Thomas Sankara

[[File:ThomasSankara.webp|thumb|Sankara, being a handsome Will Smith lookalike.|165px]]
{{communism|1}}
{{cquote|"We have to work at decolonizing our mentality and achieving happiness within the limits of sacrifice we should be willing to make. We have to recondition our people to accept themselves as they are, to not be ashamed of their real situation, to be satisfied with it, to glory in it, even."|||Thomas Sankara<ref>[https://www.quotetab.com/quote/by-thomas-sankara/we-have-to-work-at-decolonizing-our-mentality-and-achieving-happiness-within-the#q82qp0WVKrEBvfSR.97| Decolonization, by Thomas Sankara, Quotetab.com]</ref>}}
{{cquote|"No altar, no belief, no holy book, neither the Qur'an nor the Bible nor the others, have ever been able to reconcile the rich and and the poor, the exploiter and the exploited. And if Jesus himself had to take the whip to chase them from his temple, it is indeed because that is the only language they hear."|||Thomas Sankara<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uKXIEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA174&lpg=PA174&dq=No+altar,+no+belief,+no+holy+book...+have+ever+been+able+to+reconcile+the+rich+and+the+poor,+the+exploiter+and+the+exploited.+And+if+Jesus+himself+had+to+take+the+whip+to+chase+them+from+his+temple,+it+is+indeed+because+that+is+the+only+language+they+hear.&source=bl&ots=pu4cBiNzu9&sig=ACfU3U00hMbp_Ate5YLWFbtDwMMpeCMH1w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvraOe1sGAAxXYjIkEHa1qBwYQ6AF6BAgcEAM#v=onepage&q=No%20altar%2C%20no%20belief%2C%20no%20holy%20book...%20have%20ever%20been%20able%20to%20reconcile%20the%20rich%20and%20the%20poor%2C%20the%20exploiter%20and%20the%20exploited.%20And%20if%20Jesus%20himself%20had%20to%20take%20the%20whip%20to%20chase%20them%20from%20his%20temple%2C%20it%20is%20indeed%20because%20that%20is%20the%20only%20language%20they%20hear.&f=false, ''The Political Impact of African Military Leaders
Soldiers as Intellectuals, Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, and Statesmen'']</ref>}}


'''Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara''' {{lived|21 December 1949|15 October 1987}} was the President of Burkina Faso, a [[communism|Marxist-Leninist]] revolutionary, and someone who probably shot [[Anti-vaccination movement|anti-vaxxers]] for sport.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Sankara "Thomas Sankara" Encyclopedia Britannica, by Carina Ray, 2018]</ref>

==Early life==
Sankara was born in 1949 in Yako, French Upper Volta as the third of ten children to Marguerite Kinda and Joseph Sankara.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hGDGBAAAQBAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions| Thomas Sankara: An African Revolutionary, by Ernest Harsch, 2014, Ohio University Press]</ref> He grew up [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], and his parents wanted him to become a [[priest]]. He joined the military instead, which he used to gain a scholarship to the Kadiogo military academy. While there, he fell prey to the [[Cultural Marxism|militant leftist agenda]], and became a [[communism|communist]], an anti-[[imperialist]], and otherwise pretty darn cool.<ref group=note>You know, like, objectively.</ref> He was appointed Secretary of State for Information, but resigned, probably because they were so [[David Icke#Reptoids|bourgeois]]. He issued a governmental callout post denouncing their anti-[[trade union|labor]] tendencies, for which he was automatically deported to a remote military camp.<ref>[https://www.viewpointmag.com/2018/02/01/thomas-sankara-revolutionary-birth-burkina-faso/| Thomas Sankara and the Revolutionary Birth of Burkina Faso, by Mamadou Diallo, Febuary 1st, 2018, Viewpoint Magazine]</ref> But he came back.<ref group=note>Because of course he did.</ref> 

==Presidency==
Sankara became president of {{wpl|Burkina Faso}} as a result of a [[Coup d'état]] on August 4, 1983. While president, Sankara initiated many changes to the structure and policies within his country, primarily focused on fighting corruption, promoting public health, [[women's rights]], environmental preservation, and becoming self-sufficient. He remained president for four years before being assassinated.

