A Rebel’s Guide To Walter Rodney

Walter Rodney was almost the same age as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr when he was assassinated on 13 June 1980 in Guyana at the age of 38. Throughout his short life, he waged a relentless battle against the horrors of capitalism, for which he should be revered as one of the great black leaders of the last century. Rodney is best known for his famous book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, which he wrote in Tanzania in 1972. But he was also an influential Black Power advocate in Jamaica and in the final years of his life, he led a revolutionary struggle in Guyana. This short introduction is an overview of Rodney’s life, activism and political thought, which aims to preserve and promote his legacy. This book intends to encourage young black people especially to read about Rodney and how he used Marxism to understand racism and organise for black liberation.