Angelia Diash,21, a psychology major and member of the feminist Ukrainian Group, Femen, took me around downtown Kyiv one August evening in 2010 to discuss her life as a black Ukrainian. Though she sees herself as a full Ukrainian citizen, she feels many of her countrymen view her as a foreigner.

On this day, Angelina and her Femen colleague, Ana Lichuk, were on the street shooting photos for an ad protesting what they feel is poor lighting in the city. Femen women, whose membership is overwhelmingly female, are known for shedding their clothes to attract attention to their cause.

Angelina's father, deceased, was from Angola and arrived in the USSR during the 1980s on a Soviet scholarship. He met her mother, who is Ukrainian.

These photos are part of a project I am working on about how mix-raced Ukrainians view themselves in a Slavic society.

My project was supported by a 16-month Fulbright grant from August 2009-December 2010.