Akon's bling?!
Hip hop and diamonds & gold have a long and complex relationship.
I happen to be old enough to remember the days when Public Enemy (successfully?) told folks to take off the gold ropes (and put on African medallions). P.E. identified gold and the mining of such resources linked to African oppression.
Today diamonds are on the top of hip hop accessories and they are unquestionably linked to horrors and oppressions in Africa.
Well, Akon now actually fuckin' owns a diamond mine in South Africa!!!!
It gets better...
"I don't even believe in conflict diamonds," Akon, who is originally from Senegal, announces. "That's just a movie. Think about it. Ain't nobody thought about nothing about no conflict diamonds until the movie came out.
"It's no different from The Blair Witch Project. Everybody thought that was real."
wow!
It is sad to even think he is serious.
_____
It is interesting how often "conflict diamonds" pops up as a concept in the diamond-laden world of hip hop. As if to ease the minds of those covered in "ice" that they are somehow removed from any horror connected to their jewelry if they don't buy diamonds labeled as "conflict diamonds."
Trust me, when a diamond, which is not a relatively rare resource, is mined by DeBeers (or anyone else) the amount paid to the miners (often virtual slaves) is so lop-sided compared to the diamonds market value, it blows anyone's mind.
So all diamonds are conflict diamonds because all diamonds fund war.
I happen to be old enough to remember the days when Public Enemy (successfully?) told folks to take off the gold ropes (and put on African medallions). P.E. identified gold and the mining of such resources linked to African oppression.
Today diamonds are on the top of hip hop accessories and they are unquestionably linked to horrors and oppressions in Africa.
Well, Akon now actually fuckin' owns a diamond mine in South Africa!!!!
It gets better...
"I don't even believe in conflict diamonds," Akon, who is originally from Senegal, announces. "That's just a movie. Think about it. Ain't nobody thought about nothing about no conflict diamonds until the movie came out.
"It's no different from The Blair Witch Project. Everybody thought that was real."
wow!
It is sad to even think he is serious.
_____
It is interesting how often "conflict diamonds" pops up as a concept in the diamond-laden world of hip hop. As if to ease the minds of those covered in "ice" that they are somehow removed from any horror connected to their jewelry if they don't buy diamonds labeled as "conflict diamonds."
Trust me, when a diamond, which is not a relatively rare resource, is mined by DeBeers (or anyone else) the amount paid to the miners (often virtual slaves) is so lop-sided compared to the diamonds market value, it blows anyone's mind.
So all diamonds are conflict diamonds because all diamonds fund war.
posted by shane at 7:11 PM
4 Comments:
Did you ever think that maybe them owning said diamonds symbolizes their progress? You just never get deep enough man. Either way, not your problem.
Sure it symbolizes "their" progress. Just as much as it symbolizes the oppression and enslavement of poor Africans.
So, is the choice individual accomplishment over social liberation?
Akon owning "said diamonds" doesn't symbolize anything except the notion that individual Black Americans can buy into the American nightmare... but only at the expense of "their" solidarity with Africans.
So, if individual success at the expense of others IS your answer, then, yes, it isn't "my" problem.
P.S.
I want to also note that obviously part of the link between hip hop and diamonds is poor peoples' desire to flaunt their wealth/social status in the most immediate and obvious manners.
I tried to hint at this with my 1st sentence of the entry.
I don't even blame people who do this. We are playing a game set in place long before we came along.
However, I did take issue in my response with anonymous's notion that by mimicking the actions of the oppressor, they were somehow symbolizing true progress.
i take issue with the fact that everyone who writes a critical comment on this page is anonymous.
bollocks. man up people!
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