Sankara

[afrikola]

On Alpha Blondy's latest album he does a song called Sankara,which deals with the subject of millitary coups in Africa.Have been trying to find out about the lyrics(in French),which I don't understand.Was wondering if one of the French speaking RA members could help me.

[fadel diagne]

he was in other words calling on his african brothers not to indulge in retaliation;he said:" from a military coup to another, africa has ultimately fallen into decadence. that two wrongs don't make right if you will .he said also "captain thomas sankara that's your own brothermen who destroyed you".it all stems from the argument which has been lingering for a while and the mobilization from sankara sympathisers and other human rights and civil groups mainly in burkina faso for an independant inquiry commission to probe into his killing so as to identify and bring to justice those who killed him.alpha blondy has declared that he is totally against the military coups.
that is what i heard from this song which was partly sung in french and partly in dioula which is his native language
hope it can help a little bit
fadel

[afikola]

Also coming from Africa and reggae always having been a reference point of mine,I have always greatly respected Alpha Blondy.Thomas Sankara during the time that he tried to reform Burkina Faso must be one of the biggest African leaders to date.In this debate I understood that Alpha Blondy was positioning himself close to Blaise Compaore,whom as far as I understand was instumental in killing Sankara.So this would be very hipocrytical.At the same time I have understood that he says that he has been misinterpreted.But I do remember that he had diffrences with Tiken Jah Fakoly about the situation in Ivory Coast and seem to be more concervative in his approach,as he also did some praise songs for Houphouet Boigny who even thought he did a lot of positive things was also not known for his sense of democrazy.With Compoare this is non existent and there is no reason at all to try and whitewash him.I recently saw a film,Lets Make Money that shows how he is selling his people to the IMF and the Monsanto's of this world in order to enrich himself and his corrupt circle of friends.Anyway,long lives Thomas Sankara,where in Africa,or in the world for that matter, lives lives a ruler on 450 dollars a month,drives the most basic of cars and don't even switch on the airconditioning,we need more of him.Thank you Fadel for your insight.

[fadel diagne]

hi afikola
you are right in some extent to say that alpha has praised late present houphouet boigny of ivory coast whom he callled his father"jah jah houphouet he is kind like a rastaman".and god knows he was one of the closest collaborators of the french colonial and neo-colonial masters helping time and time again to rid them of former president sekou toure of guinea.houphouet really acted more like a tribal chief than a president in the western sense of the word.as a matter of fact he is a king in the baoule ethnic group where he originates from.so his relationships with the ivorians were like that of father and son.
nevertheless alpha blondy is more calling on africans to show some restraint, to take a stock of the situation and see how retaliations and military coups have settled the continent in blooshed, political and social unstability throughout the years.a case in point is guinea bissau where the army general and president nino vieyra were almost simultaneously killed last week because of blind vengeance.what does profit the people?
i have always been excited back in 1983 when president sankara almost in his early 30's took over after a military coup and started initiating a new form of government and rule.it was utterly new.he was a very sober man ,a man of ethic always ready to be the first to set an example.he has great ideals and ambitions for his country and besides, his continent.but let me tell you that the exercise of power is made through experience and wisdom,not ideals and youthful high spirits. "the president is not the man sitting in the chair,but the one who is standing behind"john edgar hoover once said .i remember and still have in mind the images of president sankara welcoming late president francois mitterand of france in burkina faso. telling him how he was outraged that france a land of human rights could welcome,aid and abet a man like jonas savimbi(the then opposition leader to the angolan ruling MPLA)whose hands were stained with the blood of innocent peoples.president mitterand reminded him of his age(37 back in 1987)and the experience he had in politics(35 years)before coming to power.with a little hindsight in all honesty we must admit that the kind of rhetoric and policies he was advocating were really far-reaching(not to say hasty and wrong-headed) for this era.i will never forget and forgibve blaise compaore for the ignominy he committed.but do we only have to judge him according to this tragic episode?didn't he manage to succeed in some aspects of his social and economic policies?i think that he has managed to bring the little and poor country to african centerstage by being very low-key and efficient.
no my friend i think alpha is calling on people to show more wisdom and restraint try to be realistic and see how political and social unstability has brought the continent.
you are right in mentioning the bone of contention there is between thiken jah fakoly and alpha even though the first keep on reminding us that he looks upon alpha as his elder brother and the one who paved the way for all of them.no sooner than last december when alpha performed in senegal,he said that the government of senegal was right into declaring thiken jah fakoly persona non grata after the latter said that"president wade of senegal who is grooming his son to take over from him must resign"he declared it while performing "quitte le pouvoir"( "step down!" a song which is very succesful in africa and which rails against those who cling to power by any means neccessary)."how can you say that in a country where the president was fairly, democratically and peacefully elected by the citizens?it's a lack of courtesy and respect toward the senegalese state.i challenge him to go and hold the same speech in ivory coast" he said .Alpha has been a very efficient whistle blower, warning his african brothers about tribalism, military coups,and constitutional reviews to get as many terms in office as possible,but his warnings which proved to be premonitory were not oftentimes heeded:"bloodshed in africa" "peace in liberia" "la democratie bananiere(the banana democracy) to name a few ,are some perfect examples of his insighful lyrics.
ah so much for that. no definitely he is not for compaore but against the blindness africans show by wanting to solve everything by the bullet and not by the ballot.
blessins
fadel

[afrikola]

True,that there is this youthful hotheadedness,but this is very much needed in Africa where we have leaders in their eighties ruling like one eyed kings in the land of the blind,when huge parts of the population is under twenty,and being impoverished by their rule..It is very true what you say about the powers behind the throne.Just look at Mugabe ,but he is not the only one,the power behind is mostly military.So is it really a choice between the ballot and the bullet?,I think the situation in Guinea Bissau confirms this.Just look how many democrazilly elected leaders comes from the military,knowing full well where their support lies.As for France's involvement in Africa or whereever for that matter,I would not say that they have ever had much for democracy at heart.The present troubles in The Antilles and Reunion shows.For what Tike said in Senegal,it is not very different from simmilar critique leveled at Wade from the young rappers like Omzo's Kunu Abal Ay Beut.But that he could get away with it without a beating like Peter Tosh did,does speak for a maturing of the democracy,but it would have been interesting had he not such a high profile.In retrospect it is interesting to note from his own youth,when in 1984 he released "Election Koutcha(Tricked Election),a song that could have cost him his life had President Houphouet Boigny not personally intervened.As for Tiken going to Ivory Coast to repeat his statement,how could he do that in view of him not living there for fear of his life. As you can see with my wordplay of democracy/democrazy as Fela called it,there is a certain ambivilance towards what democracy is right for Africa,wen the powers to be is only intereted in promoting democracy as it serves their interest.But for sure I am for Peace and hate the violence the poor and downtrodden perpetuate on one another.Must say I was very impressed by the Ghanaian elections and hope they are a sign of the future.I will give Apha Blondy the benefit of my doubt as I believe he is a leader and visionary and can still work a lot of good.Thanks a lot for your feedback Fadel and Africa Unite Greentings Afrikola

[fadel diagne]

thank you to you also my brother and hatts off for your insighfulness.
yes i have always said and believed that ghana has always been far ahead of most african states in terms of democracy and political maturity. i do believe their example can inspire many african countries in the future
fadel