Sierra Leone
In 1991 the West African country of Sierra Leone saw the start of a more than a decade long civil war which left 50,000 people dead and many more affected emotionally and physically (the rebels’ atrocities included hacking off the hands of their victims). It took a huge number of foreign troops to disarm the thousands of rebels and militia fighters. The war ended in 2002 with the official withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping force on 31 st of December 2005. A month before, on 26 November, more than 15,000 people attended the ‘War Don Don, Peace Don Kam’ music festival to celebrate the peace. The festival bill included the cream of Sierra Leonean stars.
But Sierra Leone’s problems are not over: there is poverty, tribal rivalry and official corruption. Although Sierra Leone is rich in diamonds, the trade in illicit diamonds was particularly rife during the war as it partly funded the conflict with weapons being bought from the foreign diamond trade.
On Kanye West’s latest album, one of the tracks shows that he is one of the most diverse rappers, in terms of music and lyrical content. The single ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’ is about the so-called ‘blood diamonds’.
You can find out more about ‘blood diamonds’ or ‘conflict diamonds’ on the Amnesty Interanational website , on the UN website and the Global Policy Forum. The documentary ‘Bling: Consequences and Repercussions’ by Kareem Edouard also tackles the issues behind hip-hop’s obsession with diamonds and the illegal trade in countries like Sierra Leone. Narrated by hip-hop legend Chuck D of Public Enemy, the 10 minute film is not for the faint-hearted as it contains contains graphic scenes of violence:www.wghfilms.com
Entries (RSS)