By Chinedu Chukwudinma
Walter Rodney was almost the same age as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King when the ruling class murdered him on June 13th 1980. This speaks to the relentless battle he waged against the horrors of capitalism in his mere 38 years of existence. He should be revered as one of the great radical black leaders of the last century. Rodney is best known for his famous book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (HEUA), which he wrote in Tanzania. Yet, his incredible journey and contributions to the struggle of the oppressed are unknown or remembered in pieces. Some remember him as an influential Black Power advocate in Jamaica. Few know about the time he spent in Africa. Fewer remember the socialist struggle he led before his death in Guyana.
The author, Chinedu Chukwudinma, is a socialist activist and writer based in London. He writes on African politics, popular struggles and the history of working-class resistance on the continent and is a member of ROAPE’s editorial board. Chukwudinma is researching the life and work of Walter Rodney at the University of Oxford.
