Every time we hear of Africa on the news, the message we are given is one of corruption, underdevelopment, malnutrition, disease and eternal pessimism.

One man tried to change all that. Today marks what would have been the 58th birthday of the late Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso (formerly known as Upper Volta) from 1983 to 1987. At 34 years old took power “in order to give Africa back to the Africans.”

In the most difficult of circumstances, and taking huge personal risk, he and his government undertook major initiatives to fight corruption and improve education, agriculture, and the status of women.

His revolutionary program provoked strong opposition from traditional leaders, western imperialists (i.e. the British and the French) and the country’s numerically small but powerful middle class.

The video below is a speech he gave to the Organisation of African Unity on the 28th July 1987. While the speech highlights his humour, his charisma and his courage, the content undoubtedly contributed to his assassination three months later.