Kajal Magazine

The Black American community has always contributed valuable help and solidarity to Asian people around the world. That report on caste in the US that I just reblogged was crafted by South Asian groups in conjunction with Black Lives Matter groups. I know that Black Americans have historically been in solidarity with Dalit-Bahujan and Adivasis from South Asia (Dr. Ambedkar, the Dalit revolutionary and the writer of the Indian Constitution, and W. E. B. Du Bois had written letters to each other). Black Americans have also always been in solidarity with Palestinians, campaigning against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Black Americans such as Muhammad Ali were against the Vietnam War. Black Americans supported the anti-colonial movements in India and Southeast Asia. 

A lot of focus on Black/Asian solidarity spotlights the history of coalition building between Black American and East Asian-American groups in the US, but this history is actually incredibly diverse, and isn’t limited to Asian-Americans. 

And what’s worth noting too is that despite pervasive antiblackness in Asian countries and within the Asian diaspora (with Asian immigrants importing their antiblack ideals to wherever they settle in the West), Black Americans have continued to act in solidarity with both Asian-American activists and oppressed, marginalized groups throughout the Asian continent. 

Asian-American activism must make solidarity with Black Americans and Black Lives Matter an important priority. This history must be taught.