Today, we honor the memory of the people of Burkina Faso who endured decades of French colonial domination.

French military conquest of the region began in 1896, and the territory—then known as Upper Volta—was formally established as a colony in 1919. Colonial rule lasted until independence on August 5, 1960, marking roughly 64 years of direct French control (and about 64 years from conquest to sovereignty).

During this period, Burkinabè communities faced forced labor, heavy taxation, land expropriation, and conscription into French military campaigns abroad. Resistance was met with severe repression. The most significant uprising, the Volta–Bani War (1915–1916), resulted in the destruction of entire villages. While precise figures remain uncertain due to limited colonial records, historians estimate that many thousands of people were killed, particularly during punitive expeditions suppressing revolts. The human cost also included deaths linked to forced labor, displacement, and famine intensified by colonial extraction policies.

We remember the unnamed farmers, elders, women, and children whose lives were taken or forever altered. Their suffering and quiet resilience form part of the moral foundation upon which modern Burkina Faso stands.

Regarding pro-independence leadership: Burkina Faso’s organized nationalist political movement largely developed in the 1940s and 1950s, closer to independence. Though there is no well-documented record of nationally recognized Burkinabè pro-independence leaders being executed by French colonial authorities, there is overwhelming evidence that Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara’s assassination was authorized by Paris.

Sankara is revered as a hero in Burkina Faso for leading a transformative, anti-colonial revolution (1983–1987) that championed self-reliance, integrity, and radical social progress. Known as the “African Che Guevara,” he achieved rapid advancements in literacy, women’s rights, and food sovereignty while living modestly and fighting corruption.

A Burkinabé military officer, Marxist and Pan-Africanist revolutionary, he served as the President of Burkina Faso from 1983, following his takeover in a coup, until his assassination in 1987.

Under his leadership, the young leader renamed the country from the colonial-era “Upper Volta” to Burkina Faso, fostering a new national identity rooted in dignity and independence. Despite his short time in power, his legacy as a leader who sacrificed his life for the “Land of Upright People” continues to inspire, with his memory surviving decades of censorship after his assassination in 1987.

Many early Burkinabe resistors were traditional leaders and local communities who opposed conquest, but their names were often not preserved in colonial archives.

May we remember not only the scale of loss, but the courage of resistance—spoken and unspoken—and continue to seek historical truth with humility and respect.