Rhodes Must Fall: The Struggle to Decolonise the Racist Heart of Empire

When students at Oxford University called for a statue of Cecil Rhodes to be removed, following similar calls by students in Cape Town, the significance of these protests was felt across continents. This was not simply about tearing down an outward symbol of British imperialism – a monument glorifying a colonial conqueror – but about confronting the toxic inheritance of the past, and challenging the continued underrepresentation of people of colour at universities. And it went to the very heart of the pernicious influence of colonialism in education today. Written by key members of the movement in Oxford, Rhodes Must Fall is the story of that campaign. Showing the crucial importance of both intersectionality and solidarity with sister movements in South Africa and beyond, this book shows what it means to boldly challenge the racism rooted deeply at the very heart of empire.

Table of Contents:
Preface - Kehinde Andrews Introduction from the Editors - Roseanne Chantiluke, Brian Kwoba and Athinangamso Nkopo Part I: Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford! 1. Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford Founding Statement - RMFO 2. Protesting the Rhodes Statue at Oriel College - Ntokozo Qwabe 3. Wake Up, Rise Up - Andre Dallas 4. Skin Deep: The Black Women of Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford - Athinangamso Nkopo, Tadiwa Madenga and Roseanne Chantiluke 5. Dreaming Spires Remix - Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh 6. Ignorance Must Fall - Princess Ashilokun 7. Letter of Support: The Codrington Legacy in Oxford - Michelle Codrington 8. Codrington Conference: What is to be done? - Simukai Chigudu 9. Britain’s Black Debt: Reparations owed for the Crimes of Native Genocide and Chattel Slavery in the Caribbean - Sir Hilary McDonald Beckles KA 10. Reparations in the Space of the University in the Wake of Rhodes Must Fall - Patricia Daley 11. Interviewing for the Rhodes Scholarship - Julian Brave NoiseCat 12. The Rhodes Scholarship: A Silver Lining? - Brian Kwoba 13. Decolonizing Whiteness: White Voices in Rhodes Must Fall - Arthur (Eirich), Anasstassia Baichorova, Claudio Sopranzetti, JanaLee Cherneski, Max Harris, and Roné McFarlane 14. Anti-Blackness, Intersectionality, and People Of Colour Politics - Athinangamso Nkopo and Rose Chantiluke Part II: Sister Movements 15. Black Feminist Reflections on the Rhodes Must Fall at UCT - Kealeboga Ramaru 16. Of Air. Running. Out - Athi-Nangamso Esther Nkopo 17. Decolonising SOAS: Another University Is Possible - Akwugo Emejulu 18. Colston: What Can Britain Learn from France? - Olivette Otele 19. Students Voices from Decolonise Sussex - Lavie Williams, Isabelle Clark, and Savannah Sevenzo 20. The Pro-Indo-Aryan Anti-Black M.K. Gandhi and Ghana’s #GandhiMustFall Movement - Ọbádélé Kambon and Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua 21. Harvard: Reclaim Harvard and Royall Must Fall - Rena Karefa-Johnson 22. An Interview with Princeton University’s Black Justice League - Asanni York 23. #LeopoldMustFall: Queen Mary University of London - QM Pan-African Society Part III: Global Reflections and Reverberations 24. Resisting Neocolonialism from Patrice Lumumba to #RhodesMustFall - Kofi Klu 25. Decolonising Mathematics - Kevin Minors 26. To Decolonize Math, Stand Up to its False History and Bad Philosophy - Chandra Kant Raju 27. Decolonising Pedagogy: An Open letter to the Coloniser - Lwazi Lushaba 28. 'British Values' and Decolonial Resistance in the Classroom - Roseanne Chantiluke 29. Decolonizing Reparations: Intersectionality and African Heritage Community Repairs - Esther Stanford-Xosei 30. Decolonisation, Palestine, and the University - Anonymous 31. The Struggle to Decolonize West Papua - Benny Wenda 32. Why Does My University Uphold White Supremacy? The Violence of Whiteness at UCL - Ayo Olatunji

About the Author :
Rhodes Must Fall is a protest movement that began on 9 March 2015, originally directed against a statue of British Imperialist Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The campaign for the statue's removal received global attention and led to a wider movement to decolonise education, by inspiring the emergence of allied student movements at other universities across the world.

Review :
‘This bracingly direct collection of essays maps the contours of a debate Britain must finally have – from how we commemorate the past to how whiteness remains a central axis of institutional power. Essential reading for anyone who is interested in the question of how Britain and the globe can and must decolonise.’ Priyamvada Gopal, University of Cambridge, and author of The Indian English Novel: Nation, History and Narration ‘From the colonies to the heart of empire, #RhodesMustFall reinvigorated the academy like no other student movement since the 1960s. This book is an explosive testament to that collective achievement, and a signpost for the intellectual road ahead.’ Xolela Mangcu, University of Cape Town, and author of Biko: A Life