http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Z4K_WWeBA When Kanye West made his cut "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", I was impressed at the political awareness that he and Jay-Z demonstrated, but not really surprised.
I knew from years ago about the DeBeers diamond mines and of course the exploitation.
The war in Sierra Leone, and Angola, was far away, and I knew that Cuban troops were there . What I didn't know was which side was the enemy.
A Rebel group called the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) controlled the rich mining digs in Sierra Leone. Fighting against Angola they used terror maneuvers in a horrid orderly way looting villages and forcing men, women and children to line up against a wall and cutting their hands, limbs and legs throwing it in bag and driving away.
They forced the young men to join their armies. As young as 8-years of age. The world took notice of these atrocities when a group formed called themselves "Global Witness" and started a movement called "Fatal Transactions" to alert everyone about the bloody business of the diamond trade.
Involved in this diamond slavery were merchants from Israel, India, Russia, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia to the Ekati mines of Canada. There was a time when the only source in the world that mined diamonds was in India. Their elaborate temples bequeathed diamonds as offerings to their gods. In Koh-i-Noor was the original home of the famous Hope diamond and other famous ones that entail murder, conquest, lust and greed.
The myth of the love and devotion that diamonds elicit, goes back to those Indian offerings to the gods. Eventually becoming the symbol of a declaration of love and commitment--the "engagement ring." We hope that the diamond we wear on our left finger is not from the blood of a child that could be our own.
Diamonds aren't forever after all. They come and go, and the once powerful seat of a diamond life..has come full circle and India once again exports 800 million tiny gems per year.
Diamonds have always been mysterious, secretive, glamorous and dangerous. Pulled from the ground by the labor of our brothers and sisters, toiling all day long for pennies a day, just like the cotton slave trade in America.
In Diamond Bay, Nambia the erosion of the earth uncovered,thousands of bones of those who lived and died, and no one knows their name.
Pix above is a scientific mathematical equation that demonstrates the facets that are perfectly symmetrical ,thus their beauty.
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Monday, October 27th 2008 at 11:27PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
