Behind Enemy Lines

There seems to be a war of branding being fought over diamonds. The West has no problem parroting the "blood diamond" mantra while simultaneously fueling the demand for the stones, while African countries continue to supply them. Neither side is making systematic changes, both exploit the market: some pull an income from films such as Blood Diamond and offer alternative companies that carry "certified stones;" at the same times, African states are calming consumer's consciences and promising that "diamonds are for development." The film has exposed this issue to millions of people in an authentic way, but I think more can be done to provoke the status quo. Imagine if they put just a few resources at the end of the movie, such as an organization like War Child that works with former child soldiers, a union, or a transparent/ethical company!

With just the basics about blood diamonds and the Kimberly process, I went with my history class to tour the Kimberly mine in South Africa. I was masquerading as a tourist, but fully aware I was behind enemy lines. The mine has successfully transformed their brutal history into a modern tourist destination; it boasts a sleek building with shops, a movie theater and a platform to view the "Big Hole." Only in one underground corner display, did the panel echo the truth - it described the living conditions of the miners, the infamous hostels, as "concentration camps." The tour guide and museum completely sanitized the history of the mine, and are consequently rewriting history.

I used to trust the Kimberly Process. I placed confidence in the fact that stones were legally certified by meeting international criteria. However, after learning of the systemic oppression that literally forced the men to migrate in order to sell their labor, I will no longer admire or plan to ever purchase a stone. They are not directly funding a war, but they fuel a version of low intensity conflict.

At the end, I was only tempted to purchase a postcard in order to write home, "Greetings from the Empire!"


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I am currently traveling in rural Botswana with extremely limited internet access, so please check back for the pictures that belong to this post.

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The Big Hole



PR



"ambition, enterprise and vision"



Eye of the Storm



Infamous Board Room



From the museum itself, "when they came to the Diamond Fields, most were unaware that this time living conditions would resemble that of a concentration camp."

Chemical Classrooms

Dear teacher:
I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness: gas chambers built by learned engineers. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates. So, I am suspicious of education.

My request is:
Help your students to become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.

- Author unknown; in Haim Ginnot, Teacher and Child

How ironic it is that the ninth most Conservative university in the country has fostered my complete politicization. I left the manicured classrooms of my university so I could feel the truth. I am on the battleground of ideas: the slums, diamond mines, churches, NGOs, and homes of where pedagogy becomes reality. This type of experiential learning has weight, facts now have "heart and bones."

My classroom no longer allows neutrality. A recent visit to Durban, South Africa champions this experiential pedagogy. We spent one morning in February learning about ethics and environmental justice in a chemical classroom. South Durban is a product of the Group Areas Act, neighborhoods gerrymandered by the apartheid regime of South Africa. Indians/"coloureds" and blacks were legally moved to the dirtiest neighborhoods. Their homes, schools and streets are now saturated with deadly chemicals. The same chemicals countries in the North have not only outlawed, but made movies about, are leaked into the community. In the wake of the apartheid state, the Rainbow Nation must now fight environmental racism. The poor and oppressed are now left to resist the multinational corporations. Those with the least agency - the smallest amount of money, education and mobility - are only used for one thing, their labor. Their bodies are exploited. For example, if you live in south Durban, the risk of cancer is increased by 250%. As our virtual classroom followed the route of the "toxic tour," we learned that students in a school crammed between paper mills and chemical storage facilities suffer a 52% asthma rate!


After bearing witness to South Durban, it would be a crime to leave as simply more human. I hope we all follow the advice of Des, our guide, and "stand up and be counted."

Why learn in a vacuum when we don't live in one?

our "Toxic Tour" classroom

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To offer your support to those fighting in Durban, start by using the resources available through the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance.

Petitions are available here, by issue