2020

Saturday, March 21st

The Keynote Address was to be held at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, 830 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30314. Doors opened at 2 p.m., and Angela Davis was scheduled to take the stage at 3:00 p.m. Participants were required to RSVP for the event through Eventbrite. The event was free.

—- 03/14/20 —- Due to developments with the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the 17th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium – scheduled to take place on March 21, 2020 at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia – was postponed. The private event scheduled to take place later that evening at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library was also postponed.

Keynote:

Angela Y. Davis

2018

Friday, March 23rd &
Saturday, March 24th

1968 was a truly momentous year in the history of global social movements, a year of global revolution. It comprised the primary year of the shift from the Civil Rights to Black Power movements and Black Consciousness; the emergence of Black and Ethnic Studies programs; the “Rodney Riots” in Jamaica; innumerable assassinations, uprisings, and student movements globally; open social conflicts as seen in the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that year; the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; the Poor People's Campaign, and the Olympics Black Power salute which followed thereafter.

It was a critical time in which relations within the global Pan-African world shifted, and out of necessity radicalized. Most historians consider 1968 the apex of the Global 1960s movements when power relations and social movements for justice erupted in intense conflict.

The 15th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium reflected on the 50th anniversary of 1968, including the 50th anniversary of one of Walter Rodney's most important books: The Groundings with My Brothers (GWMB), and 50 years of Black Studies in the US.

Keynote:

Dr. John Carlos

Presenters:

2Kee

”Able” Mable Thomas

Akinyele Umoja

avry jxn

Basil Waine Kong

Devyn Springer

Ewart A. C. Thomas

Franklin “Jah Frank” Hasfal

Kurt Young

Lindy Carter

Matthew Smith

Mawuli Davis

Mengue Moli Jacques Bertrand

Mr. “Bongo Jerry” Small

Pellom McDaniels III

Robert “Bobby” Hill

Samuel T. Livingston

Seneca Vaught

Tanya M. Washington

Tiffany Smith

2016

Friday, March 18th &
Saturday, March 19th

The theme of the 2016 symposium was “Youth Matters: Global Groundings.” The symposium sought to address matters of significance to youth and did include sessions on movements and activism, intergenerational dialogue, international voices, education, and juvenile justice. In addition to the Atlanta symposium, we had several simultaneous meetings of local youth in other states and in countries across the world, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and within the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa.

Youth is often described in the Pan-African world as persons under 40 years old. Dr. Walter Rodney was officially within this recognized definition of “youth” as he was 38 years old when he was assassinated, a fact that we often forget as we explore his relatively short life as an academic, scholar, historian, and activist. Both Dr. Rodney’s life and the causes for which he gave it should be an inspiration to all of us, especially youth, who strive for justice, domestically and internationally.

Keynotes:

Dr. Raphael G. Warnock

Jasiri X

Aurielle Marie

Presenters:

”Able” Mable Thomas

Aiden Salgado

Aljosie Aldrich Harding

Amira Rossih Martinez Sinisterra

Avery Jackson

Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Chairman John H. Eaves

Charles Black

Dazon Dixon Diallo

Dr. Rev. C.T. Vivian

DeShawn Dominique Jenkins

Devyn Springer

Emery Wright

Esker Copeland

Jesus Carabali

Jesus “Chucho” Garcia

Mawuli Mel Davis

Melanie R. Medalle

Prince Ifoh

Ralph Cantave

Samuel T. Livingston

Stephanie Guilloud

Teri Platt

Tiffany R. Smith