Walter Rodney, born in Guyana on this day in 1942, Pan-African, Marxist intellectual who was assassinated by the Guyanese government in 1980 at 38 years old.

Rodney attended the University College of the West Indies in 1960 and was awarded a first class honors degree in History in 1963. He later earned a PhD in African History in 1966 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England, at the age of 24.

Rodney traveled extensively and became well-known as an activist, scholar, and formidable orator. He taught at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania from 1966-67 and 1969-1974, and in 1968 at his alma mater University of the West Indies.

On October 15th, 1968, the government of Jamaica declared Rodney a “persona non grata” and banned him from the country. Following his dismissal by the University of the West Indies, students and poor people in West Kingston protested, leading to the “Rodney Riots”, which caused six deaths and millions of dollars in damages.

In 1972, Rodney published “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”. Historian Melissa Turner describes the work this way: “A brutal critique of long-standing and persistent exploitation of Africa by Western powers, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa remains a powerful, popular, and controversial work in which Rodney argued that the early period of African contact with Europe, including the slave trade, sowed the seeds for continued African economic underdevelopment and had dramatically negative social and political consequences as well. He argued that, while the roots of Africa’s ailments rested with intentional underdevelopment and exploitation under European capitalist and colonial systems, the only way for true liberation to take place was for Africans to become cognizant of their own complicity in this exploitation and to take back the power they gave up to the exploiters.”

On June 13th, 1980, Rodney was killed in Georgetown, Guyana via a bomb given to him by Gregory Smith, a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force, one month after returning Zimbabwe. In 2015, a “Commission of Inquiry” in Guyana that the country’s then president, Linden Forbes Burnham, was complicit in his murder.

“If there is to be any proving of our humanity it must be through revolutionary means.”

  • Walter Rodney

I hope you nerds have a great March. kirby-spin

Remember no crackers

anti-cracker-aktionqin-shi-huangdi-fireball

  • Angel [any]@hexbear.net
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    As you may know by me mentioning it quite a lot lately, the subject of interracial dating has been on my mind a lot, particularly because of how lacking the discourse around it seems.

    One thing I find very weird is the glaring contradiction of how some people who’d normally deem themselves “woke” and “conscious,” all of a sudden, stop adhering to “the personal is political” the moment the conversation is about interracial relationships.

    Everyone wants to talk about how racism shows up in the workplace, education, housing, policing, etc., but the moment you dare even suggest that we should have a nuanced conversation on how interracial relationships are not inherently progressive and how they actually often serve as a hotbed for problematic, harmful, and toxic racist tendencies, then all of a sudden, you get thought-terminating cliches like, “Why do you care so much?”, “Respect people’s personal choices!”, and “People are allowed to date who they wanna date!”

    Every time I attempt to discuss this subject, I gotta invoke a billion and one disclaimers about how I am not necessarily opposed to interracial relationships as a whole, but if people are so stubborn that they don’t want to practice even the most miniscule amount of discernment and acknowledge that there is a fundamental difference between two people of different races genuinely being in love and a relationship being predicated on fetishization and self-hate, then I truly believe that an overwhelming majority of people are not responsible enough to engage in interracial relationships in a healthy, productive way. But, honestly, to be fair, that’s because most people don’t have a healthy, productive view of race in general, let alone in this particular context.

    • homhom9000 [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      6 hours ago

      The gender aspect on het(white man, racialized woman) relationships have become more noticeable to me where the push is to reject the barbaric, misogynist, racialized man and go for the enlightened white man because they’re “better.”

      It’s not technically my business since I’m not het, but hearing the racialized woman berrate the men in their own race in favor of a white man needs some attention. I can’t take interracial dating seriously if that’s not addressed nor the point you brought up.

    • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      16 hours ago

      Yeah it’s always a little iffy when coming across “woke” poc who are all about fighting racism and prejudice with their dating history being entirely white or never dating their own race.

      They get so defensive because they feel called out most of the time. A lot of interracial relationships, especially in the west, are often a product of fetishization and it’s not always just from dating whites either.

