Thomas Sankara served as President of Burkina Faso for four years before being killed in a military coup supported by the United States and France. Beloved by his people for his social programmes, confrontation of the national elite, and challenging of Western imperialism on the continent, Sankara’s accomplishments in his short time in office were many. Among them were the vaccination fo 2.5 million children against meningitis and yellow fever, the redistribution of feudal land, the construction of national roads and railways, and opposition of foreign aid. Below is a speech Sankara gave at the United Nations, where he unified the colonized people of the world against a global order that promoted internalized elitism perpetuated by imperialist powers.
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