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WALTER RODNEY IN BRIEF:
Born into a working-class family, Rodney attended Queen’s College, where he became a champion debater and athlete.
He attended the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) in Jamaica, graduating in 1963 with a first-class degree in history, winning the Faculty of Arts prize.
Rodney earned a PhD in African history in 1966 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England, at the age of 24.
On June 13, 1980, Dr Rodney, 38, was killed by a bomb in his car, a month after returning from the independence celebrations in Zimbabwe and during a period of intense political activism.
His brother, Donald Rodney, who was injured in the explosion, said that a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force named Gregory Smith had given to Dr Rodney the bomb, hidden in what Rodney thought was a walkie-talkie set, that killed him. After Rodney’s murder Smith fled to French Guiana, where he died in 2002 without being brought to justice for Walter Rodney’s murder.
While the credentials of Walter Rodney are well-established and need not be re-visited herein, an introduction to Walter Rodney is considered an imperative and essential to understanding the great loss to the Guyanese nation that the death of Rodney occasioned; so, in an attempt to provide insight into the brilliant mind of Walter Rodney, and the motivational factors guiding his passionate denunciation and courageous struggles against an oppressive and dictatorial regime, he is being introduced herein through one of his speeches, as follows:
Dr. Walter Rodney addressing a meeting, which was reported to have been broken up by House of Israel members.
“Brothers and sisters!
Many persons are coming forward and are bringing evidence and information about what is going on. They tell about their own particular experiences — as housewives, as taxi drivers and so on. They all come and give information with the necessary details, so that we can get a total picture of what the social, economic and political life is like in this country today.
And there is not a group without some fundamental grievance. What we would like to do in the Working People's Alliance is to share with you some analysis of the facts before us. We will concentrate on information as the basis of our analysis of where we are, and more important still, of where we are going. It is essential to carry out such a sober analysis: The idea being not simply to rally our supporters, but to convince all Guyanese, because we respect their intelligence. When you put sensible things before the Guyanese population, they will respond; and that is our task today.
I want to begin my reference to events by asking you to think about some of the more recent statements which have emerged from the ruling government since the murder of Father Darke — for that murder was an important political event in the event history of this country. Father Darke fell as the first martyr of the present stage of the Guyanese revolution. (Applause) We must understand the significance of his murder. The W.P.A. has already publicly accused the P.N.C., as a party and as the government of this country, of complicity in that murder. And we have said that in any decent and civilised country investigations would have proceeded to find out who were the real authors and instigators of the murder of Father Darke. (Someone shouts, "Rabbi".) More than just the Rabbi. We must not be confused into thinking that the Rabbi is an independent entity! The Rabbi is not independent. The Rabbi himself is a stooge of other forces. (Laughter) We must identify his masters — his paymasters. We must not be afraid to say openly that the People's National Congress has been officially involved in thuggery. Eventually it had to lead to murder as it did on July the fourteenth. And what has occurred since convinces us that the government, having got itself in that murder, is now concentrating on the cover-up.
First they came out with ridiculous stories about 'scuffling' that went on; then they refused to tell the Guyanese and the international public that Father Darke was killed while doing his duty as a journalist.
They never published any photographs of July 14 in the Chronicle. That was not because the Chronicle photographer was not there. He was right there on the scene. He had the time and the opportunity to photograph us when we were brought on a ridiculous charge of arson, but they would not publish any photographs of the violence. Photographs do exist. If you go to 'Freedom House' in Robb Street, you will see the display of these photographs. (Applause and comments). The brother says the photographs should be carried to court. I agree, that's a logical statement. In a normal, civilised, healthy country, it would have gone to the courts. Instead, The Minister of Labour, Health and Housing, a Minister who actually had the temerity to turn up at the funeral of Father Darke, (derisive laughter), has now gone on record as fabricating yet another dimension to the lie — coming up with remarkable interpretation that the murder of Father Darke was another Catholic priest whose name he cannot pronounce. (Shouts of "Shame".)
The Chronicle of Lies
In one sense, we can dismiss this as nonsensical. In another sense, however, it is a reminder of to all of us how much contempt the government of this country has heaped upon the people of this country.
You have to be absolutely contemptuous of the people whom you are addressing to tell them such foolishness and expect them to believe. It is a total insult to anyone's intelligence to be given such an interpretation when most Guyanese today and certainly those of us who live in Georgetown, have by now gotten a clear picture of what happened on that day. But the ruling class is continually trying to tell us that whatever they say is the truth — no matter what you see, no matter what you experience. Even if you saw it with your own eyes and they print the opposite in the Chronicle, you are supposed to say to yourself, "I must have been dreaming when I thought I saw it that way." (Laughter) They continually insult our intelligence and our capacity to make independent decisions.
The Chronicle, of course as you realise, has sunk to a new low. Part of their recent propaganda has to do with the Bauxite strike, and it is not the first time that they have concocted propaganda about the bauxite strike. I believe that they work on the assumption that because Linden is separated from Georgetown, or Kwakwani is separated from Georgetown, they can tell us here in Georgetown and tell the people in Corentyne and Essequibo anything about Linden, and people will believe. But they publish so many contradictions in their own newspapers that even the most uninformed reader must come to the conclusion that they are reading a tissue of lies. A few days ago the Editorial comment on page one of the Chronicle proved itself a most remarkable document. I read it four or five times and still find it difficult to understand. In an editorial which dealt with the question of truth — they said they were searching for truth — they themselves wanted to know where to find it. One day we hear the strike is crumbling and the next day we hear the strike is firm. One day we hear how everybody turned out to work. Next day we understand it is only one man. (Laughter). And then they ask the question in the end, "Where is the truth amidst all of these confusing statements?"
