No One’s Best Friend
A Canadian expert examines the devastation diamonds have wrought in four African countries April 2011
Throughout the 2000s, the issue of blood, or conflict, diamonds gained manifold and unique expressions in western pop culture. In 2005, Kanye West recorded the song “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” which won a Grammy award. The accompanying video attempted to depict the working conditions in Sierra Leone’s diamond fields and ended by urging viewers to “please purchase conflict free diamonds.” The next year experienced the release of the movie Blood Diamond…