Blood Diamonds by National Geographic
In a National Geographic Special Diamonds of War that premiered on U.S. television this week, reporter Dominic Cunningham-Reid went from the streets of Manhattan to the diamond exchanges of Antwerp to the war-ravaged hills of Sierra Leone, investigating the history, culture and global politics that drive the diamond industry.
Cunningham-Reid documented the consequences of a civil war fueled by the diamond black market and revealed the harsh lives of those who risk life and limb to mine the precious fragments of carbon.
National Geographic News interviewed Cunningham-Reid about the documentary.
You were born in Kenya and have covered conflicts all over the continent. How did being a native African help you cover the blood diamond story in Sierra Leone?
My life in Africa and my experiences on the continent have taught me how to deal with people.
One learns to expect the unexpected and how to deal with potentially very dangerous situations, sometimes by verbally disarming people who might have bad intentions using a unique blend of humor found in Africa.
I knew Sierra Leone at its most brutal period in history, and, despite the fact that the war is over, there is still bad blood underneath. In our travels on the diamond story, I constantly relied on my instincts. Humor is the best weapon for safe travel in Africa, and understanding what humor to employ is the key, even in places at war. There is no doubt this helped us on our journey in Sierra Leone.
Cunningham-Reid documented the consequences of a civil war fueled by the diamond black market and revealed the harsh lives of those who risk life and limb to mine the precious fragments of carbon.
National Geographic News interviewed Cunningham-Reid about the documentary.
You were born in Kenya and have covered conflicts all over the continent. How did being a native African help you cover the blood diamond story in Sierra Leone?
My life in Africa and my experiences on the continent have taught me how to deal with people.
One learns to expect the unexpected and how to deal with potentially very dangerous situations, sometimes by verbally disarming people who might have bad intentions using a unique blend of humor found in Africa.
I knew Sierra Leone at its most brutal period in history, and, despite the fact that the war is over, there is still bad blood underneath. In our travels on the diamond story, I constantly relied on my instincts. Humor is the best weapon for safe travel in Africa, and understanding what humor to employ is the key, even in places at war. There is no doubt this helped us on our journey in Sierra Leone.
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