SAHELIAN WOMEN SPEAK OUT AGAINST IMPERIALISM, PART 2

In part 2 of our video series on women in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), an anti-imperialist Pan-African confederation regrouping Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, African Stream's Inemesit Richardson travelled in the three countries to hear from outspoken, daring women, who are deeply committed to the emancipation of not just of their respective countries, but Africa as a whole.

All three states in Africa’s arid Sahel region have a profound history of women's engagement in revolutionary anti-imperialist struggle. In Mali, women such as Aoua Keïta (1912-80) played key roles during the socialist revolution of the 1960s. As shown at the beginning of the clip, Malian women organised marches in solidarity with revolutionary struggles around the world, including Vietnam's. Pan-Africanist and assassinated Burkina Faso President Thomas Sankara (1949-87) elevated Burkinabé women to significant positions within the government and other political bodies. Over in Niger, organisations such as the Association of Women of Niger (ASN), Women Committed to Safeguarding the Homeland (Les Femmes Engagées pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie), and Sentinels of the Homeland (Sentinelles de la Patrie), represent mass women's organisations within the revolutionary process today.

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) cannot advance without women. In the words of Sankara, ‘Comrades, there is no true social revolution without the liberation of women. May my eyes never see and my feet never take me to a society where half the people are held in silence.’

Part 1 was published on 19 December and can be viewed on Bluesky, Patreon, Rumble, Telegram and X.

Sources:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/34665.Thomas_Sankara

https://www.lesahel.org/declaration-de-lassociation-des-femmes-du-niger-afn-lafn-apporte-son-soutien-indefectible-au-conseil-national-pour-la-sauvegarde-de-la-patrie/

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-13127-1_19

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/123122/