Vol. 71/No. 48      December 24, 2007

BY JENNY JOHNSON-BLANCHARD  
NEW YORK—Around 40 people attended a two-day educational weekend here November 17-18 on the new edition of Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-1987, published by Pathfinder Press. The weekend was sponsored by the New York Young Socialists and Socialist Workers Party.

Under the leadership of Sankara a popular and democratic revolutionary government was established in Burkina Faso in the 1980s, opening the door for the masses of peasants and workers in the country to begin to advance the fight against social, economic, environmental, and cultural devastation wrought by more than a century of imperialist domination.

The first class, on Saturday, November 17, was presented by Cindy Jaquith. She spoke about the character of the 1983-87 revolution in Burkina Faso as a democratic revolution, one that involved the masses of toilers to take into their own hands the transformation of society. She described the revolutionary leadership of Sankara, a world-class communist leader.

In the discussion after the presentation, several participants pointed to the internationalist character of the Burkinabè revolution, from its solidarity with those fighting against imperialism in Central America and the Caribbean, to its identification with the living example of the Cuban Revolution and its communist leadership.

That evening, many class participants attended a Militant Labor Forum here on “The October 1917 Russian Revolution: Its lessons for working people today,” presented by Ma’mud Shirvani and Doug Nelson.

Continuing the class series on Sunday, November 18, was Ben Joyce, a Young Socialists member from Albany, New York. Joyce opened his presentation on how the revolutionary leadership in Burkina Faso mobilized millions of workers, peasants, and youth to fight to reverse the environmental devastation created by the long legacy of colonial and imperialist exploitation.

“Sankara explained that the battle against environmental degradation, not only in Africa, but the world over, is above all a political battle that must be waged by the toilers against the imperialist ‘arsonists,’” said Joyce.

He pointed to the mass mobilizations of working people to sink wells, build dams, erect housing, and plant trees; all aimed at advancing the revolution through deepening the social and political consciousness of millions.

Joyce also spoke on the central place of the fight for women’s emancipation in the revolution advanced by Sankara. “Sankara pointed to and reaffirmed [Frederick] Engels’s explanation that the oppression of women was introduced with the advent of private property and the emergence of class society,” said Joyce. “This scientific, Marxist understanding of the roots of women’s oppression formed a basis for Sankara to forge a revolutionary program that could answer the question of ‘What is to be done?’”

Several young people joined the educational program. Among them was Amadou, 20, a youth from Guinea studying in New York. He said he attended the educational weekend because he wanted to learn more about how Sankara took on the question of the environment. He described to other participants the impact of the Burkina Faso revolution on all of Africa and the relevance of its lessons for fighting imperialism today.
 
 
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