      Biggest pet peeve is when their partner or their partners friends/family make racist comments and their partner does nothing about it. Yet the victim of these insults defends them because they’re “different” and “not like that”

  • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    21 hours ago

    White people often say something along the lines of, “you’d be surprised how many normal people post neo-Nazi stuff online” and I laugh every time. Anyone who’s cooked to that degree towards other races isn’t exactly subtle and you can always pick it up from their body language to how they say things to you versus others.

    Very rarely will you find someone who’s good at hiding it and it’s often because they’re a little guarded about revealing too much.

    • He has been in Cuba the past few weeks and has been giving money to poor people and has explicitly told his fans to stop donating the moment he reached the limit on how much money he can withdraw, he’s as you’ve said far from perfect, but I find it odd how Hexbear treats him worse than slop creators like Hasan and the other breadtubers. Especially since he’s so quick to call out bullshit like with Zohran Mamdani, Greg Stoker Kat Abughazaleh and liberal zionism. The issue with him is his takes on China, Russia, his jokes about Yakub and his edgy attitude. He’s unfortunately one of the best slop streamer in the western left.

  • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    3 days ago

    Dumbass LA influencers: “gyatt” does not mean ass. So you can stop saying, “wow I have a gyatt.”

    AAVE becoming mainstream is one of the greatest tragedies of the 2020’s

  • There’s nothing that pisses me off than the smug “if Africa/Asia was united there will be a civil war the next day” not only because it’s ignorant racist anti-panafrican nonsense, but because most of the wars they’d use as an example were historically and geopolitically all funded, caused by or had direct involvement of western actors.

  • 3rdWorldCommieCat [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    4 days ago

    Still trying to figure out where that “unis make young people marxists” lie came from cause the speech I went to from one of our teachers just seemed like advertisement for the far-right. It had every damn bingo- soviets are evil, chinese are evil, white south africans are the REAL victims of racism guys, teachers are being fired over the WOKE (aka saying a racial slur), muslims are taking over europe and opressing women, western society is superior and brought more benefits than any other to the world etc like it had EVERYTHING ISTG. I feel like I went to a third reich meeting, “surprisingly” they had nothing bad to say about them wonder why…

    First the guy is also a writer with many political books (turbo lib), he released a book in recent years (keeping it subtle to avoid doxxing myself) about a fictional romance set in the perestroika era and won many euro awards for it ofc course, he has his daughter in a private catholic school (of fucking course he’s a white christian, the worst) and for an assignment the kids had to make a text about a figure they admired who promoted human rights and a chinese kid made it about Mao and you can prolly imagine how well that went lmao he got so offended he got the DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL INVOLVED who was also offended but the assignment was still accepted anyway by the teacher but ofc they dumbed it down to “chinese people are oh so oppressed and stupid they don’t know their country and history like we liberated europeans do that poor boy is being indoctrinated by his communist dad”, said it was like a german kid celebrating Hitler and then went on about the usual “Mao killed like 8000000000000000000 people” and shit “more than Hitler and Stalin combined”.

    Then he had book recs and half were like “communist dictatorship rahhhh ussr china 1984” (unironically said China was close to 1984 and that if you type forbidden searches on the internet there the cops show up at your house like some uber eats shit) and “controversial” writers that were just dead on racists like… one was a french guy who made a book about the “horrors of islam taking over france”, the other a white south african about how they’re the REAL victims and not those uppity blacks!!! and the other about how WOKE CULTURE ruined a poor innocent teacher’s life (he said a racial slur and some evil black girl student reported him and he lost his job), this is what’s promoted in european schools and they wonder why the far-right is growing.

