Thomas Sankara: The Lion King

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The works of Karl Marx have had a great effect on the world. They influenced many people including Vladimir Lenin. The works of Vladimir Lenin have also been influential. Together they influenced the African Che Guevara who is named Thomas Sankara. Thomas Sankara was a revolutionary hero that enacted sweeping social and economic changes throughout Burkina Faso and inspired many people to believe that Africa could be autonomous and self reliant.

Thomas Isidor Noël Sankara was born December 21, 1949 in the Upper Volta (Biography of Thomas, n.d.). Thomas Sankara went to primary school in Gaoua and attended high school in Bobo-Dioulasso (Biography of Thomas, n.d.). He received basic military training in secondary school in 1966 and began his military career at the age of 19 (Who killed, n.d.). A year later he was sent to Madagascar for officer training at Antsirabe. He witnessed popular uprisings in 1971 and 1972 and read the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, greatly influencing his political ideas for the rest of his life (Biography of Thomas, n.d.). He returned to the Upper Volta in 1972 and fought in a border war between the Upper Volta and Mali in 1974 (Burkina Faso, 2012). He became famous for his heroic performance but he later renounced the war.

Sankara was appointed Secretary of State for Information in September 1981 (Burkina Faso, 2012). He resigned from his post in 1982 in opposition to what he saw as the regime's anti-labor drift. After another coup on November 7, 1982 brought to power Major-Doctor Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, Sankara became prime minister in January 1983 (Burkina Faso, 2012). He was dismissed on May 17 and placed under house arrest after a visit by the French president's son and Afric...

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...sident of Burkina Faso made people believe that Africa could be autonomous and self reliant and inspired many others to stand up for themselves, even giving his country a name that means “the land of upright men” in Mòoré and Dioula.

Works Cited

Biography of Thomas Sankara. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2012, from African

Success website: http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFiche.php?id=59&lang=en

Burkina Faso. (2012). Retrieved February 29, 2012, from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/85420/Burkina-Faso/54898/

Independence?anchor=ref516563

Pike, J. (n.d.). Sankara Coup 1980s. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/burkina-faso.htm

Who killed the lion king? (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2012, from Mathaba

website: http://www.mathaba.net/www/black/sankara.shtml

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