Burkinabe Rising
The Art of Resistance in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a small, landlocked country in West Africa. French colonialists previously called it Upper Volta, but in 1983 when Thomas Tankara took power, he renamed the country. Just a few years later, Sankara was killed in a coup led by one of his advisors. This man, Blaise Compaoré went on to rule for 27 years.
Campaoré and Sankara had been best friends. In fact, Sankara’s family had actually adopted Campaoré and they became like brothers. This closeness was evident to all, but unfortunately, Blaise took advantage of it to find out all of Sankara’s strategies, secrets, and weaknesses to use them against him.
Around 2013 an uprising began that eventually led to the downfall of the Campaoré regime in 2014. In January a call went out to rebel against an amendment to Article 37. This amendment would allow Campaoré to run again for another term. He had already been in power for almost 30 years and seemed to want to hold on to power forever, but people were fed up. They were convinced that Blaise’s 27-year rule had led to the disintegration of Burkina Faso and a loss of the integrity of the people.
Burkina Faso is home to a vibrant community of artists and musicians who, along with many involved citizens, use their craft to instill a spirit of resistance. They are an inspiration to the world. Watch this film now.
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