Print
Email
ShareModest guy that he is, Kanye West wondered why one of his recent single “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” didn’t tear up the charts. “Gold Digger” soon would though and it’s interesting that the one that celebrated excess got snubbed while the one that slapped on greed and gaudiness was embraced (maybe also because it was a catchier song). But behind the bling itself, the real problem is specifically how it’s originally gotten. As it turns out, a lot of it is ‘conflict diamonds,’ which means that the rocks are used to fuel bloody conflicts going in SL.
One person trying to expose this problem is Kareem Edouard with his film Bling: Consequences and Repercussions. For now, it’s a short feature narrated by Chuck D, graphically showing people being slaughtered and dismembered, mainly because of a civil war fuelled by greed over diamonds. Definitely food for thought, especially the next time you admire your favorite rapper or actor or sports star decked out in finery.
