“The International Forces against Sankara Were Too Much”

Victoria Brittain in Conversation with Brian J. Peterson Radical journalist Victoria Brittain discusses the life and politics of the Thomas Sankara with Brian J. Peterson. Peterson has written a biography which recounts in detail the politics and murder of the Burkinabé revolutionary. The book sheds new light on the responsibility of those who worked for…

Thomas Sankara – Decolonization, Love, and Trust in the People: A New Humanity for Ending Oppression

Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza Thomas Sankara understood that liberation—embodying the whole process of decolonization — originates from the admission that the oppressed have internalized the oppressor. Colonial oppression in Africa did not end with the attainment of political independence. Rather, direct colonial domination on African peoples by the colonialist bourgeoisie of Europe and the United States…

35 Years After His Assassination, Thomas Sankara Still Inspires Liberation in Africa

Nigel Flanagan People gather for a wreath laying ceremony in front of the building where Thomas Sankara was assassinated in 1987 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, April 6, 2022, after the verdict of the trial of his assassins. | Sophie Garcia / AP Thirty-five years ago this month, one of Africa’s greatest revolutionaries was murdered by…

Thomas Sankara Remains a Global Icon

Owen Schalk This file photograph shows Thomas Sankara as he reviews troops in a street of Ouagadougou, during celebrations of the second anniversary of the Burkina Faso’s revolution. Photo by Daniel Lane/AP. His vision of a socialist, pan-Africanist model of development⁠ was not buried with him “We encourage aid that aids us in doing away…

Thomas Sankara: An Icon of Revolution

Yanis Iqbal October 15 was the 33rd anniversary of Thomas Sankara’s death. On this day, he was murdered by imperialist forces at the tender age of 37. A Pan-Africanist, internationalist and Marxist, he was committed to the total liberation of the oppressed masses from the clutches of imperialism. Instead of bourgeois nationalism, Sankara believed in…

Thomas Sankara: “We Want to Be the Heirs of All the Revolutions in the World”

F. David Arráez Y.Small M.V. editorial note: this article is published in this forum on December 26, 2014. We decided to republish it for two reasons: 1) so that we may not forget who he was and the legacy of Thomas Sankara, leader of the revolution in Burkina Faso in the 1980s, who died 33…