Sounds from the Rhodes Must Fall protest, Oxford

On 9 June 2020, following two weeks of global Black Lives Matters protests, and following the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, UK, more than a thousand protesters gathered in Oxford city centre for Rhodes Must Fall, to demand the removal of a statue of the colonialist Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College in the centre of the city. We were there to record the sounds as it happened.

The peaceful Rhodes Must Fall protest took place in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown, with around 9 out of 10 protesters wearing masks and face coverings, and observing social distancing where possible.

This recording contains excerpts from speeches and chants across the crowd, and throughout you can hear the buzzing of helicopters from the press filming the protest from above.