The thing about that editorial is that the contradictory statements to which they refer are all published in their own newspaper. They were not taking these statements elsewhere — they were using the information from the Chronicle to write an editorial saying that "We ain't know wha is truth, because every day we does print a different story." (Laughter). And yet, spectators continue to buy it, and to read it, while the P.N.C. expect us to believe anything that they present to us. It is ultimately, as I said, apart from comedy, an insult to the Guyanese people, and we have to say that we will put an end to those in power who have such a low estimation of our abilities. (Applause). Not only are they insulting us, but in the real sense, it seems as if they have taken leave of all sanity.
With Burnham, Lunacy Prevails
The W.P.A. has asked people to comment on this before, and I want to put it forward very seriously, because when you accuse people of acting as if they were mad or acting as madmen or madwomen you're making a serious accusation. It should not be put forward lightly as though it were a mere joke, because in normal circumstances, the mentally ill person is just like any one else who is physically ill and we should be sympathetic. But when the ruling class is characterized by elements of insanity, it is another matter altogether, because those who are insane must be given proper medical treatment. They must be removed from normal processes of work while that treatment is going on. (Laughter). So we don't expect our rulers to be plagued by insanity, and yet it is difficult sometimes to find any explanation of their conduct which can be given in normal terms of an individual or individuals who are sane. Time and again you come up against the only possible conclusion — that we are ruled by people who have departed from their sanity in the literal sense of the word, because you have become insane when you have lost touch with reality. If you move down the road shadowboxing, someone might imagine you are a boxer practising. 'So you alright — you practising.' But if you do this every day and people realize that you are not really shadowboxing, 'you genuinely believe you fightin' somebody else, then they say you mad.' (Laughter). Because you have departed from reality; you've lost touch with reality. They seem to think that they are all-powerful.
Whoever accumulated power to themselves in such a way that they want to make every single decision in the state a personal decision, is being taken over by insanity, and it is not surprising, because no one man or handful of men, even in their own interests should conduct the affairs of state as their personal business. So that when some sister 'have to get wuk as a washer-woman, he gat to intervene to decide whether or not she gon' get dat wuk.' And when so-and-so got to get a promotion or a scholarship, 'all a' dis thing gat to be done by certain telephones." Now when you reduce yourself to government by telephones, it means you've got to jump everytime the telephone rings. (Laughter). So they're very jumpy. More than that, they can't sleep because when you dedicate yourself to oppressing others, you cannot sleep. You have to spend all night planning how you will oppress the next day and then you've got to spend all the next day oppressing. You have no sleep day or night. So that is why this ruling class is being plagued now by symptoms of lunacy — losing touch with reality — they haven't a clue what is going on. They're living in a world of their own and they're trying to reduce the rest of us to the same condition of losing touch with reality.
What is it when the news media continually comes out to tell you that you did not see what you saw. (Laughter). They tell you that they saw what you didn't see — this is a way of making you lose touch with reality. (Laughter).
(Sound of a helicopter overhead). Brother and Sisters, I am aware of the preferred mode of transportation of King Kong. (Laughter). Nevertheless, we have to proceed with what is going on down there and we want to show that the ruling class has clearly lost touch with reality in a way that is absolutely frightening. Think about the story of the palace that they were about to build. In the midst of the most desperate economic crisis that has ever hit this nation, (let us forget for a moment who brought on the crisis, we know they brought it on, but forget that for a moment), any sane government would not think about building a palace. But you see King Kong had decided he wanted to build a palace to his ego (laughter), and a monument to his own stupidity — so that he could sit inside and be a monument inside a monument. (Laughter and applause).
One of the brothers in the audience, when we were at Grove yesterday, suggested to us that what was required was to extend the zoo to take in the Residence (laughter) and then we would have one of the most prized exhibits of any zoo in the world.
Guyana’s history is replete with incidents and resonances of oppression, suppression and terror of various times, most significantly during colonial rule under the British plantocracy; and dictatorial stewardship under the PNC, led by former President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham.
The PPP and WPA shared platforms to struggle against the dictatorship. Dr. Jagan is at podium, with WPA Rupert Roopnarine, who later teamed up with the PNC, is seen centre.
Subsequent to Rodney’s murder and the implication of the GDF in his assassination, the army denied the existence of smith. However, according to the Catholic Standard Smith was confirmed by then Crime Chief Skip Roberts as having army number 4141.
He was described as of Boviander extraction, with a marked stammer, who originated from Warapana in the Pomeroon and to have attended the Abrams Creek primary School, not far from Siriki.
The army sergeant Gregory Smith was also reported to have returned to Guyana in June 1978 from an army electronics course in England, which he attended with Sergeant Marks (1616) and Corporal Northey (4566) both the latter of the Marine wing of the GDF.
Along with Lance Corporal Hardeen, the three had an assignment in 1977 of helping to construct a Mobile Radio Caravan for the GDF at the Ruimveldt base, which was subsequently transferred to Camp Ayangana.
Sources revealed that when Smith began growing his hair a senior army officer instructed ranks not to question Smith about his activities.
Also,for those who still doubt the involvement of the GDF and continue to blame Rodney for wanting to destroy the prison and cause a jailbreak, maybe the following article may serve to convince the people of the validity of charges of planned murder and the existence of Gregory Smith and his involvement in the assassination of Dr. walter Rodney.
