Colonialism and its legacy are part of our shared human history. The social structures, funding models, and knowledge generation practices that define global health are rooted in a history of inequality, exploitation, and racism. For the community that focuses on populations, this is also a history of coercion, population control, and eugenics. This history may not be un-done and prior calls to challenge this legacy, have fallen short. There is a growing awareness and pressure to address this as the world moves to ‘de-colonize’ global health.