References are Scarce, You Say (Monday, September 19, 2022)
That may be true; but you can theorize from the limited material you receive, and run with it! You know a few people, or have seen them on TV. Some are sweet and stay that way, others are sweet sometimes and horrid under certain conditions and pressures, while others are never sweet.
Theorizing. It's a little bit of math, not complicated math, usually, just this emotion or desire plus another equals this other thing; except when this happens.
Ha! Always hated word problems, always got caught up in the story not the math. Why is she traveling, why this train, where is it going, will it get there…?
What I'm actually meaning is that you learn one small historical fact, most have ignored or even squashed; like African Americans quit the United States and moved to Tsarist Russia, or the Communist Soviet Union.
That's your base fact, then if there is more info from the time period like these--usually men--found more opportunities and less KKK-ing in Russian than in the USA, that's more you know and becomes more reference. Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica are your friend. And YouTube.
Now here comes the people part. You're writing thoughts, feelings behind the actions; so channel those through your own. What would you do if you hated how you were treated in one place and paid so little but could go somewhere else and be appreciated and paid well? What would you do? how would you feel?
In writing this tale or series of tales, would you go for romantic Victorian / Edwardian era Tsarist Russia to ride in troikas, wear gold clothing and silk, and hang out with one of the Tsars? Perhaps, with the last Tsar as all fell apart, when the Communists took over?
Or choose the later era of Communist Soviet Union of the 2oth century with their factories and their version of egalitarian "equality"? After living and speaking Russian for decades, would you finally yearn to return to the U.S.? And what problems would you have getting back, when the U.S. refuses your return?
What parts of the real African American expatriates' stories can you use as your base and where can you go?
And there's more! Who did you love? Who hated you? Or, well, loves and hates your lead character. Hm…?
