London Mayor Sadiq Kahn has announced a new commission that will "review and improve diversity across London’s public realm to ensure the capital’s landmarks suitably reflect London’s achievements and diversity."

A press release announcing the creation of the commission states: "The Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm will focus on increasing representation among Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, women, the LGBTQ+ community and disability groups."

NEW: Today we've unveiled a new commission to review and improve the diversity of London’s public landmarks.

We must commemorate the achievements and diversity of all in our city - and that includes questioning which legacies are being celebrated. pic.twitter.com/dro06UQB7Y
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 9, 2020

The creation of the commission comes as protest movements around the world take aim at monuments celebrating the sordid legacies of slavery and colonialism. In the United States, protesters have taken down prominent monuments to members of the Confederacy, notable slaveholders, and other overt racists around the country in recent weeks, building on a year's long effort to remove these monuments. 

Meanwhile, protesters in Bristol, England over the weekend took down a statue dedicated to the slave trader Edward Colston, kneeling on the statue's neck before tossing the statue into a nearby harbor. In Belgium, government authorities there removed an equestrian statue depicting colonial era king Leopold II that had also been targeted by protesters there.

Describing the motives behind the commission, Khan wrote via press release, "Our capital’s diversity is our greatest strength, yet our statues, road names and public spaces reflect a bygone era. It is an uncomfortable truth that our nation and city owes a large part of its wealth to its role in the slave trade and while this is reflected in our public realm, the contribution of many of our communities to life in our capital has been wilfully ignored."