Talk:Thomas Sankara

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Is the RDP a political party? -- Zoe

No, RDP means "Popular and Democratic Revolution" that's the name that's Sankara himself gave to the period while he was president.

"Libya which was at time close to war with France in Chad". My english is too poor to summarize it :

In fact France was at war with Libya, but diplomatic language from both side hidded the reality even in France. France was providing Air Force support to governement that's official and French troops were also involved in ground operations -I know it from some reliable witnesses- but this was not official. Of course they where only military advisors.

I Hope you can help. Ericd

I reintroduced something about guitar and motorbikes. This not a joke ! Ericd

Compaoré was the officer directing the commandos. In fact the elite troops of the army and the most able to make a coup d'état. But the people disliked him in fact he made 3 coup d'état. I believe he was an opportunist waiting for his time to come. Some people believe that the coup d'état which killed d Sankara in 1987 was very bloody because it was made in hurry because Sankara was trying do minor political influence of the army and thus of Compaoré. Even if Sankara was captain, as a pilot he didn't command troops so the most powerful officers where a permanent danger for him. Ericd

Is excision OK or should I use Female circumcision ? Ericd

Who can translate "Malheur à ceux qui baillonnent le peuple !" Ericd 21:33, 20 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Who can translate "économat de l'armée" ? Ericd 14:19, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Hi, Ericd: Malheur à ceux qui baillonnent le peuple! is "Misfortune to those who gag [or muzzle] the people!"; économat de l'armée is "stewardship [possibly in a sense of sound financial management, depending on context] of the army" Graculus 16:21, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Thanks. What is the strongest gag or muzzle ? I was uncertain about "stewardship" it seems to have many senses in English. In French the "Economat" provide food for the army in Burkina Faso it included a store reserved to military that Sankara transformed it into a supermaket I don't know exactly how to write that. Ericd 16:45, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I think "gag" is the stricter translation, so I'd go with that. Is the supermarket open to all? Maybe "provisioning by"? Or maybe it's just one of those not-readily-translatable expressions that needs fuller explanation. Graculus 17:00, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Yes it was a real supermarket open all in. What do you think of something like "In Ouagadougou Sankara converted army's stewardship into a state-owned supermarket (the first supermarket in the country)." Ericd 17:07, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Maybe "In Ouagadougou Sankara converted/extended the army's provisioning store/service into a state-owned supermarket (the first supermarket in the country)"? (was there an army store there already? - if not, "service") Graculus 17:15, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Not sure if there was a store bu for someone who know Africa it's obvious that the officers could buy everything they want before Sankara ;-) Ericd 17:23, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Sankara was Marxist. But was he leninist ? He never made any reference to the dictatorship of the proletariat nor to a leading role of the communist party. Ericd 09:28, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

In this case, I am equating Leninism and democratic centralism, which are very similar but have slightly different meanings. For the general reader, I believe the term "Leninism" is more familar than "democratic centralism."

Democratic centralism is essentially what happened in the CDRs and the CNR. In its most basic sense, it means to openly discuss and reach decisions democratically and then expect the people (including those who disagreed with the original decision) to massively mobilize in support of these goals. Operations such as "Alpha Commando" and the vaccination program were carried out in this manner, as well as smaller village-level governance, especially with regard to agricultural issues.

In 1986, Sankara gave an interview about his reading habits:

…

  • Elisabeth Nicolini: But you read political books?
  • TS: Of course. Without giving myself away, I can admit to being familiar with the classics of Marxism-Leninism.
  • EN: You've surely read Capital by Karl Marx.
  • TS: No, not all of it. But I have devoured all of Lenin.
  • EN: Would you take these works with you if you were stuck on a desert island?
  • TS: I would certainly take State and Revolution. This is a book I take refuge in, that I reread often. Depending on whether I'm in a good or a bad mood, I give the words and sentences different interpretations …

(source: Thomas Sankara Speaks, pp. 202-03)

—Seselwa 16:52, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I have no doubt that Sankara had read Lenin. However the last sentence is ambiguitous and leave some room for some distance.

Well you're right that the decision making process was democratic centralism but when I was there most people where referring to participative democracy. However there was a difference with the Russian version IMO, the CDR were widely open and thus more reprensentative of the population while in USSR the party was a small elite. Combined with some African tradition of researching consensus this worked well and was more democratic than many could believe. The price to pay was very long debates. As a foreigner I did'nt belong to the CDRs (and didn't wish to be a member), but I've been invited to a few meeting as technical adviser. I remember I've been caught sometime in some debate on minor points lasting for hours. Combined with hot weather that was often really exhausting...

Ericd 08:26, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] last name?

