I am from Burkina Faso, and, I can tell you, this man is still revered and even called prophet by many of us. He was a blessing to our country and would have achieved more on the continent. His friend Compaore has recently been sentenced to life in prison and is in exile, but this is not enough to comfort us because we are still an underdeveloped country, which would have been different if Sankara was still alive. We are still crying for this big loss...

He was also promoting public health by vaccinating 2.5 million children in one week

What about Sankara vaccinating 2,5 million burkinabe against polio, meningitis and measles in his first week in office, bruh? Not worth mentioning? I mean... thats unique in human history!

THIS VIDEO IS FALSE. Sankara was not killed because he was unpopular in his country he was killed because he was unpopular with FRANCE. It was FRANCE together with Blaise Compaore that killed sankara. The people of Burkina faso loved him and his leadership style. THATS WHY AFRICANS MUST HAVE THEIR OWN PLATFORMS TO TELL THEIR STORIES.

"His legacy is complicated" People like kissinger get nobel prize, and thomas sunkara's legacy is complicated?

Alright let's forget the CIA and french involvement in his assassination

Sankara was one of the best leaders Africa ever had. An honest, principled man that did the best for his people. Shame France killed him.

Does "Alienate capitalist countries" mean "Stopping colonial practices from imperialist countries"?

Why isn’t Sankara’s name in the title? Bizarre.

I usually love TED-ED videos... I'm borderline addicted to them but this doesn't sit right with me. They finally told a story about someone I love and have spent most of my adulthood studying. A lot of Key information has been left out. - His Name in the Title - The mass vaccination drives - The Country going from being dependent on AID to being self-sufficient in food in under 4 years - The obvious involvement of France in his assassination.

Fun fact, on top of Thomas and Blaise being close friends, during their time in the army they also formed a band and wrote a good amount of music together. So Thomas Sankara is probably the only person in history to be ousted in a coup led by a former band mate. Also, the band was called Tout-a-Coup

I love Ted-Ed to bits, but this video is another example of why African stories need to be told by African voices!

Ya'll had me up until the revisionist description of his "increasingly authoritarian" policies. All governments are authoritarian in nature, how else are laws and regulations enacted? Rest in power, Comrade Sankara.

This is so fascinating as a Burkinabè! Sankara used to be my grandma’s brother in law

*”Our revolution is not a public-speaking tournament. Our revolution is not a battle of fine phrases. Our revolution is not simply for spouting slogans that are no more than signals used by manipulators trying to use them as catchwords, as codewords, as a foil for their own display. Our revolution is, and should continue to be, the collective effort of revolutionaries to transform reality, to improve the concrete situation of the masses of our country.”* -Thomas Sankara, Former President of the Republic of Burkina Faso 🇧🇫

I am truly thankful for the truth ppl are sharing in the comments. I have even played this video, I paused it to read the comments before doing so & already I can tell what a misconstrued detailed of Captain Sankara the video will give. You have saved me from wasting my time. Thank you all ♥️ Homeland or death, we will win!

Certainly, one of Africa's finest Son ! A true Revolutionary. I love this Brother.

He fought for justice, worked for justice and died protecting justice. His story is one of sadness and of inspiration. I hope we can uphold his legacy and free the nations one day of imperialist rule

Finally people will understand my profile picture

Sankara was possibly the greatest leader this world will ever know. Its a tragedy that he is snubed out of history.

I was 3 blocks from his residence when he was killed. Glad his legacy lives on.

Dont forget Sankara spared his comrades by willingly giving himself over to Camporares assassins. RIP to a real one.

They don't mention burkina faso became self-suficient on food during his rule and even exported to other countries. They also don't mention he rejected all foreign aid and loans from FMI.

not gonna talk about the CIA involvement in his assassination lol

This seriously downplays the efforts of the so called 'developed' western nations to get rid of Thomas Sankara and his revolutionary government.

The French and the cia were behind his assassination. My grandfather Adama Fofana worked under him and Blaise Compaore and he also planned the most recent coup to get Blaise out and then trained the current president Roch. I find it very strange that the fact that Blaise was hired by the French and CIA was left out. Blaise and Thomas were bestfriends like almost brothers when they were younger by the way and furthermore this happened in other countries too but the US and Europe need these smaller countries to survive because the land and soil is very very rich and valuable to them but this video left out so much information

One of the best leaders who fought against imperialism and who built a nation

A history vs sancara would be extremely cool

He is not Africa’s che guevara. Thomas Sankara is Africa’s Thomas Sankara. Don’t compare our heroes to people that are not our heroes.

