Via Amnesty USA:
Amnesty International USA is proud to announce its support of the Warner Bros film Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. Set during the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990’s, the story addresses the issues of conflict diamonds and child soldiers.
Please show your support this opening weekend, December 6-8th, by going to see the movie. Take your friends and family with you, and help support our work on these critical human rights issues. Read more about the film and our work with the filmmakers »
You can also:
- Take action to stop blood diamonds
- Buy and wear the Blood Diamond bracelet
- Check out the buyer’s guide (PDF) before buying diamonds this holiday season
- Download our educational curriculum (PDF) that accompanies the movie
- Read our survey of diamond retailers, conducted by Amnesty members
Oddly enough, I first became aware of this issue through Kanye West’s song “Diamonds Are Forever.” While I was writing this post, Lesley told me the same thing I found on Wikipedia:
After making the song, West learned more about the plight of West African children who mine conflict diamonds and die in civil wars financed by diamonds and decided he would use the video to get this message across. He also recorded a remix of the song, featuring Jay-Z, where he talks about conflict diamonds. The remix was included on the album, whereas the original version was included as a bonus track.
The original version is predictably materialistic celebration of bling, but the remake adds a riskily prophetic denunciation of blood diamonds:
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 polo 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, ’cause
Diamonds are forever forever forever
Blood Diamond opens today. Video with the director on YouTube
We found out about all this years ago when I was shopping around for an engagement ring in Canada. We knew a Christian guy who was president of a jewelry place in downtown Vancouver, and he helped my design the ring and pick the dianomnd and all that.
ANYWAY, he talked about ‘conflict diamonds’ and ‘non-conflict diamonds.’ Canada is making a big deal about their ‘non-conflict’ diamonds that are mined in the NWT and Yukon, instead of Africa (though many are still cut in Belgium). Jessica’s is this kind. There are non-conflict diamonds to be had out there.
My adoptive sister is Sierra Leonian. As a three-year-old she got half her face ripped off thanks to the conflicts, which is how she ended up in the US for medical treatment, which is how she came to be adopted by my family. I’m glad this movie will draw more people’s attention to the role we as consumers play in creating a violent world.
we live in a sad world where someithing like drugs is so widely banded, but yet still many sellers of dimonds ship in blood dimonds. why cant we ban blood dimonds i just thought this whould be a good thing for pepole to think on. i personely ask all places i go if they have documentation on where the dimonds come frome. especily if i am going to be buying one i dont whant one that costed a child’s life to get. i think pepole should start refuseing to buy dimonds that are considered blood dimonds