Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice

Walter Rodney Symposium

April 9 – 10, 2026
In-Person event at Brown University in Providence, RI
Hybrid event in Atlanta, GA
Virtual attendance option available

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Walter Rodney Symposium

April 9 – 10, 2026
In-Person event at Brown University in Providence, RI
Hybrid event in Atlanta, GA
Virtual attendance option available

The Annual Walter Rodney Symposium is dedicated to the legacy of Dr. Walter Rodney and the indelible mark of his scholarship and activism. The goal of the Symposium is to discuss contemporary issues reflecting Rodney’s works, ideas and methodology.  The goal is to bring together scholars, researchers, activists, students, artists, and the community to discuss contemporary issues from a Rodney perspective.

Since 2004, an annual symposium has been held in Atlanta, Georgia or virtually around the week of Walter Rodney’s birthday (23 March). The 22nd Annual Walter Rodney Symposium is entitled “The Struggle Goes On: Applying Dr. Walter Rodney’s Principles.”  This is an inaugural event at Brown University in Providence, RI—the first hosted outside of Atlanta—with a hybrid local event in Atlanta, GA. Virtual viewing of the symposium is also available. Address information will be shared with registrants closer to the symposium.

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Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library

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This Symposium is part of the Race, Slavery, Colonialism, and Capitalism Research Cluster.

Schedule

DAY ONE | Thursday, April 9

  
11:45am
Doors Open
12:00 – 12:15pm

Occasion & Greetings

12:15 – 2:15pm

PANEL 1 | Liberation: Memory as Resistance

This session explores memory as resistance, and how individual and collective memory is created, preserved, and activated through journalism, publishing, film, the arts, and archiving to sustain and advance struggles for liberation.

2:15 – 4:00pm
Lunch Break (Lunch on your own)
4:00 – 5:30pm

PANEL 2 | After Man, Toward the Human: Grounding with
People(s)-Centered Human Rights

The panel examines human rights as forged through popular struggle rather than granted by state or empire. Drawing on People(s)-Centered Human Rights and the works and activism of Walter Rodney and Sylvia Wynter, it situates rights-making in mass participation and self-determination, and links it to  present-day movements for justice and liberation.

5:30 – 5:40pm
Break
5:40 – 6:45pm

KEYNOTE ADDRESS | Dr. Bayinnah Bello

6:45 – 7:00pm

Closing Remarks

DAY TWO | Friday, April 10

  
8:45am
Doors Open
9:00 – 9:10am

Welcome

9:10 – 10:05am

DISTINGUISHED ADDRESS | Dr. Nowile Rooks

10:05am –10:15am
Break
10:15am –12:15pm

PANEL 3 | PanAfricanism in this Moment of the 21st Century

This panel explores revolutionary movements and the role of the masses in dismantling colonial and neo-colonial systems. It examines strategies of transformation across Africa and the Diaspora, drawing on case studies from the Sahel and thought leadership from the Global Pan-African Movement, and addresses the roles of technology, HBCUs, women, health, and economic development in advancing sustainable self-sufficiency.

12:15 – 1:30pm
Lunch Break (Lunch on your own)
1:30 – 2:45pm

PANEL 4 | The Caribbean and its Morphing Role in Global Struggle

Politics in the Caribbean is at a crossroads. The decolonization moments of the 70's and early 80's came to a close with the implosion of the Grenadian Revolution. This period was followed by neoliberalism and a Caribbean in which transformation was not part of the political horizon.  Today it seems that this  neoliberal period is passing and  replaced by  various forms of authoritarianism. Central to this current period is the political erosion of sovereignty. If  the debt burden/crisis  of the  1980's and 90's eroded the space  for economic sovereignty then the current moment  is one in which  the USA as an imperial power  rules through a big power policy of " might is right." In such a context what are the prospects for Caribbean sovereignty and   how can  this sovereignty be practiced?

2:45 – 3:00pm

Closing Remarks

Speakers