I found the piece on rasta and resistance interesting
too.I will read how europe underdeveloped Africa and
also grounding with my brother.Rodney is a not only a
scholar but an activist.I think because of lack of
academic and intellectual freedom he was eliminated
but his ideals most continue.
Abdou Karim Sanneh
Manchester UK
--- Momodou Buharry Gassama <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Abdou!
>                 I'm glad you enjoyed the article. I
> have a copy of the book you are reading and it is
> truly inspirational. Walter Rodney was a great man
> who made an impact not only in the Caribbean but
> also in Africa. If you have not read How Europe
> Underdeveloped Africa, I urge you to. Have a good
> evening.
>
>
> Buharry.
>
> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Från: abdou sanneh <[log in to unmask]>
> Till: [log in to unmask]
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Datum: den 12 maj 2002 11:34
> Ämne: Re: FWD: The Walter Rodney factor in West
> Indian literature
>
>
> >Mr Gassama thanks for your background information
> on
> >Walter Rodney.I am now reading one of his book-The
> >history of the upper Guinea coast.I was happy with
> >your posting because it gave a detail information
> >about Rodney's role not only as a scholar but a
> >political activist.My brother from the philosophy
> of
> >Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney, I belief
> >rastafarianism and reggae music is nothing order
> than
> >a resistance and protest against oppression,
> >de-humanisation,colonialism, imperialism etc.I
> think
> >for most of us fighting against oppression in
> Africa,
> >Walter Rodney is an inspiration.
> >Abdou Karim Sanneh
> >Manchester UK
> >--- MOMODOU BUHARRY GASSAMA <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >> The Walter Rodney factor in West Indian
> literature
> >>
> >>
> >> by Al Creighton - First posted in Stabroek News
> on
> >> June 18th. 2000
> >>
> >> On October 16, 1968, news of the expulsion of
> >> historian Dr Walter Rodney from Jamaica swept
> >> rapidly across the Mona Campus of UWI - Rodney
> had
> >> first gone to Mona as an undergraduate and
> following
> >> his Honours Degree in history in 1963, had gone
> to
> >> the School of Oriental and African Studies at the
> >> University of London (SOAS) as a doctoral
> student.
> >> He had then returned as a lecturer in the History
> >> Department at Mona, and West Indian Literature
> has
> >> never been the same since.
> >>
> >> As the new Michaelmas began in October 1968,
> Rodney
> >> had left the campus to attend a black writers
> >> conference in Canada and, after having secretly
> >> followed his every movement in Kingston and
> beyond,
> >> the Jamaican government seized that opportunity
> to
> >> deny the Guyanese academic re-entry into the
> >> country. Despite the grand historic state visit
> of
> >> His Imperial Majesty Haile Selasse I of Ethiopia
> to
> >> Kingston in 1966, the government felt very
> insecure
> >> about Africanness, about communism/socialism and
> >> radical politics and viewed anything proclaiming
> >> itself as black with great suspicion. Since
> joining
> >> the staff at UWI, Walter Rodney had attracted
> their
> >> attention because of his venturing beyond the
> safe
> >> boundaries of the campus to teach African history
> in
> >> some of the more depressed communities and
> because
> >> of his embracing of scientific socialism.
> >>
> >> Black Power from North America was already a
> major
> >> influence in the Caribbean and a Rastafarianism
> that
> >> had been becoming much more outgoing and
> articulate
> >> had been claiming its place in a society in need
> of
> >> greater consciousness of its cultural heritage.
> >> Independent Jamaica was six years old and
> struggling
> >> to find itself in the middle of ideological
> racial
> >> voices shouting from the left and from the right.
> >> The Jamaica Labour Party government led by Hugh
> >> Shearer belonged emphatically to the right, a
> >> position it fiercely defended by marshalling such
> >> forces as police activity, the banning of
> literature
> >> and persons, among other impositions. One was
> >> allowed to be as revolutionary as one fancied
> within
> >> the Ivory Tower on the campus at Mona (already
> ceded
> >> as foreign territory) but bringing such dangerous
> >> academic activity out in the local communities as
> >> the likes of Rodney, Clive Y. Thomas, Arnold
> >> Bertram, Rupert Lewis, Ralph Gonsalves and later
> >> Trevor Munroe were doing was not to be tolerated.
> >>
> >> Already there were signals that the literature
> was
> >> responding to the socio-political developments by
> >> challenging authority. The powerful urban
> >> sub-culture that gave rise to the Rude-Boy
> >> phenomenon had only recently expressed itself in
> >> ska, rock steady and reggae music between 1963
> and
> >> 1967. This grew into more systematic songs of
> >> political protest in 1968. The social, cultural,
> >> political and ethnic conflicts including
> >> Rastafarianism and the urban sub-culture were
> >> reflected in Eddie (Kamau) Brathwaite's impactful
> >> books of poems Rights of Passage (1967) and Masks
> >> (1968) to be followed by Islands in 1969. When
> >> Rodney was declared persona non grata, the
> literary
> >> revolt immediately escalated.
> >>
> >> The banning triggered off an explosion which
> started
> >> among students on the campus. They barred the
> gates,
> >> shut down classes and marched seven miles to
> Gordon
> >> House (the seat of parliament) in downtown
> Kingston,
> >> fighting police road blocks and tear gas at
> several
> >> points. During the day they were joined by sixth
> >> formers from some secondary schools and after
> they
> >> returned to Mona, groups of people on the streets
> >> took up the cause in a series of riots in the
> city.
> >> While violence spread across Kingston, the
> students
> >> kept the campus closed for two weeks, joined by
> >> several lecturers and even winning the sympathy
> of
> >> then Vice Chancellor Sir Philip Sherlock, who is,
> >> among other things, a published poet and compiler
> of
> >> folk literature.
> >>
> >> The issue forced widely publicized debates in
> >> parliament with the government claiming that
> >> national security was under threat and appealing
> to
> >> nationalist and patriotic sentiments against an
> >> invasion of foreign subversive communist
> academics.
> >> The academic community responded with a sudden
> rise
> >> of public intellectualism, at first to defend
> itself
> >> against government attack, while explaining the
> >> legitimacy of its activities and its right to
> become
> >> involved in public affairs to the public. This
> was
> >> mixed with protest and new outlets for radical
> >> thought. Many new periodical publications
> emerged.
> >> Among the most important were Tapia and Moko
> Jumbie
> >> (Trinidad), Abeng and Savacou (Jamaica).
> >>
> >> Abeng, taking its name from the shell/horn used
> by
> >> slaves as a means of coded communication, was
> among
> >> the most devoted to political protest while
> others
> >> played a more lasting role in the growth of
> creative
>
=== message truncated ===


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