hurrengoa
the baldian. Thomas Sankara    Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (1949-1987) was born in the French colony of Upper Volta and died in the Burkina Faso he created.

He first became known as a guitar player in jazz outfit “Tout-à-Coup Jazz” in the city of Uagadugu.
At the age of 33, and with the help of the people, he organized a coup to overthrow the French-backed state and thus spark change in society.

Asked why there weren’t portraits of him in public buildings, he replied: “There are seven million Thomas Sankaras.”

He changed the official government Mercs for Renault 5s and he set himself a monthly wage of 450 Dollars.

He targeted imperialism, corruption, the feudalism of the major tribes and desertification. He gave land to farmers, guaranteed women’s rights and fought against disease. There was huge socio-economic development in a very short space of time.

As you can well imagine, all of this really......, ahem.... powerful enemies. The French Government aided a military coup in 1987; Sankara was assassinated and his body disappeared.

A week before he was killed, he said: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”