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24 October
1929
- Black Thursday occurs on the New York Stock Exchange starting the Wall Street crash which itself began the Great Depression.
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Thomas Sankara | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Comrade Sankara | |
| Born | Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara 21 December 1949 Yako, Upper Volta |
| Died | 15 October 1987 (aged 37) Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso |
| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Nationality | Burkinabé |
| Political orientation | Marxism–Leninism African socialism Pan-Africanism Anti-imperialism |
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who served as President of Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987. Often called the "Che Guevara of Africa,"[1][2][3][4] he seized power in the August Fourth Revolution of 1983, widely supported by the populace, and immediately sought to eliminate corruption and the influence of former French colonial rule. As a socialist and Pan-Africanist, he renamed the country from the colonial “Upper Volta” to “Burkina Faso” (“Land of Incorruptible People”), symbolizing national autonomy and rebirth.[5]
Sankara’s foreign policy was defined by anti-imperialism, rejecting conditional aid from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank while advocating for debt reduction. Domestically, he focused on eradicating famine through food self-sufficiency and land reform, nationalizing land and mineral resources. His government prioritized education and public health, launching nationwide literacy campaigns and vaccinating 2.5 million children for free. He also initiated greening projects to combat desertification in the Sahel and championed women’s liberation, promoting girls’ education and women’s social status.
To achieve radical social change, Sankara suppressed bourgeois interests, banning reactionary trade unions, and establishing People’s Revolutionary Courts to punish corrupt officials and counter-revolutionaries. He admired Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, and set the stage for a potential dictatorship of the proletariat had his rule lasted longer. Despite his short time in power, his policies significantly improved the lives of the Burkinabé people.
Sankara was assassinated on October 15, 1987, in a coup led by his close friend Blaise Compaoré, with suspected involvement from the French government and the CIA. A week before his death, Sankara famously declared: "While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas." His legacy endures as an icon of African self-reliance and anti-colonial resistance, inspiring subsequent generations despite his short four-year rule.[6]
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The Dialectics of Domination
by Yogthos
Published: 2026-09-23 (last update: 2026-09-18)
10-25 minutes
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- ↑ Burkina Faso Salutes "Africa's Che" Thomas Sankara by Mathieu Bonkoungou, Reuters, 17 October 2007
- ↑ Thomas Sankara Speaks: the Burkina Faso Revolution: 1983–87, by Thomas Sankara, edited by Michel Prairie; Pathfinder, 2007, pg 11
- ↑ "Thomas Sankara, Africa's Che Guevara" by Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 15 October 2007.
- ↑ "Africa's Che Guevara" by Sarah in Burkina Faso.
- ↑ Hubert Jules Deschamps (2023-06-05). "Burkina Faso" Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2019-04-09.
- ↑ Mathieu Bonkoungou (2007-10-17). "Burkina Faso Salutes "Africa's Che" Thomas Sankara" Reuters.