Radical with Amol Rajan The Legacy of Empire: How to Reckon with the Past (Simukai Chigudu)
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Mar 19, 2026 
Simukai Chigudu, an Oxford associate professor and memoirist who helped start Rhodes Must Fall, reflects on colonial legacies. He discusses confronting Rhodes's symbols, the push to decolonise curricula, campaigns to remove statues, lived experiences of racism, and arguments for reparations. Short, personal reflections meet institutional critique in a lively conversation.
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Born Free Amid Colonial Aftermath
- Simukai Chigudu grew up in Zimbabwe born six years after independence, inheriting a “born free” generation’s promise amid pervasive colonial legacies.
- He recounts family trauma: his father was twice a political prisoner and the colonial atmosphere shaped language, schools and early racism experiences.
Oxford Encounters That Sparked Activism
- At Oxford, Simukai experienced subtle denigration of African studies, citing a fellow's scoff and historian Hugh Trevor-Roper's claim that there's "no history in Africa."
- The 2015 UCT statue protest — human waste thrown at Rhodes — catalysed a global Rhodes Must Fall wave that resonated at Oxford.
Statues Tell Us Who We Are Today
- Rhodes Must Fall forced institutions to ask who they are today by interrogating which figures are memorialised and why.
- While the Oriel statue remained, the campaign produced removals, exhibitions and curriculum reviews across Oxford.
