Navigating “Tight Corners” of Christian Mission in Colonial Zimbabwe: Charles Mzingeli and the 1945 Land Apportionment Amendment

Although the role of Christian missions during the end of imperialism and beginning of nationalism have often been overlooked, there is nonetheless a consensus among World Christianity historians that Christian mission-education played a key role in nationalist movements’ development. This paper examines the oft-overlooked Christian mission-educated black Southern Rhodesian politician Charles Mzingeli and his opposition to the 1945 Land Apportionment Amendment. Building on John Lonsdale’s concept of Africans maneuvering within the “tight corners” of imperialism (2000), I will explore how Mzingeli’s protest operates within the “tight corners” between British imperialist Christian missionaries and white settler nationalist Christian missionaries. Collaborating with the Anglican missionary Arthur Shearly Cripps, Mzingeli engaged the Fabian Colonial Bureau and invoked his “imperial citizenship” in the face of other missionaries’ resistance to imperial involvement. As Zimbabwe transitioned from imperialism to nationalism, how did Mzingeli navigate the opportunities and opposition of Christian mission in colonial Zimbabwe?