Thomas Sankara is often referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara.” He was the revolutionary, anti-imperialist president of Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987.

Now, thirty-four years later, fourteen men are on trial for Sankara’s murder.

Today, Friday host Esty Dinur takes this opportunity to learn about Sankara’s life and leadership in the context of Western African political history with guests Kenneth Surin and Brian J. Peterson.

Kenneth Surin is a professor emeritus of literature at Duke University. He is the author of Freedom Not Yet: Liberation and the Next World Order (Duke University Press, 2009). He recently published “The Trial of Thomas Sankara’s Killers” at Counterpunch.

Brian J. Peterson is associate professor of history at Union College. He is the author of several books, most recently Thomas Sankara: A Revolutionary in Cold War Africa (Indiana University Press, 2021).

Cover image by DUBDEM MÙSICA, public domain

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