Sankara lives! Join Murrey and Fall in their incisive discussions – in both English and French – about the reverberations of Sankara's aspirations across West Africa.

Ernesto frames the solidarity marches for Burkina Faso’s leadership as Pan African zeitgeist and challenges the deliberate, desperate, and simplistic attempts at reducing the grassroots support for Traore to a “democracy vs. military junta” debate.

A succinct examination of renewed calls for Africa’s sovereignty over its resources, and corporate and imperial push back against such struggles.

Muhammad said he was pleased to come to Ghana - from an America where black people had to struggle for their ordinary human rights - to find back people running their whole country “beautifully”. Americans, he said, were being misinformed that Africans were eating each other and climbing up and down trees.

Between September 2015 and January 2016, African-Brazilian activist Rafaela Araujo visited Azania/South Africa on a share/ study program. She was hosted by eBukhosini Solutions – a community-based company specialized in Afrikan centered education and youth/community empowerment. She spent most of her time studying English, getting to know the situation of Afrikan people in South Afrika and assisting in eBukhosini’s activities. She also undertook some speaking engagements in neighboring Namibia.  

When it comes to food justice, environmentalism and ecological practices, Thomas Sankara was way ahead of his time. Thomas Sankara helped Burkina Faso become self-sufficient before in basic foodstuffs in just a few years before he was assassinated.

More than 10 million Ethiopians are currently facing famine in what some media outlets misleadingly describe as “the worst drought in five decades”. But the famine is not a merely a result of drought. It is a governance issue. And the millions of dollars USAID and other donors are sending in humanitarian aid will probably end up in the pockets of the greedy fat cats of Addis.

If the South African political economy continues to be ‘privatised’ by large business, it will weaken the state through corruption and cronyism and undermine good governance and the rule of law. It will systematically deter new private investment, both foreign and domestic, and create obstacles to small and medium-sized enterprises, the backbone of any competitive economy.

The terrorists’ goal was to destabilize Burkina Faso. But why now? The most plausible hypothesis is that they wanted to regain a rear base they lost when a popular uprising overthrew Blaise Compaoré in November 2014.

The hugely unpopular failed coup in the land of Thomas Sankara represents a clash between retrogressive forces supporting the status quo and the popular struggles of determined citizens demanding an end to imperialist dominance of the country's public life by France and its allies. For more, watch Pambazuka's new video blog

The supposedly self-evident idea that the nation-state is the logical form of political organization for the destruction of colonialism and for the remaking of African lives is patently false. True African liberation will not occur within the colonial structures of power erected by – and inherited from - Empire.

The leader of the short-lived coup in Burkina Faso, Gen. Gilbert Diendere, is a close ally of former President Compaore who was overthrown by a popular uprising last October. Diendere is a Western stooge as well, with connections with France and the US, the two European powers that have over the years frustrated the Burkinabe people’s struggles for meaningful self-determination.

Burkina Faso has a numerous laws, including a constitution, family and penal codes, and is party to international treaties, which protect the rights of women and girls. But enforcement of the law is a completely different story. A local organisation and its German partner are working hard to end FGM and other forms of violence against Burkinabe women and girls.

The courts in Burkina Faso have paved the way for a proper identification of the remains of the martyred revolutionary leader who was buried in 1987 without an official ceremony or an explanation of the circumstances of his death. His widow Mariam is demanding a broader inquiry into the assassination of the much-adored revolutionary.

The events of 31st October 2014, leading to the popular uprising in Burkina Faso that removed Blaise Compaore from power, constitute a turning point for the entire region, and probably Africa as a whole.

There has been much speculation on the death of the former military leader of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara.

Now that his successor, Blaise Compare, has been removed from power, it is high time that the international community should seriously consider starting the investigations to know who really killed Sankara.

Although the events in Burkina Faso have sparked hope among African workers, farmers and youth throughout the region and beyond, it remains to be seen whether the new leader, with his American links, will deliver a political program of anti-capitalist development for the gains of the popular struggle to win concrete results

In overthrowing Blaise Compaoré, the people of Burkina Faso have revived the revolutionary dream of Thomas Sankara whom he killed. Their uprising was against the old ties to imperialist governments and financial institutions, the old relationships of exploitation and the abuse of public office to amass personal wealth at the expense of the people.

President Compaoré, like many African Heads of State, was more interested in clinging to power than in the needs of his people. Modifying the constitution to stay in power became the ultimate goal for Compaoré. But the people reisted and won.

The Burkinabe uprising against the Compaore dictatorship was apeople-driven and led by civil society and opposition political parties. The military cannot and should not be allowed to seize power in a context in which they played no role.