In 1969, Rodney returned to the University of Dar es Salaam. The riots, which began on 16 October 1968, triggered an increase in political awareness across the Caribbean, especially among the Afrocentric Rastafarian sector of Jamaica, documented in Rodney's book The Groundings with my Brothers, published by Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications in 1969. The decision to ban him from ever returning to Jamaica and his subsequent dismissal by the University of the West Indies, Mona, caused protests by students and the poor of West Kingston that escalated into a riot, known as the Rodney Riots, resulting in six deaths and causing millions of dollars in damages.
On 15 October 1968, the government of Jamaica, led by prime minister Hugh Shearer, declared Rodney persona non grata.
He was also a strong critic of capitalism and argued that only under "the banner of Socialism and through the leadership of the working classes" could Africa break from imperialism. He was sharply critical of the middle class for its role in the post-independence Caribbean. He taught at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania during the periods 1966––1974 and in 1968 at his alma mater University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica. Rodney travelled widely and became known internationally as an activist, scholar and formidable orator. His dissertation, which focused on the slave trade on the Upper Guinea Coast, was published by the Oxford University Press in 1970 under the title A History of the Upper Guinea Coast 1545–1800 and was widely acclaimed for its originality in challenging the conventional wisdom on the topic. He earned a PhD in African History in 1966 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England at the age of 24.
He attended the University College of the West Indies in 1960 and was awarded a first-class honours degree in history in 1963. Walter Rodney was born in 1942 into a working-class family in Georgetown, Guyana. Rodney was assassinated in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1980. His notable works include How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, first published in 1972. Walter Anthony Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a Guyanese historian, political activist and academic.
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