    “western society is better cause we have gay marriage” in the same week as this country banning legal and medical recognition for trans minors and making it near impossible for adults to ever transition by making them go to a near decade long process with the medical system and still no guarantee at the end of it is a choice and ofc he promoted the fucking “civilization: west and the rest” a known white supremacist book about the superiority of the western world lmao

    the west made slavery illegal first (no mention of how they created it and popularized it through the world), we have gay marriage (no mention how most cultures they erased also recognized lgbt existence and equality in one way or another before they exterminated it out of us), the west brought a lot of tech to world (why are the people we enslaved and exploited not super scientists??? not to mention they already have fallen behind on that regard) etc

    I genuinely felt sick and how many white zoomers agreed and laughed at his “jokes” (so much for “everything will be ok when the boomers die”) and whites on this site will still wonder why poc will always feel the way we do towards their kind when THIS is something that gets promoted in some progressive circles with 0 pushback, I’m stuck here for 4 or so more years to finish my education and I have no idea how to retain my sanity or safety during it. I even used to like this teacher cause he was so attentive and kind and even accessible but jfc can’t trust any white. Part of me feels bad still for being outraged at him due to how he was but fuck that with these views? I don’t want him to come to any harm but I hope he fucking wakes up, I’m usually cut throat on white people in this site but it hits deep when it’s someone you know personally and who you got along with before they reveal their true colors. Fuck man idk. Idk how to retain my sanity and safety I just wanna leave.

  • Angel [any]@hexbear.net
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    4 days ago

    When the job posting says “Must have a professional appearance,” I automatically assume that I won’t get anywhere as a nappy-headed androgyne and skip it.

  • Angel [any]@hexbear.net
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    4 days ago

    It pains me to acknowledge that a Western white leftist cannot truly have a decolonial mentality, and of course, this is why I’m having a difficult time taking their “leftism” seriously.

    Preaching to the choir, sure, but damn…

    • VILenin [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      They always have to shoehorn in some mealy-mouthed statement about zionism being bad for Jews too as if it has to be bad for Jews in order to be bad. They may not say it quite explicitly but that is what they’re thinking. Is the KKK “bad for whites too” because it makes them look bad? Do we have to bring that up every time we talk about the KKK? Imagine Germans in 1945 going “we’re also the victims here because we can’t celebrate our culture anymore :(” like sit down and shut up. Palestinians don’t even get to be the focus of their own genocide. But I guess white “leftists” have decided the best option is to adopt the Ziohran Copdani strategy and grovel for approval from people who despise you.

      And of course you see Holocaust exceptionalism play out with the eurolib BS over the transatlantic slave trade. Not only are whites the most important genocide victims, they are the only genocide victims, even when they’re the ones doing the genociding (and when haven’t they been)?

      White “leftists” (including some on this site) love to insinuate or just outright accuse POC of being nazis as if it’s our fault that 99% of the european population is the second coming of Hitler. How many struggle sessions on this site haven’t been primarily driven by cracker butthurt and backlash? We’ve seen how long it takes to get the mod making death threats and calling POC users nazis to get banned. Really shows you what matters and what doesn’t.

        • VILenin [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          3 days ago

          “Please be on guard for hateful anti-straight rhetoric when criticizing the Westboro Baptist Church. Keep in mind that straights are victimized too, just like whites are the real victims of white supremacy. The Westboro Baptist Church spreads anti-straight rhetoric to drive straights to their ideology. Your hateful rhetoric is basically forcing them to become bigots, just like the anti-German racism of the USSR forced Germans to become nazis.”

          White “leftists” love to run interference for zionists by excusing their depraved ideology as a reaction to antisemitism. Extremely concerning how normalized the thought process of “a white nazi called me a slur” —> “I want to bomb every Palestinian hospital now” has become.

          You can see that this cartoon version of how fascists become fascists doesn’t actually happen because POC don’t become genocidal fascists en masse due to experiences of racism, and centuries of genocide (but I guess those don’t count because the victims weren’t white enough to qualify as the only victims that matter).

          White “leftists” will excuse liberal zionists (white-white solidarity) but will draw the line at a genocide victim for not dancing around the facts of the ethnostate doing the genocide.

