Throw Up Your Diamonds Like You’re Bulimic

About five years ago I saw a documentary on diamond mines in Africa that linked terrorist to the people running these mines. They also used children as slaves to work in the mines for twelve hours plus a day. I was so appalled at the actions I decided to not to wear any diamonds, which wasn’t much as I had never wore a diamond before. So to take it a step forward I decided not to wear any type of jewelry including necklaces or watches. For timekeeping purposes I do keep a cheap athletic watch in my pocket. The only “glamour” item I wear these days is my LiveStrong bracelet. And then whenever I get asked why I don’t wear anything, as I do get asked about the watch frequently, I then explain the how the majority of diamonds sold in the US are Blood Diamonds and that money goes to fund terrorist. I typically get a response of indifference as we currently live in the bling-bling era. And forget trying to explain the actions to the fairer sex whose main goal in life, starting at a young age, is getting that rock from Prince Charming.

I had to laugh a couple years back when the government released advertisements on TV that said if you smoke marijuana you are supporting terrorist as the majority of pot consumed in the US is grown in grown in Kentucky. Now if you are taking about opiates, then yes that was the biggest export in Afghanistan and was a money maker for the Taliban. Cocaine grown in Columbia would be another good example. But smoking pot doesn’t help terrorist except to make our population dumber and thus easier to attack. I remember at the time it would have been a much better message if the ad would have said “People who by diamonds support terrorists.”

With the recent publicity surround Africa brought on by Live 8, there was a lot of talk about ending poverty, debt relief, and free trade, but there was barely a whisper of Blood Diamonds. The lone voice who brought up the discussion was Kanye West with his performance of Diamonds from Sierra Leone. While the song itself doesn’t touch on the subject aside from the title, the video (check it out here) opens with the narration of a working in a diamond mind explaining the how the owners of the mines exploited him and other. The rest of the video depicts children of the mines “haunting” people who have purchased Blood Diamonds including West himself. For the Diamonds From Sierra Leone Remix (featuring Jay-Z), West does take on the issue. Here is his verse from the remix:

Good Morning, this ain't Vietnam still
People lose hands, legs, arms for real
Little was known of Sierra Leone
And how it connect to the diamonds we own
When I speak of Diamonds in this song
I ain't talkin bout the ones that be glown
I'm talkin bout Rocafella, my home, my chain
These ain't conflict diamonds,is they Jacob? don't lie to me mayne
See, a part of me sayin' keep shinin',
How? when I know of the blood diamonds
Though it's thousands of miles away
Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today
Over here, its a drug trade, we die from drugs
Over there, they die from what we buy from drugs
The diamonds, the chains, the bracelets, the charmses
I thought my Jesus Piece was so harmless
'til I seen a picture of a shorty armless
And here's the conflict
It's in a black person's soul to rock that gold
Spend ya whole life tryna get that ice
On a polar rugby it look so nice
How could somethin' so wrong make me feel so right, right?
'fore I beat myself up like Ike
You could still throw ya Rocafella diamond tonight

Now I don’t expect for you to take the issue to the extreme like I have, all I ask is that you make sure the diamonds that you do purchase come from legit businesses that adhere to child labor laws and are in no way associated with terrorist organizations. For more information on Blood Diamonds, chack out the Amnesty International website on the subject.