Thomas Sankara

Under Sankara's leadership, the revolutionary government of Burkina Faso in West Africa mobilized peasants, workers, women, and youth to carry out literacy and immunization drives; to sink wells, plant trees, build dams, erect housing; to combat the oppression of women and transform exploitative relations on the land; to free themselves from the imperialist yoke and solidarize with others engaged in that fight internationally. Sankara speaks as an outstanding revolutionary leader of working people and youth the world over. Second edition includes a new introduction by editor Michel Prairie, foreword, maps, chronology and glossary, as well as an index. Thirty-two page photo section features many unpublished photos of the Burkina Faso revolution. Of the first edition, published by Pathfinder in 1988, Victoria Brittain wrote in the London Guardian, ?The courage and originality which made him and Burkina Faso the inspiration they were to so many Africans shine out of this collection of his most important speeches.? ?The originality of Sankara?s ideas ? along with his awareness of the social and economic realities of his country, his understanding of the international relations of forces ? make this collection a highly useful tool. Expressed with passion and clarity, his views on the necessity of a new balance between the city and the countryside, on the crucial importance of the emancipation of women ? are in perfect keeping with the demands of the peoples of Africa today.??Le Monde diplomatique

The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-1987

Thomas Sankara Speaks

Marion

The women and men of our society are all victims of imperialist oppression and domination. That is why they wage the same battle. The revolution and women's liberation go together. We do not talk of women's emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge of human compassion. It is a basic necessity for the revolution to triumph.

Let's be clear. Although our revolution is not made for export, we don't intend to go out of our way to shut the Burkinabe Revolution up inside an impenetrable fortress.

Our revolution is an ideology that blows freely and is at the disposal of all those who feel the need to take advantage of it.

Thomas Sankara Speaks quotes

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