You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it. Grace Lee Boggs
Over the coming weeks and months, The Universal Asian (TUA) will be regularly posting work by various Asian-diasporic writers, artists, photographers, thinkers, etc. on Black Lives Matter (BLM) in relation to Asians4BlackLives (A4BL).
While not all of the views/opinions published in TUA always reflect those of our editors, the work that is and will be posted here under our A4BL section is in keeping with our views and support for Black lives and the BLM movement.
We are deeply cognizant of the factual truth that our liberation, as members of the Asian diaspora, is bound up together with the liberation of Black lives, and that it is our responsibility as individuals and communities to proactively support and stand up for Black lives.
We also recognize that there exists a multitude of nuanced layers in regards to BLM and A4BL being talked about from the Asian-Western immigrant/refugee and Asian-Western adoptee perspectives; and that how, for example, a Korean-Danish adoptee creates work about BLM will be different than how this is addressed from the voice/perspective of a fourth-generation Japanese-American.
However, at the core of what is expressed and shared here is and will be a shared support of and for Black lives.
If you or someone you know would like to submit work to this section please contact Kim Thompson at importedasians@gmail.com
Photo credit: Kalaya’an Mendoza @kalamendoza