July 27, 2005 @ 12:01 pm

Did Kanye Do His Homework?

Alyssa Rashbaum

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Kanye West’s single “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” and its Hype Williams-directed video highlighting the diamond trade industry in Africa is winning over fans, but there is at least one group who feels the Late Registration rapper is not qualified to give a lesson on the subject. “He didn’t do his homework,” said Cecilia Gardner of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, a not-for-profit trade association working to maintain the jewelry industry's highest ethical standards. “He’s only telling half the story and the story he’s telling is actually historical.” The History: In the remix of West’s “Diamonds” single, which samples the Shirley Bassey classic “Diamonds Are Forever,” the rapper, educated on the subject by fellow rapper Q-Tip, flows freely on the brutal consequences of the conflict diamond trade in countries like Sierra Leone. In the black-and-white video that resembles a De Beers commercial gone sour, a diamond engagement ring bleeds up the arm of a young woman. West traipses the streets of Prague to the tune of the original version of “Diamonds,” as young, wide-eyed African children identified as the children of the blood diamond trade, pop up as reminders of why diamond buyers should be aware of the origin of their jewels. For years, rebel movements have used finances from the sales of rough diamonds to finance their wars against legitimate governments, devastating countries like the diamond-rich Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Civilians suffered at the hands of these rebels who hacked off their limbs in pursuit of more diamonds to fund further attacks. The Debate: “We are pleased that Mr. West wants to educate the hip-hop community and our youth at large,” said Wende Gozan, spokesperson for Amnesty International USA, who said her organization (which works to protect human rights worldwide) is glad that West is alerting listeners to this issue. In the “Diamonds” remix, West addresses the consequences of the conflict diamond trade: “See, a part of me’s sayin’, keep shinin’ / How, when I know what a blood diamond is? / Though it’s thousands of miles away / Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today / Over here it’s the drug trade, we die from drugs. Over there, they die from what we buy from drugs. / The Diamonds. The chains, the bracelets, the charms / 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 the black person’s soul, to rock that gold. Spend your whole life tryin’ to get that ice / On a polo rugby you look so nice, how could something so wrong make me feel so right.” For Gardner, though, the conflict is actually the fact that Kanye makes no mention of the improvements that have been made since the 1990s to ensure that diamond retailers are not purchasing conflict diamonds. “The war was resolved politically between the parties involved,” Gardner said. "Now it's almost as if [Kanye] were to do a song about events back in the ‘60s claiming that the lynching in the ‘60s were happening now without any comment about, oh, let’s say the Civil Rights movement and how progress has been made since those days.” In May 2000, Southern African diamond-producing states met in Kimberly, South Africa to develop a method for regulating the conflict diamond trade and to find a way to ensure consumers that the diamonds they are buying have not contributed to violence in their countries of origin. The Kimberly Process was adopted in December 2000, and to date 68 countries participate - excluding the Republic of Congo which was kicked out in July 2004 for being unable to account for the origin of many of their rough diamonds. According to Gardner, any country that participates in either exporting or importing rough diamonds must participate in the Kimberly Process. Garner insists, however, that she is not suggesting Sierra Leone is problem-free. “Are people’s limbs being hacked off because they are mining diamonds,” asked Gardner. “No, that is gone, finished, not happening anymore… Do they have violence in some of their communities? Yes, so do we. But the activity that this rapper is referring to in this song is long since finished and the government itself of Sierra Leone has done wonders working with the industry in Sierra Leone to make sure that their very valuable natural resources result in benefits to their population.” Gozan said that though the Kimberly Process has certainly helped the situation in Africa, it should not be viewed as a solution. “The fact is that neither the Kimberly Process, the governments of diamond-producing countries nor the international diamond industry can say definitively that conflict diamonds have been eliminated,” Gozan explained. “The Kimberly Process needs to standardize its statistics and enforce compliance among its member countries.” Gozan also expressed regret that the diamond industry has spoken out against West’s lyrics. “The diamond industry has to establish warranties that will ensure consumers are buying clean diamonds,” she said. “Given this, it is a shame that the diamond industry is denouncing a genuine effort to educate the public.” Neither Kanye West nor Q-Tip could be reached for comment by press time. In a statement released by West just before his video made its television debut, the rapper said, “When I first played the song for Q-Tip, he brought up the blood-diamonds. He started informing me. The very first thing I did was change the title of the song. From that point on, I wanted to do whatever I could to learn more and educate people about the problem. We came with the concept for the video and, of course, I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to rap on the subject.” West expresses his concern for the origin of his own diamonds in “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” when he pleads with jeweler to the stars, Jacob Arabo: “These ain’t conflict diamonds, is they Jacob? / Don’t lie to me man.” “The volume of conflict diamonds in circulation is believed to have dropped below 1 percent if any at all,” said Carson Glover of the Diamond Information Center, “and it is virtually impossible for unscrupulous dealers to sell non-credited rough diamonds.” Gardner echoed Glover, and noted that West’s single neglects the efforts that groups like the Jewelers Vigilance Committee and the countries involved in the Kimberly Process, have put forth to stop the violence. “Peace is reigning in no small measure in Sierra Leone right now,” said Gardner, “because of the efforts of the government to regularize their diamond industry. And I guess his song is simply ignoring all of the efforts of the native populations of Sierra Leone and all the other places like Angola to fix what’s going on.” Again, Gozan disagrees. Despite the amount of time and effort being poured into the Kimberly Process, she says, selling diamonds has become no less of an appealing option to the rebels. “The simple truth,” Gozan pointed out, “is that the diamonds remain an attractive financial option for armed groups that take control of civilian lives, at times through violent means. Civil war may have waned in Sierra Leone, but violence is still common in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has an exploitable diamond trade.” If nothing else, West’s decision to focus on the conflict diamond trade has at least proved hip hop’s ability to heighten awareness about political and social issues. Whether you applaud Kanye’s decision to focus his music on human rights issues, or scoff at his lack of knowledge on the subject, the controversy surrounding the subject matter should send you running to do your own research on the topic. CLICK HERE to tell us what you think about Kanye’s “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.”

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