09 | Thomas Sankara

Thomas Sankara called on Africa to stand upright; to feed itself, clothe itself, and govern itself without fear. In 1983, at just 33 years old, he led a peaceful revolution that transformed Upper Volta into Burkina Faso — the Land of Upright People.

In this episode, we retrace Sankara’s rise, his fight against corruption, patriarchy, and debt, and the enemies who moved to silence him. From his bold UN speeches to the night of his assassination, and finally to the justice delivered decades later, his voice still echoes: “You cannot kill ideas.”

We also look at how today’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, draws from Sankara’s legacy , and why that spirit continues to unsettle the West.