===The Good===
Between 1983-1987, the Sankara administration accomplished the following:

*Redistributed feudal land to the workers.<ref name="thomassankara">[http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0205| Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man, by Robin Shuffield, 2006, California Newsreel]</ref>
*Implemeted irrigation and fertilization programs which heavily increased cotton and wheat production. The increase in wheat production eventually brought the country to complete self-sufficiency in food production.<ref name="thomassankara"/>
*Vaccinated 2.5 million Burkinabé children against measles, meningitis, and yellow fever in two weeks, raising the rates of immunization from 11 percent to 75 percent.<ref>[http://www.thomassankara.net/the-legacies-of-thomas-sankara-a-revolutionary-experience-in-retrospect/?lang=en| The Legacies of Thomas Sankara, by Ernest Harsch, 2013, Thomas Sankara.net]</ref>
*Planted 10 million trees over the course of a 15-month "People's Development Program."<ref>[https://anti-imperialism.org/2018/02/26/thomas-sankara-imperialism-is-the-arsonist-of-our-forests-and-savannas/| Imperialism is the Arsonist of our Forests and Savannas, Amber B, 2018, Anti-Imperialism.org]</ref>
*Banned [[female genital mutilation]], forced marriages, and [[polygamy]].<ref>[https://janataweekly.org/president-thomas-sankara-a-tribute/ | President Thomas Sankara: A Tribute]</ref>
*Increased access to clean water, electricity, and contraceptives.<ref>[https://www.pambazuka.org/pan-africanism/thomas-sankara-and-black-spring-burkina-faso| Thomas Sankara and the Black Spring in Burkina Faso, James Robb, November 12th, 2014, Pambazaka News]</ref>
*Sold the government standard Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time) the official service car of the ministers.
*Ordered wealthy civil servants to utilize one month's salary for public projects.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USL17577712| Burkina Faso salutes "Africa's Che" Thomas Sankara, by Mathieu Bonkoungou, 2007, Reuters Magazine]</ref>
*Converted the {{wpl|Ouagadougou}} army provision store to a state-owned supermarket open to all, the first of its kind in the country.

===The Bad===
Between 1983-1987, the Sankara administration ''also'' accomplished the following:

*Attempted to decrease the country's 10% illiteracy rate, which had some success in the first few years, but resulted in the firing of 2,500 teachers over strike negotiations gone sour.
*Accused of engaging in [[Kangaroo court|show trials]] via the "People's Revolutionary Tribunals," to try former government officials on charges of corruption, tax evasion, and the like. The trial procedures did not conform to the international standards and often resulted in overturning the light sentences.
*Census officials accidentally wandered into {{wpl|mali|Malian}} territory, which was claimed to be an encroachment on their sovereignty. This resulted in a 5-day war which killed about 100 civilians, most from a bomb dropped by a Malian plane.
*Accused of human rights violations by [[Amnesty International]], including extrajudicial executions and "arbitrary detentions of political opponents by the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution." <ref>[https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR6073672017ENGLISH.PDF| BURKINA FASO: DIFFICULT JOURNEY TOWARDS HUMAN RIGHTS RESPECT, May 2018, Amnesty International]</ref>

== Assassination ==
On October 15th, 1987, Sankara was killed in another coup organized by his ex-BFF {{wpl|Blaise Compaoré||.}} The ex-colonial [[France|French]] '''may''' have also been involved in his death, as they have refused to release their security archives related to the assassination.<ref>[https://qz.com/africa/1102825/thomas-sankara-of-burkina-faso-was-killed-on-oct-15-1987-30-years-ago/| It’s Been 30 Years Since Africa’s Last Great Revolutionary Leader was Killed, by Mohamed Keita, 2017, Quartz Africa]</ref> It's not like [[CIA| western government agencies have ever done anything of this sort, shame on us for even mentioning it!]]

Compaoré ruled the country until 2014, where he was [[Karma|overthrown by an uprising]] caused by his attempts to extend his term in office.

==See Also==
*[[Che Guevara]]
*[[Socialism]]
*[[Communism]]
*[[Africa]]
*[[Imperialism]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankara, Thomas}}
[[Category:African politicians]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialism]]
[[Category:Authoritarianism]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
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[[Category:Communists]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Feminists]]
[[Category:History of communism]]
[[Category:Left-wing activists]]
[[Category:Left-wing nationalism]]
[[Category:Military]]
[[Category:Revolution]]

Categories: African politicians, Anti-imperialism, Authoritarianism, Catholics, Christians, Communists, Dictators, Feminists, History of communism, Left-wing activists, Left-wing nationalism, Military, Revolution