In the August-October issue of Mekong Review, Anjan Sundaram asked what Black Lives Matter means for Asians. Whiteness, he argues, has infiltrated Black and Asian identities and fed us inaccurate histories, which we must acknowledge if we are to liberate ourselves.

These are questions at the heart of movements to ‘decolonise’ university curriculums and deface the statues of imperialists from Cape Town to Penang. Sundaram asks how a rising Asia can inspire and look ahead rather than mimic a colonial past. But it is also in the connections between Asian, African, and African American histories that we find a shared struggle for liberation and solidarity. Trade, colonialism, hot and cold wars, and decolonisation have entangled our pasts.

• Tags: Issue 21, Su Lin Lewis