Fair warning: this is sensitive subject matter covering slavery, child labor, war & European / American negligence. 

    Since at least the 4th century, people have been wearing diamonds. Even scientifically, diamonds are intriguing - diamonds are the hardest minerals on Earth, only potentially surpassed by lonsadaleite (which only comes from meteorites) - and as such have seen widespread industrial use alongside their more symbolic, colonialist uses. 

   Their inception is far from seamless, though - and much controversy has spawned over their more capitalistic role in Africa. Especially as Africa gained independence throughout the 20th century - the pursuit of diamonds helped spur our slavery problem. More evidently:

There are more slaves today than at any other point in history. At least 50 million people are enslaved right now - that's 4 times the amount (~12.5 million) which were enslaved during the American slave trade times.

   A global perspective is important in our echo-chambered lives, and as such, this exploration into one of Africa's foremost issues in recent years may be helpful in developing a more global view of the world.

   Disclaimer: I took a world issues class and did a whole project on this - but as per this random stuff I've learned series, this will gloss over material to better serve you, the reader, with a working knowledge of the subject. Take it with a grain of salt - and enjoy reading.   

   African Freedom (Or not...) 

    Post-colonial Africa was vulnerable, and although their resources were rich, their support and people weren't. This sets the stage for wars and mass dysfunction - poverty, cultural extinction brought on via the slave trade, lack of education, infrastructure, and post-colonial leadership struggles all allowed for Africa's descent into horror. 

   War's Role in Blood Diamonds   

 See, without proper jobs or options, war is the economy - war is a job - not picked by the individual, more by circumstance than anything. A typical African doesn't have the money to fly away to a rich nation like ours - you go to a neighboring country (likely equally as horrible in quality of life) and die, or stay in your country and die or be enslaved. The only outlet away from death is to become that monster - and hopefully once the war ends, you're alive. This self-fulfilling cycle is evident in much of Africa's history and modern state - which is why proper intervention and aid is essential to ever stopping it. Anyway - here's where blood diamonds come in. 

   Blood Diamonds Themselves (finally...)

    Sierra Leone is the easiest and most publicized example of blood diamonds at work - and of a war economy like i spoke of. Neighboring Liberia was in a huge civil war, and that war spilled over into Sierra Leone's borders. Horrific things happened. Gang-rapes, dismemberment of families - child soldiers. Whole entourage. Sierra Leone has a rich concentration of alluvial diamonds - meaning diamonds which can be found in rivers, lakes, or other eroded geological formations. Naturally - a war needs money to go on, and the easiest way for the R.U.F. to fund their war was enslave children, women, and families to dig diamonds for them. Those diamonds need to go somewhere though - which is where the most controversial part comes in.

  Slave Labor + De Beers LTD = European Jewelry

  Slave-mined rough diamonds trickled their way from Sierra Leone, the DRC, and other war-torn nations down to South Africa's De Beers Consolidated LTD. A global enterprise which still exists today - with nearly half of the worlds' diamond business in their hands. Through De Beers, diamonds made their way all the way north to Antwerp, Belgium - a key diamond trade area, where jewelry is made and diamonds are cut. Then they made their way onto wedding rings, necklaces - American and European hands. The last breath of someone, somewhere - a sick child's enslavement, or a mother's murder - all for a sparkly mineral on your finger. 

    Clearly, once the European and American populace learned of this, outrage and intervention happened - legislature (Kimberley process, De Beers' many legal battles) attempted to stop the blood diamond business. However, even 2 decades' after the controversy, slavery and blood diamonds are still an issue - and De Beers LTD is still a huge monopoly, despite paying $315 million dollars in legal fees and fines. 

    It's evil that a corporation can get away with that even in the modern day - especially in a time in history with the most slaves ever (slave-trade times it was 12.5 million slaves or so, now it's at least 50 million globally). It's outrageous to say the least.

    Conclusion

   This history still continues today - although not as global in scope, many Sierra Leone, Zimbabwean and DRC children still dig diamonds or other minerals for our human usage. If you're interested in the modern repetition of the blood diamond issue - I'd encourage you to look into the most commonly exploited minerals from Africa as of right now: Cobalt, Tungsten, Tantalum, Titanium and Gold. Hope you all enjoyed!