We are the Heirs of the World’s Revolutions
We are the Heirs of the World’s Revolutions is a very important read for anyone interested in the black diaspora. Thomas Sankara was revolutionary who’s words still echo in today’s political sphere. Universal health care, equal pay/rights for women, the green movement, and whole list of amazing policies he enacted in his short period as president of his country was amazing.
“Our revolution in Burkina Faso draws on the totality of man’s experiences since the first breath of humanity. We wish to be the heirs of all the revolutions of the world, of all the liberation struggles of the peoples of the Third World. We draw the lessons of the American revolution. The French revolution taught us the rights of man. The great October revolution brought victory to the proletariat and made possible the realization of the Paris Commune’s dreams of justice.”
–Thomas Sankara, October 1984
Thomas Sankara led the revolution of 1983 to 1987 in Burkina Faso. In the five speeches contained in ‘We Are the Heirs to The World’s Revolutions’, he explains how the peasants and workers of this West African country established a popular revolutionary government and began to fight the hunger, illiteracy and economic backwardness imposed by imperialist domination, and the oppression of women inherited from millennia of class society. In so doing, they have provided an example not only to the workers and small farmers of Africa, but to those of the entire world.
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, pan-Africanist theorist, feminist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Viewed by supporters as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”.
