Thomas Sankara
Day Five of #BlackHistoryMonth Black Theory:
Thomas Sankara
"Our revolution is not a public-speaking tournament. Our revolution is not a battle of fine phrases. Our revolution is not simply for spouting slogans that are no more than signals used by manipulators trying to use them as catchwords, as codewords, as a foil for their own display. Our revolution is, and should continue to be, the collective effort of revolutionaries to transform reality, to improve the concrete situation of the masses of our country." Eight million Burkinabė, eight million revolutionaries "Knowing how to link revolutionary theory to revolutionary practice will be the decisive criterion from now on in distinguishing consistent revolutionaries from all those who flock to the revolution under motives that are alien to the revolutionary cause."The Character and Scope of the August Revolution "One does not make a revolution simply to take the place of the despots who have been deposed. One does not participate in the revolution for vindictive reasons, driven by the desire for a privileged position: “Get out of the way and make room for me!” This kind of motive is alien to the ideals of the August revolution. Those with this motivation demonstrate their petty-bourgeois careerist flaws, if not their dangerous counter-revolutionary opportunism." On the Revolutionary Morality within the CDR's "The women and men of our society are all victims of imperialist oppression and domination. That is why they wage the same battle. The revolution and women’s liberation go together. We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge of human compassion. It is a basic necessity for the revolution to triumph. Women hold up the other half of the sky." For Revolutionizing All Sectors of Voltaic Society
"We must be able to draw on what is positive from the past – that is, from our traditions, and what is positive in foreign cultures – in order to give a new dimension to our culture. The inexhaustible source for the masses’ creative inspiration lies within the popular masses. Knowing how to live with the masses, becoming involved in the popular movement, sharing the joys and sufferings of the people, and working and struggling with them – all these should be the major concerns of our artists. Before producing, they should ask themselves: for whom is our creation intended? If we are convinced that we are creating for the people, then we must understand clearly who the people are, what their different components are, and what their deepest aspirations are." For Revolutionizing All Sectors of Voltaic Society "Comrades, the people must apply justice themselves, their justice." The People's Revolutionary Courts
Links:
Books -
Thomas Sankara Speaks https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Thomas_Sankara_Speaks https://z-lib.io/author/Thomas%20Sankara
PDF -
Women's Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle https://files.libcom.org/files/thomas-sankara-womens-liberation-and-the-african-freedom-struggle.pdf
Speech Before the Generls Assembly of the United Nations https://disruptnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Thomas-Sankara-Speech-Before-the-General-Assembly-of-the-United-Nations-.pdf
Writings - https://www.marxists.org/archive/sankara/index.htm
Biography - https://www.academia.edu/5979820/A_Political_Biography_of_Thomas_Sankara_1949_1987_