![]() However, France never considered Upper Volta to be of much worth, mainly taking Voltaic men to be manual laborers in other colonies. The French had conquered the area which was to become Burkina Faso towards the end of the 19th century, and the formal territory of Upper Volta was established in 1919. ![]() Sankara was born in 1949, under French colonial rule in the territory of Upper Volta. Sankara’s early life gave him personal experience with both colonialism and political revolution in Africa, which shaped him into the leader he became. Western media often distills him down to “Africa’s Che.” But Sankara was a distinct figure on his own, and there are several important aspects to his legacy which deserve much greater attention from the wider world. Today he is remembered around Africa, and to a lesser extent the world, as a symbol of pan-Africanism, anti-imperialism, and left-wing politics. His policies, many of which directly and greatly benefited the Burkinabè people, as well as the distinct figure that he put forth, means that after his death, Sankara has taken on a new status as a political icon. Sankara was a controversial figure for his extreme politics and after just four years in the presidency, he was killed by his former friend and right-hand man, Blaise Compaoré. He constructed a new national identity as Burkina Faso, and implemented wide-ranging, radical social, political, and economic reforms. Thomas Sankara (1949–1987) was a socialist revolutionary leader who took control of the former French colony of Upper Volta in 1983.
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