Omar Blondin Diop

Omar Blondin Diop was a revolutionary and artist from Senegal. Born in Niger, he moved between several countries because of his activism. After going to France for university, he joined the Marxist movement in Paris and acted in movies, including two by Jean-Luc Godard. France deported him back to Senegal in 1969 because of his politics.

Diop kept doing activism back in Senegal. He, his brothers, and his friends wanted to have a revolution there, because they felt Leopold Senghor's government helped the French more than it helped Senegalese people and it was neocolonial. Diop started doing theatre in public to promote revolutionary ideas. They got ready to start a guerrilla war against Senegal's government, but they were arrested and sent to prison on an island called Gorée. Diop died in prison in 1973. Many people who knew him, including his family, think he was secretly killed by the government.

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Category:Communists
Category:1946 births
Category:1973 deaths
Category:Artists
Category:Senegalese people