Walter Rodney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Walter Rodney
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Walter Anthony Rodney
23 March 1942 |
| Died | 13 June 1980 (aged 38) Georgetown, Guyana
|
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of London SOAS, University of London |
| Academic work | |
| Main interests | African studies |
| Notable works | How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972) |
Walter Anthony Rodney (born March 23, 1942 – died June 13, 1980) was a famous historian, political activist, and teacher from Guyana. He is best known for his important book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, which was first published in 1972. Sadly, Walter Rodney was killed in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1980.
Contents
Walter Rodney's Early Life and Studies
Walter Rodney was born in 1942 in Georgetown, Guyana. His family was working-class, meaning they earned their living through jobs like factory work or farming.
He was a very bright student. In 1960, he started studying at the University of the West Indies. By 1963, he had earned a top degree in history.
He continued his studies in London, England, at the School of Oriental and African Studies. At just 24 years old, in 1966, he earned his PhD in African History. His special research was about the slave trade on the Upper Guinea Coast. This research later became a book called A History of the Upper Guinea Coast 1545–1800. People praised his book because it offered new ideas and challenged old ways of thinking.
A Voice for Change
Walter Rodney traveled a lot and became known around the world. He was an activist, a scholar, and a powerful speaker. He taught history at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1969 to 1974. He also taught at his old university in Mona, Jamaica, in 1968.
Rodney often criticized the wealthy middle class in the Caribbean after countries gained independence. He believed they were not doing enough to help everyone. He also strongly criticized capitalism, an economic system where private businesses own most things. He argued that Africa could only truly become free from imperialism (when one country controls another) if it followed "Socialism" and was led by working people.
In 1968, the government of Jamaica decided that Rodney was not welcome in the country. This meant he was banned from returning to Jamaica. His university then fired him. This decision caused big protests by students and poor people in West Kingston. These protests turned into riots, known as the Rodney Riots, where six people died and there was a lot of damage.
The riots started on October 16, 1968. They made many people across the Caribbean think more about politics. This was especially true for the Rastafarian community in Jamaica, who focus on African heritage. Rodney wrote about these events in his book The Groundings with my Brothers.
In 1969, Rodney went back to the University of Dar es Salaam. He became a senior lecturer there in 1971 and an associate professor in 1973. He worked at the university until 1974, when he returned to Guyana. He had been promised a professor job at the University of Georgetown in Guyana. However, the government, led by Forbes Burnham, took back the offer when Rodney arrived.
Rodney was a close friend of C.L.R. James. He also supported the socialist government of Julius Nyerere in Tanzania. While his academic work helped create new ways of studying African societies, Rodney also worked to share knowledge directly with people. He spoke in Kiswahili, the local language, in Tanzanian villages.
He continued his work for Pan-Africanism, which is the idea of uniting all people of African descent. He studied why Africa was not developing as fast as other parts of the world. In 1972, he published his famous book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.
For a big meeting called the Pan-African Congress in 1974, he wrote about the "international class struggle" in Africa, the Caribbean, and America. In this important work, Rodney criticized leaders like Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Idi Amin Dada. He felt they were using ideas like "negritude" to divide people by tribe instead of uniting them.
Rodney became a leading figure in the Pan-Africanist and Marxist movements. He was very important in the Black Power movement in the Caribbean and North America. While living in Dar es Salaam, he helped create a new center for learning and discussion about Africa.
Later Years and Political Work
In 1974, Rodney returned to Guyana from Tanzania. He was supposed to become a professor at the University of Guyana. However, the Guyanese government stopped his appointment.
He became more and more involved in politics. He joined the Working People's Alliance (WPA). This party was the strongest group opposing the government led by the People's National Congress. The WPA wanted to make people more aware of political issues. They aimed to replace politics based on ethnic groups with revolutionary groups based on people working together as a class.
In 1979, Rodney was arrested and accused of arson after two government offices were burned. His trial was postponed three times. Later, the charges were dropped because there was not enough evidence.
Walter Rodney's Death
On June 13, 1980, Walter Rodney was killed in Georgetown. He was only 38 years old. A bomb exploded in his car. This happened a month after he returned from celebrations for Zimbabwe's independence. It was a time of strong political activity in Guyana.
He left behind his wife, Patricia, and three children. His brother, Donald Rodney, was also in the car and was hurt in the explosion. Donald said that a sergeant from the Guyana Defence Force named Gregory Smith gave Walter the bomb that killed him. After the killing, Smith escaped to French Guiana, where he died in 2002.
Many people believe that Guyana's president, Linden Forbes Burnham, arranged the assassination. Rodney believed that different ethnic groups, who had been treated unfairly by the old colonial rulers, should work together. This idea challenged Burnham's power.
