In the last week or so, the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the death of world-renowned historian and scholar, Dr. Walter Rodney, has attracted a variety of comments. I worked two years in Africa with the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and was always proud to refer to Dr. Rodney as my compatriot. Several people I spoke to knew him as a freedom fighter for the African cause and the author of “How Europe Under-Developed Africa”, among other publications.
One evening in the late 1970s, I was shopping around the Kitty Market Square. There was a political meeting in progress and I stayed back out of curiosity to listen to the speakers. Dr. Rodney was at the podium. As I listened to his address, which lasted for over two hours, I was glued to what he was saying about the political state of affairs in Guyana. He seemed so sincere in his analysis that from then on, I followed Dr. Rodney at every public meeting he spoke at in Georgetown until his untimely death. I remember Army helicopters hovering over the Le Repentir Cemetery at the time of his funeral. Whenever I drove through Cemetery Road, I would always look in the direction of where he was buried as a mark of remembrance.
On two occasions, I was one of the recipients of State violence unleashed on supporters of Dr. Rodney. I was part of the crowd that the Police had tear-gassed at the Merriman Mall. Dr. Rodney was reluctant to speak at
