ramshackle municipal building. "This is my home, my town. We can't live like this."

Sagbo, a resident of 21 years, started an annual day of garbage collecting ten years ago. He also overhauled his apartment’s entrance, planting flowers and didn’t think twice about spending his own money on improving the streets. So what are his plans?

Sagbo made many key promises for the impoverished town, saying he wants to curb drug addiction, put heating in homes, and clean up pollution.

A good place to start would be the municipal building, where the bathroom is reportedly a room with a hole in the floor. Sagbo isn't the first black to try politics. Another West African, Joaquin Crima, ran a door-to-door campaign last year. Although he was well-liked, few people voted for him. Sagbo says he feels no racism by the people of the district.