Women's Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle

by Thomas Sankara

"There is no true social revolution without the liberation of women," explains the leader of the 1983-87 revolution in Burkina Faso. Workers and peasants in that West African country established a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0873489888
• ISBN13: 9780873489881
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Pathfinder Press
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

"...a gem of a pamphlet..."

Among the many useful titles on women's liberation published by Pathfinder Press sits a gem of a pamphlet titled Women's Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle. It contains the full text of a speech given by Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary leader of the West African country Burkina Faso (formally Upper Volta) until his assassination in 1987. Sankara gives his speech to thousands of Burkinabe women gathered to commemorate International Women's Day on March 8, 1987. His speech is bereft of the dogma and the rhetoric normally seen in capitalist politicians and is remarkably direct but sincere.Sankara devotes a good portion of the speech detailing the specific challenges confronting African women in pursuit of their liberation on the continent. Based on a Marxist understanding of the development of class society he points to this fact as the origin of women's oppression.Sankara puts the fight of Burkinabe women as part of the struggle for women's liberation world wide. A special strength of the speech is when Sankara stresses how the emancipation of women goes hand in hand with "the struggle for the rehabilitation of our continent".For supporters of women's rights this pamphlet is a must read.

the emancipation of women and the emancipation of Africa

These two issues strike at the heart of many struggles today. Sankara was the leader of a 1983 anti-imperialist revolution in the west African nation of Burkina Faso (known as Upper Volta in colonial times). He is unsparing in his condemnation of those who assert that traditional African values justify the isolation and oppression of women. He calls on women to rise against the sexism of tribal, neo-colonial and capitalist eras that prevent their equal participation in society. He explains to male Burkinabe workers and peasants the necessity of this in order to fight for the liberation of their nation from colonialism and capitalism.