20th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium — Repairing Historical Injustices

830 Westview Drive SW,Atlanta GA 30314

24 March, 2023

Description

The Walter Rodney Foundation (WRF) and its Symposium Committee invite you to the upcoming 20th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium on Friday 24 March 2023, “Repairing Historical Injustices: An Amplified Call for Reparations for All Peoples of African Descent & Reparative Justice For Walter Rodney.” This hybrid (in-person and partially streamed) event will connect a diverse audience from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa. Dr. Walter Rodney (1942-1980) was a Guyanese and Pan-Africanist historian, professor, political activist, and revolutionary intellectual; a pivotal figure in 20th-century black radical politics. Over his short life, he combined his signature historical and theoretical work with grassroots politics in Guyana, the Caribbean, Africa, the US, the UK, and Europe. His works include: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Rodney's classic study of the structure and trajectory of European colonialism on the African continent); The Groundings with My Brothers (Rodney’s global vision of Black Power as a unique blend of Marxism and Pan-Africanism, as well as his conception of the spillover between radical intellectual practice and grassroots political forms); and The Russian Revolution (a balanced assessment of the conflicting tendencies in socialist construction, whether in the Soviet Union, in Ujamaa socialism, or in anti-imperialist state building more broadly), all published by Verso Press. Angela Y. Davis will provide the Keynote address. Angela Davis is world-renowned for her activism and scholarship and for her involvement in social justice movements over many decades. As an author, educator, and agitator, she emphasizes the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice, as well as fiercely advocating for the abolition of the prison industrial complex. Professor Davis has taught at several prestigious universities. She is now Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and of Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. There will be several prominent presenters, including Professor Horace Campbell, and Professor and UN Representative Verene Shepherd. An exciting addition to this year’s program is the U.S. premiere of the film “Walter Rodney: What They Don’t Want You to Know.” Filmed in Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, Tanzania, the US, and the UK, it features revelatory interviews and examines the life of a man who sought unity in the face of division and whose ideals lie at the heart of today’s global struggles. Filmmakers Arlen and Daniyel Harris, Patricia Rodney, widow of Walter Rodney, and Angela Davis, will be a part of the post-screening Q&A. The annual Walter Rodney Symposium is dedicated to the legacy of Dr. Walter Rodney and the indelible mark of his scholarship and activism. The goal of the Symposium is to discuss contemporary issues reflecting Rodney’s works, ideas, and methodology. The symposium includes scholars, students, activists, and artists, who discuss and express their research and activism related to community empowerment, human rights, and social justice. The Walter Rodney Symposium is hosted by the Walter Rodney Foundation and Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library in collaboration with the Clark Atlanta University Department of Political Science, Global South Research Consortium, Morehouse College Department of Africana Studies, Spelman College Women’s Research and Resource Center, The Radow Institute for Social Equity at Kennesaw State University, Davis-Bozeman Law Firm, Dihvinely Konnecked Productions, Labor Community Strategy Center, The James and Grace Lee Boggs Center, and other community partners. Community organizations should contact the WRF at [email protected] for information on booking as a large group.