On Contradiction - Mao - Conclusion

The prologue, an interview from 'Come Home, Malcolm Heatland' (1976) - Out of Print

'The Interview' - Come Home, Malcom Heartland - Andrew Salkey

Walter Rodney was murdered by the Burnham regime on 13 June, 1980. He was trapped, in the course of his revolutionary activities, by a member of Guyana’s army, into handling a device which exploded and killed him.

This was a highly charged political event for three main reasons: Walter was an internationally respected and admired Marxist historian active in the revolutionary movement in Guyana and the Caribbean; he was viewed by the people of Guyana, the Caribbean and the black world as the alternative to the bankrupt, political leaders in the region; and find finally, the Caribbean itself had been simmering since 1968 with revolutionary upheavals and social revolt.

Much if not all of the responses sought to explain Walter’s assassination in the following terms: “Burnham, the evil demagogue murdered Walter, the good revolutionary”. While this moral approach did little harm, it failed to analyse the event in political terms, with a view to clarifying the way forward for the Caribbean revolutionary movement which suffered a mortal blow on Walter’s death.

Enter CLR James to deliver a lecture, at a memorial symposium titled, Walter Rodney, Revolutionary & Scholar: A Tribute, held on 30 January 1981 at the University of California, USA.

James knew Walter well, had held Marxist classes in which Walter had participated, and apart from being Caribbean-born himself, contributes to the development of the Caribbean Revolutionary movement.

In his address, James located Walter’s assassination within the context of the Seizure of Power. For James, The Seizure of Power by revolutionary forces is the main item on the political agenda of every single Caribbean country...

Walter Rodney and the Question of Power is an indispensable handbook for revolutionaries.

Race Today Collective, March, 1983.

Mustard Flowers