Rodney's death was commemorated in a poem by Martin Carter entitled "For Walter Rodney," by the dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson in "Reggae fi Radni," and by Kamau Brathwaite in his poem "Poem for Walter Rodney" (in Elegguas 2010).

In 1977, the African Studies Centre, Boston University, inaugurated the Walter Rodney Seminar Series.

In 1982, the American Historical Association posthumously awarded Walter Rodney the Albert J. Beveridge Award for A History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881-1905.

In 1984, the Centre for Caribbean Studies of the University of Warwick established the Walter Rodney Memorial Lecture in recognition of the life and work of one of the most outstanding scholar-activists of the Black Diaspora in the post-World War II era.

In 1993, the Guyanese government posthumously awarded Walter Rodney Guyana's highest honour, the Order of Excellence of Guyana. The Guyanese government also established the Walter Rodney Chair in History at the University of Guyana.

In 1998, the Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of the West Indies, inaugurated the Walter Rodney Lecture Series. Also, The University of the West Indies (Mona) has held an annual event to explore Rodney’s ban from Jamaica in October 1968 and the ensuing student protests and local uprising, known as The Rodney Riots.

In 2004, Rodney's widow Patricia and his children donated his papers to the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center. Since 2004, an annual Walter Rodney Symposium has been held each 23 March (Rodney's birthday) at the Center under the sponsorship of the Library and the Political Science Department of Clark Atlanta University, and under the patronage of the Rodney family.

In 2005, the London Borough of Southwark erected a plaque in the Peckham Library Square in commemoration of Dr. Walter Rodney, the political activist, historian, and global freedom fighter.

In 2006, an International Conference on Walter Rodney was held at the Institute of Development Studies of the University of Dar es Salaam.

In 2006, the Walter Rodney Essay Competition was established at the Afroamerican and African Studies Department at the University of Michigan. And for the 2022-2023 academic year, the Du Bois-Mandela-Rodney/NCID Postdoctoral Fellowship was established.

In 2006, the Walter Rodney Foundation was formed by the Rodney family. It is headquartered in Atlanta and aims to share the works and legacy of Rodney with the world.

In 2010, the Walter Rodney Commemorative Symposium was held at York College.

The Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University established the Angela Davis/Walter Rodney Award of Academic Achievement.

In 1998, Walter Rodney Conference was established; then again, in 2012, the Walter Rodney Conference celebrated the 40th anniversary of the publication of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa was held at Binghamton University.

In 2015, The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK published its centenary timeline that included Walter Rodney

The Walter Rodney Close, in the London Borough of Newham, has been named in honor of Rodney.

Walter Rodney is listed on the Black Achievers Wall in the International Slavery Museum, Liverpool, UK.

A Walter Rodney bust is located in Benin. The sculpture was created by Dr. Honaret Aguessy, the Director of the Research Center in Ouidah (alternately Whydah) in front of the Library.

Documents chart U.S. Embassy’s effort to answer questions about the 1980 death of an acclaimed scholar and political activist.