What does the name Sankara mean and what language is it in? pamri 13:11, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

Thomas is Thomas. The guy that wanted to touch to believe... As for Sankara, I don't think it means anything obvious... Please get rid of the caricature of Ameridians : Your name is XWXYZ : That means Dogs-fucking-in-front-of-our-home because the day you born there was dogs doing... Hmmm... Well... You know what I'm talking about... ;-) Ericd 14:34, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Found this at the end of the article 10/31/2005

Translate Thomas Sankara Web Site (french)into english NOW We seek volunteers to translate the site of Thomas Sankara into English.
Thank you to visit the wiki for the occasion


--Dvyost 06:06, 31 October 2005 (UTC)


I wanted to use the Sankara quotes in my thesis, and I was frustrated when the source for the English translation was not listed. (Only a website to the originals in French was given--although I'm not even sure about that because I couldn't find the exerpts on the French page either--but my French is not great.) Therefore, when I eventually found the same translation in the volume _Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87_ trans. Samantha Anderson. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1988. I went ahead and listed it and the information about the original interview from which the quote was culled. I don't know if the other quotes are from the same source, but at least this provides one source for anyone else wanting to use the quotes in a scholarly setting ---Crmccain 15:34, 28 April 2006 (UTC)crmccain

TSS is the source for Sankara's texts in English. I'm not aware of any other English-language volume that provides similar material. Most of the stuff in the book is translated for the first time, but I think one or two of the chapters were previously published (the authors credit the original source). —Sesel 01:12, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Burial?

It says in the article that he was buried in an unmarked grave, but the article on Yako says that he was buried there. Which is it? I can only find references to the "unmarked grave" claim in mirror sites, and I can't seem to find anything on his burial in Yako. The Disco King 20:38, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I've seen a photo of Thomas Sankara grave in Yako. However, as far I remember he was first buried in an anonymous grave in Ouagadougou to avoid a demonstration by supporters. His remains were later transfered to Yako, but this has to be verified. Ericd 08:53, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Name?

There is a small number of websites that give "Isidore Dieudonné Thomas Sankara" as his full name. Is this correct? Are there any print sources to verify this? —Sesel 02:40, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Coming from a French-Canadian family, I know that this is somewhat common practice in Quebec. For instance, my grandfather is named Daniel Louis Clark _______, but he goes by Clark. I'm not sure if that's unique to Quebec, or if it's just a general French thing. (The same wasn't true of my mother's generation, so maybe it's more old-fashioned.) Cheers! The Disco King 15:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
It also a French common practice to hve 3 first names, however the common practice is to use the first. It also the sign that Sankara family had probably strong catholic conviction, because he has 3 christian first names. Most people in Burkina Faso have two first name a christian or muslin one according to their religion and an African one. Ericd 16:08, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "leninist" ad "participatory democracy"

I replaced "leninist social organization" by "social organization with some participatory democracy", because, right or wrong, for most people, "leninist social organization" means "single-party dictatorship" —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 194.65.151.249 (talk) 11:23, 11 April 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Social changes

I have read about several big changes that Sankara made while in power, which were omitted from this article. I can't remember where I got this information (it was from various sources), so they need to be verified. However, if any of the points below can be found to be true, I think it is very important that they be included in the article. These are the points: - Sankara stopped all foreign aid, except for medical aid coming into the country - The literacy level of B.Faso soared during his time in power - He started a nationwide vaccination drive which succeeded in eradicating a large number of diseases - He tried to stop the advance of the Sahara by transporting 'volunteers' from the cities to the countryside to plant trees on weekends - He also used 'volunteers' to build more houses which led to a housing surplus (this is probably true. The areas surrounding the big cities are dotted with identical red brick houses, many of which are empty)

And some points of interest: - B. Faso experienced a mini economic boom during his time in power - Many of his policies were reversed or forgotten about when Compaore took over

I will try to get confirmation of these points, if anybody can confirm or refute anything on this list, then please do.

In my opinion Sankara was one of the greatest characters in African history. It would be great to see him become better known. Maybe through Wikipedia?

Tim (callagytim@yahoo.co.uk) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 193.120.171.9 (talk) 14:46, 10 May 2007 (UTC).

  • Sankara never stopped all foreign aid. What do you think I was doing in Burkina Faso while Sankara was in power ?
  • He started a nationwide vaccination drive (vaccination commando) this protected a lot of people from diseases. But this didn't eradicate any diseases. As far as I know onchocercosis was eradicated from Upper Volta years before but this a success of the World Health Organisation and previous Presidents.
  • Sankara built several "cités" of modern houses. They were for sale however many remained unsold because the cost was higher than expected and they were too expensive. I remember discussing with Burkinabé engineers (rather well paid people considering Burkina standards) and the credit anuitees were at the upper limit their budget could stand. The material was not red bricks but mostly concrete made with Lybian cement. Sankara buyed cement at bargain price because after a massive construction drive Lybia had surpus of cement.
  • B. Faso did not experienced an economic boom or a mini boom during his time in power. Sankara enforced International Monetary Fund recommendations rather strictly like Jerry Rawlings in Ghana. This lead to a serious reduction of income for the Burkinabe middle-class, leading to some economic depression. On the other hand the quality the quality of public finance and economic management greatly improved it became according to the World Bank or the IMF (I don't remember) "among the best in Africa". Anti-corruption policies helped to a better use state income and foreign aid. Most of the activity of the TPRs "Tribunaux Populaires de la Révolution" (Popular Courts of the Revolution) was oriented toward fighting corruption. Despite serious objections reguarding human rights these Courts were not as brutal as it was reported most sentences were banishement from public service. (To be continued). Please consider myself as a primary source. All this has to be sourced and verified.

Ericd 18:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Prison?

This article states "Sankara became prime minister in January 1983, but he was dismissed (May 17) and placed under house arrest ..." My Norwegan encyclopedia ([1]) says that he was imprisoned in 1982 ("Fengslet 1982"). Which is right? --Tannkremen 18:49, 17 June 2007 (UTC)