Tagged: Burkina Faso
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This is video of Thomas Sankara speaking in Harlem (October 3, 1984)—“Our White House is in Black Harlem”
Our revolution is symbolised by our flag. This is our country’s new flag. Our country also has a new name. This flag, as you can see, resembles the black liberation flag. This because we are all one. We are working for the same cause as you. This is why, quite naturally, the colours are alike. They signify the same thing. We didn’t have to use the colour black, however, because we are already in Africa.
Sadly the video cuts off just before the end of the speech. Here’s the very end:
…when I address the United Nations, I will speak about the ghettos and Nelson Mandela, who must be set free. [Applause] I will speak about injustice, racism, and about the hypocrisy of leaders around the world.
But I will also explain that you and we—all of us—are waging our struggle and that they would do well to take note. [Applause] Because you represent the people, and wherever you are on your feet, imperialism trembles!I invite you to repeat with me: “When the people stand up, imperialism trembles!”
[Shouts of: ”When the people stand up, imperialism trembles!”]
Again!
[Shouts of: ”When the people stand up, imperialism trembles!”]
Again!
[Shouts of: ”When the people stand up, imperialism trembles!”][Applause]
Imperialism!
[“Down with it!”]
Puppet regimes!
[“Down with it!”]Racism!
[“Down with it!”]
Zionism!
[“Down with it!”]
Neocolonialism!
[“Down with it!”]
Glory!
[“To the people!”]
Dignity!
[“To the people!”]
Music!
[“To the people!”]
Health!
[“To the people!”]
Education!
[“To the people!”]
Power!
[“To the people!”]
All the power!
[“To the people!”]
Homeland or death, we will triumph!
Homeland or death, we will triumph!
Thank you, comrades. -
Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso The Land of Upright Men
Pan-Africanist Theorist, Marxist Revolutionary, Anti-Imperialist, Thomas Sankara was president of Burkina Faso from 1983 after a popularly supported coup, till he was killed in a coup orchestrated by his must trusted allies on october 15 of 1987. A week before his disappearance Sankara said: ” While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas”.
Photo: Thomas Sankara and Algerian film director Ibrahim Tsaki.
For more about him see below
(via loveisthewateroflife)
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Thomas Sankara - The Upright Man
A Documentary on the rise and fall of Africa’s ‘Che’ Thomas Sankara, a must watch.
Thomas Sankara rose to power in a popularly supported coup in 1983 and renamed his country to Burkina Faso, “Land of Upright Men” and launched the most ambitious program for social and economic change ever attempted in Africa.
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Children “pioneers” of the Revolution, donning starred berets like Che.
Burkina Faso Circa 1987
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Thomas Sanka - The Upright Man Part 1
Thomas Sankara rose to power in a popularly supported coup in 1983 and renamed his country to Burkina Faso, “Land of Upright Men” and launched the most ambitious program for social and economic change ever attempted in Africa.
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![fyeahafrica:
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and communist President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Viewed as a charismatic, and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara.
After a coup 1983, Sankara seized power from then President of Upper Volta [Burkina Faso], Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo. One of Sankara’s major objectives was to eliminate the French colonialist dominance and corruption within the government. Sankara began this by renaming the country from Upper Volta to ‘Burkina Faso’ [land of upright men] and implemented radical socialization plans Burkina Faso.
His foreign policies were centered around anti-imperialism, with his government eschewing all foreign aid, pushing for odious debt reduction, nationalizing all land and mineral wealth, and averting the power and influence of the IMF and World Bank. His domestic policies were focused on preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and land reform, prioritizing education with a nation-wide literacy campaign, and promoting public health by vaccinating 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles. Other components of his national agenda included planting over ten million trees to halt the growing desertification of the Sahel, doubling wheat production by redistributing land from feudal landlords to peasants, suspending rural poll taxes and domestic rents, and establishing an ambitious road and rail construction program to “tie the nation together.” Moreover, his commitment to women’s rights led him to outlaw female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy; while appointing females to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant.