  • AlHouthi4President@lemmy.ml
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    5 days ago

    Things that are readily agreed upon today but were completly unacceptable to say among the so-called anti-imperialist lefty platforms just a few years ago. How times have changed:

    Yes Hamas represents the revolutionary vanguard party of the Palestinian national cause.

    Settler israeli Jews are insufferable terrorist monsters and a large number of them will have to be redacted for any justice to exist.

    Ansarallah in Yemen is one of the most incredible revolutionary successes of the 21st century.

    I love Hezbollah

    Islamic Republic of Iran must be defended at all costs and is a model on genuine internationalism in the face of empire

    The Regional Islamic Resistance in West Asia is a moral compass for this wretched world.

    Resistance can and will win

  • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    5 days ago

    Someone argued today that going vegan wouldn’t help climate change because people would be mass producing produce and livestock would go rampant because nobody would eat them anymore

    • Angel [any]@hexbear.net
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      5 days ago

      khamenei-what

      These kinds of “arguments” are actually common from non-vegans lmao. Not even the goofiest one I’ve heard

    • AlHouthi4President@lemmy.ml
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      5 days ago

      “We support your struggle against US empire you have support inside the US!”

      👉 does basically nothing to disrupt the genocidal capitalist machine

      I’d rather they were just honest and not try to get everyone’s hopes up. The Ziorahn Mamdani scam is only the surface.

      • VILenin [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        5 days ago

        White “leftists” immediately turn into DNC propagandists the second you speak ill of Ziohran Copdani. Completely indistinguishable from the genocide-loving Kamala libs of November 2024. They slobbered over his unachievable “pledges” and “promises” and now that it isn’t happening all they can do is resort to gaslighting about how “nobody ever said he was actually going to do anything” and going “umm sweaty he’s just a mayor why do you care so much?”

        Oh I guess he put in a bunch of bike lanes though lmao. Mission accomplished.

        Tangent

        Don’t get me going about white “leftist” urbanism that incessantly worships shitty dilapidated European trains but avoids mentioning China like the plague. I remember when a video got posted to one of those subreddits of a Chinese drone going around busting people for traffic violations like occupying bus lanes and running red lights and they all predictably had a meltdown over muh 1984 police state red fascism.

        “I don’t want drivers to break traffic laws but this is literally Jorjor Whale!” Truly a perfect encapsulation of the white “leftist” mindset - endless idealizing about a perfect world and endless contempt of any attempt to actually get there. They simply cannot comprehend the idea of a political leader actually doing something.

        I guess they would have preferred the American traffic enforcement method of just summarily executing people? Or maybe it’s just the standard cracker entitlement of doing whatever the fuck you want and if anybody stops you that’s an egregious attack on muh freedoms. Nothing more than anti-bedtime contrarianism.

        Most Chinese netizens have expressed gratitude for local governments finally getting their acts together and cleaning up the traffic mess.

        White “leftists” are the most intellectually dishonest people to ever walk the earth. And morally dishonest too of course, but that’s another discussion.

  • Angel [any]@hexbear.net
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    6 days ago

    So, my landlord doesn’t actually work at that place… apparently, she was just doing schooling and had to do like some practice there or something? Still odd to see, but that is a relief.

  • VILenin [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    7 days ago

    Whenever a cracker starts yapping about “feeling unsafe” because of the homeless/RVs/drug users or whatever I just ask them what these people have done to them. Like specifically, name one thing they have actually done that negatively impacted you.

    99/100 times it’s either a nazi dogwhistle a la “neighborhood character” or some generic pearl-clutching about “safety”

    1/100 times it’s the most made up bullshit I’ve ever heard

  • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    7 days ago

    I had the misfortune about learning who Nas Daily is…A Palestinian living in Israel who defends the genocide of his people. He was in Cuba recently defending the sanctions while there and quoting some right-wing cabbie begging trump to invade.

    America worshippers like this always remind me of that one boondocks quote where Uncle Ruckus is referee at a game: “Yes! Yes! Right here! Whatever you need! Please enjoy yourself, Mr. White man!”