“Revolutions overturn systems. Revolutions destroy systems.”

-The Great The Honorable
Nana Malcolm X

“Revolution, the eternal struggle against all domination and imperialism.”

-The Great The Honorable Nana Thomas Sankara, 1984 UN speech

The powerful and thought-provoking speech by President Ibrahim Traoré during Burkina Faso’s National Flag Raising Day, on April 1, 2026, to marked the first anniversary of the Progressive Popular Revolution (RPP), and launching the National Days of Patriotic Engagement and Citizen Participation (JEPPC)

President Captain Ibrahim Traoré explains why revolution is not just an idea—but a necessity—and calls on citizens to “clean their minds” and rethink the future of Kmt=Abibiman=Farafina=the Black Land (Afrika)

This speech is more than words… it’s a wake-up call for all Kmtyw=Abibifuo=Farafin=Black people (Afrikans).

“Hello comrades.

It has been exactly one year, to the day, since we proclaimed the Popular and Progressive Revolution right here. This year, God willed that we celebrate this proclamation during the same days of patriotic engagement.

It’s been a year since we declared the Popular and Progressive Revolution here in Burkina Faso. Last year’s theme was about Order and Discipline. This year, the theme is more focus on local consumption, producing, buying and using goods produced here in Burkina Faso. Let us consume what we produce. We need to consume what we produce here in Burkina Faso, and in Africa we need to consume what we produce. But in any case, order and discipline still remains the foundation and strength of a Revolution. No Revolution succeeds in disorder, anarchy and indiscipline.

A Revolution is more than a necessity. It is an imperative necessity for us. No nation, especially the least developed in Africa, can claim to set itself on the path of sovereignty and development except through a Revolution. That is why I say Revolution is imperative for us. But what is a Revolution? Especially, our Popular and Progressive Revolution.

Certainly, over a year now, many people have made the effort to teach this ideology, to convey this ideology, but we have decided to produce a manifesto that will be available in the coming days, in which the broad outlines of our Revolution concerning several social area of our homeland are inscribed.

But beyond all this, a Revolutionary must have certain qualities. He is not the perfect man, but he must have certain qualities. Some of these qualities, I will focus on. I will dwell on three great qualities that a Revolutionary must have.

First, a Revolutionary is someone who LOVES his country and LOVES his people, yearning for his people to live in peace and justice. To have love for your country, you must love all those who live with you. You must through your behavior, your actions, and your language preach love to those around you, your community and most importantly to your compatriots. Beyond all that, you must love all people in the world, yearning for peace and justice for the world. Whoever speaks and promotes love around oneself, necessarily cultivates solidarity, mutual aid, compassion, and peace. These are values a Revolutionary must embody.

Second, a Revolutionary must seek knowledge. An ignorant person cannot be a Revolutionary. Someone who stagnates and who is narrow-minded cannot be a Revolutionary. A revolutionary seeks knowledge because it is through knowledge that we revolutionize our lives. A Revolutionary must seek to know history because he must know his roots; know his Ancestors, his Forefathers, his Foremothers, and where they came from; and what was the interactions between his Ancestors and the rest of the world. A Revolutionary must deeply analyze the present actions and behaviors of all the peoples in the world and of world leaders. A Revolutionary must analyze the present world well, in order to understand how he must behave in the future.

That’s why I often say, a Revolutionary is someone who seeks to understand history and who cross-references historical data with the present, to project himself into the future. A Revolutionary must seek knowledge of his identity, using sources of your roots to deeply analyze the present, without emotions. Without using sources of your roots you won’t be able to project yourself into the future, because you will never understand the world.

A Revolutionary is someone who seeks all types of knowledge. Through what we do everyday, to what we eat, what we wear, we must seek to have scientific knowledge, to reproduce and create with others who may have already sought and found, in order to incorporate it in the lives of our nation to make life easier for all citizens, our fellow Burkinabè citizens. So at all cost, a Revolutionary must seek knowledge. Whether, it be ideological, political, philosophical, whether it is scientific knowledge, a Revolutionary must not be ignorant.

If you are a Revolutionary who wears glasses, or sells glasses, you should think about manufacturing these glasses here, in Burkina Faso. If you wear imported shoes, as a Revolutionary, you must find the shoemakers and all those who sell these shoes so that we can create them here, in Burkina Faso. If you are a Revolutionary and you carry a weapon, you must, no matter the cost, seek to manufacture the weapon here. That is the spirit of a Revolutionary. This is the spirit of a Revolution.

