Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao Explains Colonialism, Displacement & Pan-Africanism

The Roots of Resistance: A Conversation with Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao on Colonialism, Displacement, and Pan-Africanism

Interviewer: You’ve been a strong advocate for Pan-Africanism and continental unity. What experiences in your life led you down this path?

Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao: I was born and raised in Zimbabwe, back when it was still called Rhodesia. Growing up there meant witnessing unimaginable injustices. Imagine being abused and mistreated in your own country by foreigners who didn’t belong there, yet held all the power. It was painful and deeply dehumanizing. But for me, it wasn’t just what I saw it was also what I was taught.

My father was old enough to remember when the British took our land. He used to tell us about how that process unfolded, and it’s something not many people know about. Britain had what they called the “Loot Law.” If you were a British veteran from the First or Second World War or even just an adventurous British you were guaranteed 2,000 hectares of land in Rhodesia. That’s how the colonization machine worked.

Dr. Chihombori-Quao: They divided the country into four distinct regions.
* Region One had excellent rainfall and rich soil perfect for farming and prosperity.
* Region Two was slightly less fertile, but still very productive.
* Region Three was semi-arid, better for cattle grazing than crops.
* Region Four was practically uninhabitable no rain, full of tsetse flies and mosquitoes.

The soil was so poor that even after it rained, it would dry up in minutes like nothing had happened.
And then they began the forced relocations. Black Africans were pushed out of Regions One and Two and sent to live in Regions Three and Four. If you were lucky, you got Region Three. But most were shoved into Region Four where survival itself was a daily struggle.
The system was designed to privilege them.

When a British settler arrived, they were guided toward Region One or Two. The land allocation process was appallingly simple. The settler would put a peg in the ground, get on a horse, and ride in one direction until he or the horse got tired. Then he’d stop, place another peg, and repeat the process for four days. That entire area became his land.

Everything inside those pegs was now considered his property except the people living there. The settlers would walk in and tell the villagers, “Go past the river in that direction. Cross the mountain in the other. This land is no longer yours.” And the people, with no protection or rights, would gather whatever they could carry and leave.