You never hear about good guys like him in mainstream media or other news or history outlets.. When people talk about all the violence and stuff under Mao and others they never talk about the good things under heroes like Comrade Sankara

it is extremely worth noting that his "authoritarian crackdowns" were in fact his feuding with the old guard chieftan powers. to put it shortly: the teacher's union--which was the union he cracked down on--was a part of old power structures that also went hand in hand with the chiefdoms and iirc the church. as was the press, who spent a large amount of time trying to disparage sankara's image, in service to the elites that owned them. you have to examine the conditions of burkina faso to really understand why such drastic measures were taken; i mean we're talking a poor nation, without much arable land, natural resources, or even a particularly large population, that was in the midst of a power struggle between a progressive admin, a thermidorian reaction, and a flat out conservative base. in truth, he was holding the flood back all on his own, and his "crackdowns" were just the manifestations of his direct fighting with the elites of his nation.

Sankara was assassinated bc he defied French imperialist rule. The people of Burkina Faso loved him. May him and his revolution live forever!

Why does this video act like his “autocratic” moves were bad? Seconds before the video established that Sankara’s opposition was created because he rooted out corruption and took power from many corrupt elites. Then the elites turned on him (obviously) cause he took their power and gave it to the people. His “autocratic” actions were made to thwart the attempts at stealing power by those corrupt elites. You established that Sankara was a great leader who genuinely cared about his people and improved their lives. So when the elites that we established were corrupt and bad tried to take over his attempts to thwart them are obviously good. Burkina Faso was on a great path under Sankara but lost its was after his death. I fail to see how you can justify painting Sankara as bad in any way.

Hes not african che guevera , hes THOMAS SANKARA.....

Should’ve they added the French-backed assasins because apparently, the French killed Sankara in reality.

Littered with biases regarding those so-called "capitalist peers". If you don't plan to be honest with the circumstances he had to face then don't bother. Preserve the integrity of Africa history!

All the comrades in the comments have revived my faith in humanity.

This video doesn't do Sankara the justice he deserves.

HE IS THOMAS SANKARA. HE DOES NOT NEED TO BE NICKNAMED AFTER ANYONE. If your intention is to continue to paint African leaders by a western brush - you are not helping us. Rest in power - Comrade Sankara.

He would be really good for a history vs

TED-Ed shows that knowledge is beyond color, age, or gender. Your videos on great people of color help open the eyes of those who learn a mostly whitewashed storytelling of history in school. Thanks for being colorblind, TED-Ed!

I could write a 10 page essay about the inaccuracies in this video

Sankara was murdered by those who wished to keep Africa in chains.

The video did not indicate that Sankara read Lenin (I'm sure he read both Stalin and Mao - because of his successes in agrarian policy) and was a Bolshevik. I think this was done on purpose, because TED-ed is a bourgeois organization and is afraid of Lenin and his legacy. Also, the video called the emancipation of women the most important part of Sankara's politics, although in reality this was not the case. The most important was the nationalization of the land, taking it away from the private property of local oppressors and transferring it to the ownership of the people. Moreover, the people were taught hygiene, discipline and work properly. Under Sankar, Burkina Faso became the only country in West Africa to solve the problem of hunger and to be fully self-sufficient in food. Sankara advocated a complete, imperative decolonization of West Africa, which would, of course, destroy France's economic well-being. Sankara is a great man, theoretically savvy in matters of economics, for whom no president of France since De Gaulle can hold a candle.

Ted Ed, if you re-watch any of your old videos, I have a request: could you do a remake of this video and include the information about the French and the CIA being involved in his death so the people who noticed the inaccuracies don't riot?

His most important legacy was gender equality, are you serious?you think that was more important than the planting of trees, alleviation of poverty and non-reliance on as little aide as possible? We know gender equality was important but not as food because in most homes the women had some level of control

That France killed him doesn't bother me much. I'm more heartbroken by the fact he was short by his fellow countrymen. we Africans have no problem killing our own as long as we can profit from it.

Lies of capitalism

"Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life."~ Bob Marley.

