Vol. 71/No. 48      December 24, 2007

The featured books were Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-1987 and the French-language edition, Thomas Sankara Parle, both published by Pathfinder Press.

Samsideen Iddrisu, a Ghanaian-born member of Cosmos of Culture who has long been a fighter for immigrant rights, told the audience, “Sankara sought to shatter the mentality of dependence that has become internalized by our people due to centuries of colonial and imperialist domination.”

Iddrisu reviewed the legacy of exploitation that Africa has inherited from colonialism, noting that “Burkina Faso had the highest infant mortality in the world and 98 percent illiteracy before the revolution.” He said Sankara’s policies sought to address these oppressive conditions through concrete measures, without depending on the imperialist powers—Paris, in the case of Burkina Faso—that had created them in the first place. “He knew that to do that, the youth of Africa sought out Che Guevara,” he said, referring to the leader of the Cuban Revolution.

Georges Mehrabian, of the Athens-based publisher Diethnes Vima (International Forum), said these books are important for fighting workers in Greece. He noted that Sankara viewed the struggles of working people in the imperialist countries as an integral component of the struggle against imperialist oppression and capitalist exploitation. “African and other immigrant workers are now joining this front as well,” he said.

A dozen day laborers from Burkina Faso who work in construction attended the meeting. One who took the floor stated, “Why are we here in Greece? It is because Sankara was killed and the revolution defeated. During the revolution, Burkinabè youth did not leave their country even though there was poverty then as well. That is because we had confidence in our own abilities to change the country, to change Africa, to improve the lives of people. The overthrow of the revolution has meant the overthrow of this confidence as well. So, now we leave to come here to get jobs in construction.”

Another Burkinabè worker explained that, although he was a child during the revolution, he learned about it through older members of his community. People remembered that they had gained clean drinking water for the first time as well as advances towards self-sufficiency in food production. “The revolution was ended, but we are happy to be Burkinabè, because those four years showed what is possible to do in Africa ourselves.”

Audience members bought nine copies of the Thomas Sankara Speaks, in English or French, at the meeting.
 
 
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