In 2014, a special investigation called a Commission of Inquiry (COI) was held. A new witness, Holland Gregory Yearwood, said he was a long-time friend of Rodney and a former WPA member. Yearwood claimed Rodney had given him detonators weeks before the explosion, asking for help to build a bomb. However, the same Commission of Inquiry concluded in its report that Rodney's death was ordered by the state. They also stated that Prime Minister Forbes Burnham must have known about the plan.
Donald Rodney, Walter's brother, was convicted in 1982 for having explosives related to the incident. On April 14, 2021, the Guyana Court of Appeals overturned this judgment. Donald was cleared after 40 years of fighting his conviction.
On August 9, 2021, the National Assembly of Guyana voted to accept the findings of the 2016 Commission of Inquiry. This inquiry looked into the circumstances of Dr. Walter Rodney's death.
Walter Rodney's Academic Impact
Rodney's most important book was How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It was published in 1972. In this book, he explained how Africa had been used and exploited by European imperialists. He argued that this exploitation directly led to the modern underdevelopment of most of the continent.
The book became very important and also caused some debate. It was groundbreaking because it was one of the first books to offer a new way of looking at why Africa was underdeveloped. Rodney's analysis went much deeper than previous studies of underdeveloped countries.
In a new introduction to Rodney's book, scholar Angela Davis wrote about his ideas. She explained that Rodney believed that if a country just stayed still or moved slowly while others advanced, it was like going backward. In his book, Walter Rodney carefully showed how imperialism and colonialism created huge barriers. These barriers stopped economic, political, and social progress in Africa. However, he also said that Africans still had the "ultimate responsibility for development."
Davis also pointed out that Rodney cared about gender issues. He wrote about the role of women. He noted that under colonialism, African women lost their "social, religious, constitutional, and political privileges and rights." At the same time, their economic exploitation often got worse.
Rodney's way of educating people in communities during the 1960s was also important. His detailed descriptions of his teaching methods in Groundings (1969) show him as a key educator. He was a contemporary of Paulo Freire, another famous educator.
Remembering Walter Rodney
Many people have honored Walter Rodney since his death.
- The poet Martin Carter wrote a poem called "For Walter Rodney."
- The dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson wrote "Reggae fi Radni."
- Kamau Brathwaite wrote "Poem for Walter Rodney."
- David Dabydeen also wrote a poem about Rodney in his 1988 collection.
In 1977, the African Studies Centre at Boston University started the Walter Rodney Lecture Series.
In 1982, the American Historical Association gave Walter Rodney the Albert J. Beveridge Award after his death. This was for his book A History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881-1905.
In 1984, the Centre for Caribbean Studies at the University of Warwick started the Walter Rodney Memorial Lecture. This was to recognize his life and work as one of the most outstanding scholar-activists of the Black Diaspora after World War II.
In 1993, the Guyanese government gave Walter Rodney Guyana's highest honor, the Order of Excellence of Guyana. The government also created the Walter Rodney Chair in History at the University of Guyana.
In 1998, the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of the West Indies started the Walter Rodney Lecture Series.
In 2004, Rodney's wife Patricia and his children gave his papers to the Robert L. Woodruff Library in Atlanta. Since 2004, an annual Walter Rodney Symposium has been held there every March 23 (Rodney's birthday). It is sponsored by the Library and the Political Science Department of Clark Atlanta University. The Rodney family supports it.
In 2005, the London Borough of Southwark put up a plaque in the Peckham Library Square. It honors Dr. Walter Rodney, the political activist, historian, and global freedom fighter.
In 2006, an International Conference on Walter Rodney was held at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam.
Also in 2006, the Walter Rodney Essay Competition was started at the University of Michigan.
In 2006, the Walter Rodney Foundation was created by the Rodney family. It is based in Atlanta. Its goal is to share Rodney's work and legacy with the world.
In 2010, the Walter Rodney Commemorative Symposium was held at York College.
The Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University has an Angela Davis/Walter Rodney Award for Academic Achievement.
The Department of Afro-American and African Studies (DAAS) at the University of Michigan has the DuBois-Mandela-Rodney Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.
In 2012, the Walter Rodney Conference celebrated the 40th anniversary of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It was held at Binghamton University.
In 2022, a lecture at the University of the West Indies marked the 50th anniversary of Rodney's book.
Walter Rodney is the subject of a 2010 documentary film by Clairmont Chung, called W.A.R. Stories: Walter Anthony Rodney.
The Walter Rodney Close in the London Borough of Newham is named after him.
Walter Rodney is listed on the Black Achievers Wall at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, UK.
In 2022 and 2023, SAVVY Contemporary, an art space in Berlin, Germany, dedicated a project to Walter Rodney. This was 50 years after his book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa was published.
