The Pioneers of the Revolution () was a youth organisation in Burkina Faso, modelled along the pattern of the

pioneer movement A pioneer movement is an organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically join the Young Communist League ...

s typically operated by

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

parties, such as the contemporary

Pioneers of Enver The Pioneers of Enver ( sq, Pionierët e Enverit, literally The Pioneers of Enver Hoxha) was a pioneer movement functioning in Albania during its communist Albania, communist period. Formed as Debatik, an acronym for United Boys of Communist Ideas ...

, José Martí Pioneer Organisation and Agostinho Neto Pioneer Organisation. The Pioneers of the Revolution organised children of all ages. Much like many other young pioneer movements, such as the

Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization The Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization ( rus, Всесоюзная пионерская организация имени В. И. Ленина, r=Vsesoyuznaya pionerskaya organizatsiya imeni V. I. Lenina, t=The All-Union Pioneer Organi ...

and the

Young Pioneers of China The Young Pioneers of China (), often shortened to the Young Pioneers (), is a mass youth organization for children aged six to fourteen in the People's Republic of China. The Young Pioneers of China is run by the Communist Youth League, an o ...

, the most distinct sign of the Pioneers were their red scarves, joined by rudimentary uniforms and yellow berets. The movement was founded by Captain

Thomas Sankara Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist–Leninist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist, who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his deposition a ...

, a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

and

pan-Africanist Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

revolutionary who came to power in what was then the

Republic of Upper Volta The Republic of Upper Volta (french: République de Haute-Volta) was a landlocked West African country established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Before becoming autonomous, it had been part of the ...

after a popularly-supported coup in 1983. Sankara undertook what he called the "Democratic and Popular Revolution" (french: Révolution démocratique et populaire, link=no), a radical transformation of society. Many of the measures taken by Sankara and his Council of Popular Salvation junta were concerned with children – for example,

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

and

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

s were banned, a nationwide literacy campaign was held, and approximately 2.5 million children were vaccinated against

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

and

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

. Other entities created by Sankara's government included the

Committees for the Defense of the Revolution Committees for the Defense of the Revolution ( es, Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, links=no), or CDR, are a network of neighborhood committees across Cuba. The organizations, described as the "eyes and ears of the Revolution," exist to h ...

, which many Pioneers belonged to as well, and the Popular Revolutionary Tribunals. Much like the Committees and the Tribunals, the Pioneers of the Revolution were abolished after Thomas Sankara was killed in 1987 by a military coup led by his former friend and colleague

Blaise Compaoré Blaise Compaoré (born 3 February 1951)''Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders'' (2003), page 76–77.

, who would remain in power until his own overthrow in the 2014 Burkinabé uprising. One of the primary opposition groups against Compaoré's government was the Le Balai Citoyen. Its leader, the musician Sams’K Le Jah, stated in a 2014 interview that he received his political education as a teenager in Sankara's pioneer youth movement.

References

{{Authority control Communism in Burkina Faso Youth organizations established in the 1980s Organizations disestablished in 1987 Pioneer movement Sankarism Youth organisations based in Burkina Faso

See also

References