"I am because we are, and we are because I am."
BCD: At just 34, Captain Ibrahim Traoré became the face of defiance in West Africa. In his first few months in power, he dismantled the traditional script — one where African leaders bowed politely to old colonial masters, welcomed Western troops onto their soil, and signed away national resources in exchange for debt, aid, or survival. Traoré did the opposite. He kicked out French forces, cancelled foreign mining contracts, and announced that Burkina Faso would no longer beg. For some, it was a revolution. For others — a threat that had to be eliminated. As the African Diaspora saying goes, "I am because we are, and we are because I am."



