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On this day 33 years ago, revolutionary socialist leader and first president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, was assassinated in a France-backed coup.
To honour and find out more about his incredible work and dedication to liberation and social justice, read on.
On this day 33 years ago, revolutionary socialist leader and first president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, was assassinated in a France-backed coup.
To honour and find out more about his incredible work and dedication to liberation and social justice, read on.
Sankara was an anti-imperialist who rebuked the neocolonial interests of the West. Colonies had been an immense source of wealth and weren’t going to be given up. “It is our blood that fed the rapid development of capitalism, that made possible our current state of dependency.”
Economic self-sufficiency was a huge priority for him. He called for fellow leaders in the Global South to refuse their debt payments to Western financial institutions , “Debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa (...) that turns each of us into a financial slave.”
Sankara was dedicated to women’s empowerment and saw women as agents of their own lives, he banned FGM, polygamy, forced marriage and had men share their pay check to their wife. “I speak on behalf of women the world over, who suffer from a male-imposed system of exploitation.”
Sankara expressed solidarity with numerous international causes for social justice and spoke against oppression and prejudice. “When I address the UN (...) I will speak about racism and I will speak about the hypocrisy of the leaders around the world.”
On public health, Sankara started a vaccination programme which vaccinated 2.5 million children against meningitis, measles and yellow fever. Infant mortality decreased by 6.3% during his time in power.
Sankara was a leader who prioritised care for the environment and equitable distribution of land. He initiated reforestation schemes planting over 10 million trees and redistributed land from feudal landlords to peasants. His policies made Burkina Faso food self-sufficient.
A week before his murder, Thomas Sankara said in a speech honouring Che Guevara “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”
Rest in Peace
Rest in Peace
For more information on Thomas Sankara I highly recommend:
The Upright Man (documentary on YouTube)
Thomas Sankara Speaks (a book collection of his speeches)
Thomas Sankara: An African Revolutionary
The Upright Man (documentary on YouTube)
Thomas Sankara Speaks (a book collection of his speeches)
Thomas Sankara: An African Revolutionary
For my first piece for @VersoBooks I wrote about Thomas Sankara’s legacy and why we ought to look for him for inspiration in the ongoing fight for social justice and equality. You can read it here https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4878-thomas-sankara-1949-1987