His revolutionary programs for African self-reliance as a defiant alternative to the neo-liberal development strategies imposed by the West, made him an icon to many of Africa’s poor. Sankara remained popular with most of his country’s impoverished citizens. However his policies alienated and antagonised the vested interests of an array of groups, which included the small but powerful Burkinabé middle class, the tribal leaders whom he stripped of the long-held traditional right to forced labour and tribute payments, and the foreign financial interests in France and their ally the Ivory Coast. As a result, he was overthrown and assassinated in a coup d’état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987. A week before his execution he declared that, “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfzu5hRAOk1qcerqgo1_1280.jpg)
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and communist President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Viewed as a charismatic, and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara.
After a coup 1983, Sankara seized power from then President of Upper Volta [Burkina Faso], Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo. One of Sankara’s major objectives was to eliminate the French colonialist dominance and corruption within the government. Sankara began this by renaming the country from Upper Volta to ‘Burkina Faso’ [land of upright men] and implemented radical socialization plans Burkina Faso.
His foreign policies were centered around anti-imperialism, with his government eschewing all foreign aid, pushing for odious debt reduction, nationalizing all land and mineral wealth, and averting the power and influence of the IMF and World Bank. His domestic policies were focused on preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and land reform, prioritizing education with a nation-wide literacy campaign, and promoting public health by vaccinating 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles. Other components of his national agenda included planting over ten million trees to halt the growing desertification of the Sahel, doubling wheat production by redistributing land from feudal landlords to peasants, suspending rural poll taxes and domestic rents, and establishing an ambitious road and rail construction program to “tie the nation together.” Moreover, his commitment to women’s rights led him to outlaw female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy; while appointing females to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant.
His revolutionary programs for African self-reliance as a defiant alternative to the neo-liberal development strategies imposed by the West, made him an icon to many of Africa’s poor. Sankara remained popular with most of his country’s impoverished citizens. However his policies alienated and antagonised the vested interests of an array of groups, which included the small but powerful Burkinabé middle class, the tribal leaders whom he stripped of the long-held traditional right to forced labour and tribute payments, and the foreign financial interests in France and their ally the Ivory Coast. As a result, he was overthrown and assassinated in a coup d’état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987. A week before his execution he declared that, “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”
![fyeahafrica:
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and communist President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Viewed as a charismatic, and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara.
After a coup 1983, Sankara seized power from then President of Upper Volta [Burkina Faso], Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo. One of Sankara’s major objectives was to eliminate the French colonialist dominance and corruption within the government. Sankara began this by renaming the country from Upper Volta to ‘Burkina Faso’ [land of upright men] and implemented radical socialization plans Burkina Faso.
His foreign policies were centered around anti-imperialism, with his government eschewing all foreign aid, pushing for odious debt reduction, nationalizing all land and mineral wealth, and averting the power and influence of the IMF and World Bank. His domestic policies were focused on preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and land reform, prioritizing education with a nation-wide literacy campaign, and promoting public health by vaccinating 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles. Other components of his national agenda included planting over ten million trees to halt the growing desertification of the Sahel, doubling wheat production by redistributing land from feudal landlords to peasants, suspending rural poll taxes and domestic rents, and establishing an ambitious road and rail construction program to “tie the nation together.” Moreover, his commitment to women’s rights led him to outlaw female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy; while appointing females to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant.
His revolutionary programs for African self-reliance as a defiant alternative to the neo-liberal development strategies imposed by the West, made him an icon to many of Africa’s poor. Sankara remained popular with most of his country’s impoverished citizens. However his policies alienated and antagonised the vested interests of an array of groups, which included the small but powerful Burkinabé middle class, the tribal leaders whom he stripped of the long-held traditional right to forced labour and tribute payments, and the foreign financial interests in France and their ally the Ivory Coast. As a result, he was overthrown and assassinated in a coup d’état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987. A week before his execution he declared that, “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfzu5hRAOk1qcerqgo1_500.jpg)
Elsewhere