This is the best way to learn history

KZfaq is the only place where 15-30 people are first at same time

Decent video but it is quite disappointing that this video didn’t frame Sankara’s leadership as a fight against imperialism/neocolonialism from France and even the US. This video frames it more so as he was not friendly to capitalist countries because he was a communist whereas there were people in government that were. I don’t think that Sankara would have had an issue working with capitalist countries especially if they were neighbors, the biggest issue was the imperialism of France and other European countries on Africa

Love from Kerala India💕 Thomas Sankara was a true revolutionary and a great man ✊

Nice job not mentioning this hero's true assassins: the French colonial empire. Also, increasingly authoritarian? Alienating from their capitalist peers? This whole thing is sounding more like fed ed than ted ed.

Rest in Power, A man who wouldn't let his people be dominated.

Karl Max was not a socialist leader. He was a theorist. Although it’s a common misconception about Marx, a basic error like that has no place in an educational video.

Just from the title alone I knew this video was Ghana be a good one!

Well, unfortunately "history" is little more than a story told by one side. In cases like this the problem tend to be not consulting anyone that actually lived in Africa to know their opinions of African Leaders. (video was somewhat good up to the biased ending)

U didn't mention how the France government assassination

His story reminds me of Julius Caesar.

Remember he was a communist, a marxist-leninist, that's what helps the ones with revolutionary ideas- a revolutionary framework

Half of this is false, Sankara was best for Burkina Faso

Bodies are mortal; Ideas are immortal 🔥

RIP Sankara really sad how is people backstabbed him.

He was the greatest leader that ever cane out of Africa

Dude donated $10 million to #teamtrees years before Mr.Beast. That's a real progressivist alright.

Sakkara was not killed for he is a dictator. Shame on you TED. And shame on you, French officials.

Sankara killed by the French

Thank you, Ted-ed, for helping me learn about this. I never would've known about such great people without y'all :))

I can see why so many loved this man, I’d feel such pride for my country. I’m from the states and I’d love to have a political figure worthy of idolization. In my lifetime not a single one deserves admiration. None that has any power to bring about change, anyway.

Baseness is the password of the Blaise Compaoré, Nobility is the epitaph of the Sankara.Vive la grande révolution communiste!

Ted-ed keeps finding these hidden gems. Thanks for bringing Sankara to the forefront

watching this it comes as no surprise to me that africa is one of the most ignored regions history wise which is a shame because these things should absolutely be known to more people

We need more Thomas Sankaras...

Propaganda video. Sankara is a hero.

One of the greatest leaders in history, you can disagree with many of his views, but no one can disagree that he was in fact an idealist and visionary

Salute from China. Workers of the World, Unite!

Rest in Power Comrade Sankara.

Saw Thomas Sankara and liked it before it started playing.

He not only was a revolutionary, he was a hero.

Great video, thank you! Any thoughts on doing Patrice Lumumba next?

Sankara is NOT a dictator. He once was the only hope of his country and FRANCE destroyed that. All stories about African countries revolution are tragedy.

Rest in peace! Thomas Sankara, murdered today in 1987 may we continue your legacy 🙏❤️

Good video but was he really a harsh dictator? I see all these comments citing evidence against those claims.

rip sankara, too good for this world

Sankara was a great revolutionary. People can die, but Marxism Leninism will always live on!

he wasn't killed for his "authoritarianism", he was killed because he threatened french authority in Burkina Faso and his anti-corruption legislation made corrupt gov. officials lose money. French officials have admitted to having organized the assassination together with Compaore

Wow! No word about France's implication in Sankara's assassination? *Thumb down*

Thomas Sankara was the greatest leader in Africa change my mind

Thank you Ted-Ed. We needed this! Can't say how happy I am because of this video. Thank you!

I see Sankara I like

TED Ed: *releases history related video * r/HistoryMemes members: my memes shall rise once again! Thomas Sankara was a man of communistic culture and gender equality

I feel so proud to hear that he was inspired by people from my coutnry.

**Every 60 seconds in Africa a minute passes**

the US is trying to get rid of Abiy Ahmed, the Sankara of Ethiopia. Stand with Ethiopia #NoMore.

There is no person in the world who is 100% good or bad. We all have different levels of both. You are seen by history as what phase of your actions had more weight, and it looks like in his case, the positive outweighs the negative.

伟大的通辽可汗国民请来此集合

Man, this guy was great. He wanted gender equality, planted trees...he was amazing

Please put an epilepsy warning for this video.

Sankara's legacy is NOT complicated, it is pan African, it is only complicated to a capitalist, imperialist mind.