# Research methodologies  
An interdisciplinary approach is clearly the way forward. It is crucial to record oral histories and conduct anthropological and ethnomusicological studies before memories fade away. But field studies do not give a picture of the historical African diasporas. In some parts of Asia - Sumatra, Java and Macau - we know of historical African communities. Asians of African descent are lost in the diversity of the cosmopolitan cities of Asia and the invisibility of the hinterlands. Intermarriage with the local populace and merger with groups whose socioeconomic plight is similar to theirs has also exacerbated the problem. Several generations were born locally, and Afro-Asians are now indigenized and are nationals of their Asian host countries.  
The Afro-Asian identity and diaspora are entangled and should be considered together (de Silva Jayasuriya, 2009). Identity is dynamic and complex, and linked to a territory or homeland and family or kin. As scholars, journalists and photographers seek out Asians of African descent, voices from the margins are heard. Subaltern voices have recently begun to reach a wider audience through films (de Silva Jayasuriya, 2014). Afro-Indians say: 'We're African and we're Indian' (Shroff, 2004).  
Amartya Sen (2001), the economist-philosopher, cautions against the limitations of the presumption, often made implicitly in identity politics and identity-based philosophy, that a person belongs only to one community or group. 'African' and 'Asian' are competing identities, but Afro-Asians are able to reconcile the two ethnicities. In the Gulf, people of African descent call themselves 'Gulfricans', in recognition of their hybrid identity. The inclusion of subaltern narratives enhances epistemologies of the diaspora. Scholars need to make judgments based on both historical and oral sources.