HannahRicketts

=Sierra Leone =

 " Little is known of Sierra Leone, and how it connects to the diamonds we own." - Kanye West  In Sierra Leone, a young diamond miner holds in his palm what he believes is a diamond at a mining pit.

The first diamond to be found in Sierra Leone was in the late 1930s. Since then mass mayhem has erupted in this small west African country over these Diamonds which are known to be the best quality diamonds in the industry. Diamonds from Sierra Leone are often refer to as "Blood Diamonds" because of the blood shed over these materialistic items. In 1968 Siaka Steven became prime minister of Sierra Leone, seeing that the diamonds were lucrative he made a large profit out of illegal diamond mining.

media type="youtube" key="D1TRzTTQ33U" height="260" width="274"  In 1991 Sierra Leone was launched into more conflict when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) made assaults against the government. A government military was set up but proved to be inadequate to fight off the RUF. The RUF being the predators and the cultural group of Sierra Leone being the prey they took them as slaves and made them mine for diamonds against there own will. Anybody who spoke up against the RUF or did not do as they were told was exterminated and often had limbs chopped off.  This relates to the pyramid of hate under the category of violence because many endured much suffering over these diamonds. The Sierra Leone Diamond conflict can also fall under the category of prejudice and bigotry because people were de-humanized and chopped up like cattle. The Sierra Leone Diamond conflict can relate back to Elie Wiesel's experience because he too was taken and enslaved against his own will. Also many did not believe that the holocaust was going on and/or chose to ignore it. Many across the world do not know where there diamonds are coming from or just dont care and only care about what the diamond superficially represents. Citations: Kontos, Yannis. "Measuring a Diamonds True Price." __Sierra Leone__ (2006) 1. 2 Nov 2008 .

"sierra leone conflict diamonds." __Sierra Leone__ (2007) 1. 2 Nov 2008 .