Finally, a Revolutionary is that person who goes far and beyond for the love that he have for his people. Revolutionary is the one who remains firm in face of people and/or leaders who seek to oppress him. A Revolutionary firmly oppose the oppressor. A Revolutionary firmly oppose those who seeks to dominates and oppress others. He opposes imperialism. He opposes colonialism. He opposes slavery. A Revolutionary opposes those who do not love their country. A Revolutionary cannot love a traitor. A Revolutionary fights imperialists, colonists and traitors first and foremost through the power of ideas, and the power of arguments. And how to have the power of ideas and arguments? It is through the knowledge that he seeks and acquires before moving on to any other form of combat or situation.

Being a Revolutionary is not easy. Being a Revolutionary is not self-proclaimed. It is through your actions and behaviors that those around you who will define you as a Revolutionary. A Revolutionary does not dwell on superfluous, superficial subjects. First, a Revolutionary seeks to know and understand a subject, or a situation, before making a decision and/or speaking out on it. Knee-jerk reactions are not Revolutionary. Emotional reactions to certain subjects are not Revolutionary. It is a state of mind that must lead us to emerge out of our underdevelopment, to change our lives, to improve our living conditions, and to participate in improving the living conditions of all those who live around us, whom we claim to love.

Everywhere we must seek to make the Revolution in the image of our fighting forces, who are Revolutionaries.

Since the beginning, several armies have approached us with sending fighters to help us with the relentless fight against terrorism. But, because of our intrinsic values, we said ‘NO’: we will fight as Burkinabè, with Burkinabè fighters in Burkina Faso. By the way, I salute all the friends of Burkina Faso who kindly agreed to help us in this fight against terrorism. But, because of this Revolutionary spirit and capacity of our fighting forces, we decided to fight as Burkinabè, fight with Burkinabè fighters in Burkina Faso. And today, we are winning the bet. We are winning the battle against terrorism and the terrorists in Burkina Faso.

We are conquering the lands that were once the enemy sanctuaries for years. We are watching them flee with their families. But we told these enemies at the end of the year that the message has changed: Leave Burkina Faso or die. No forest or land will be a hiding place. Those who persist on remaining on Burkinabè soil, wanting to kill Burkinabè people, there is only one fate. We will fight them to the end. Their hiding place will be a furnace for them. We are making good progress. We are evolving well, and every single day, we advance. Everyday, we are recapturing territories that were once our enemies strongholds. We are reconquering the ground gradually, and in several zones we are at our borders and we have settled there.

Let everyone in the administration and in all spheres, be Revolutionary like our fighting forces. In your everyday lives of doing things, you must bring new ideas that must innovate and change the status quo. If you continue to do what we have been doing for decades and you expect a new result, then you are crazy, as some would say. Change your methods. Revolutionize your life. Revolutionize ways of living. Revolutionize your ways of doing things. Revolutionize your mind. Propose new ideas. That is how we will succeed in the bet of our development.

Stay away from all those who want to discourage you. Stay away from all those who do not believe in you. Stay away from all those who do not love this country. Stay away from all those who do believe in this country. Be careful and especially weary of those who are ‘slaves in the head’. They are generally traitors, demotivating, and lazy. Stay away from these individuals. Be Revolutionary. Be Revolutionary everyday. Be Revolutionary in everywhere you are and in everything you do. Innovate. Bring something new to the world. Bring something new to the well-being of your community, that you say you love, that is to say your fellow citizen. Also, participate in Revolutionary out of love, for the well-being of all people, yearning for peace and justice for all.

Like I said, a Revolutionary fight for the oppressed people. A Revolutionary will fight all those who seeks to oppress and dominate us.

Africa has been plunged into the dark destiny of democracy, imported by these imperialists and colonizers. We must be the flame that must illuminate the minds of Africans to take the path of Revolution, so that together we will breath new life into our Continent Africa. We have to see Africa shine in a world that always seek to plunge us into darkness.

Be proud to be those who will be written in the history of Burkina Faso Revolution.

I therefore wish you a very good start to the quarter, and above all, may this quarter be even more Revolutionary than the last quarter, and may the current year be more Revolutionary than the past year.

Long Live our National Fighting Forces

Long Live Burkina Faso

Homeland or Death, We Will Win.”

—Captain Ibrahim Traoré President of Burkina Faso