Rodney riots Rodney riots The Rodney riots were riots and civil disturbances in Kingston, Jamaica in October 1968. The riots were sparked by the Jamaican government of Hugh Shearer banning Guyanese university lecturer Dr. Walter Rodney from returning to his teaching position at the University of the West Indies. Rodney, a historian of Africa had been active in the Black power movement, and had been sharply critical of the middle class in many Caribbean countries. Rodney was an avowed socialist who worked with the poor of Jamaica in an attempt to raise their political and cultural consciousness. When Rodney attended a black
1981 England riots a high level of violent crime, tensions were high, particularly amongst the area's Caribbean majority. The high crime brought about a police purge and the riots took place in July 1981. The Merseyside police force had, at the time, a poor reputation within the black community for stopping and searching young black men in the area, under the "sus" laws, and the perceived heavy-handed arrest of Leroy Alphonse Cooper on Friday 3 July, watched by an angry crowd, led to a disturbance in which three policemen were injured. There was also rioting during 1981 in a number of other English