
Diamonds from conflict zones are bought and sold everyday without questioning how these beautiful treasures were discovered. Many children spend their entire day suffering in dark caves trying to find small jewels only buyers find precious. Throughout the music video “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” Kanye West and his crew use the contrast of camera angles, different lighting, color schemes, and the character’s gazes within the scene to not only shed light on celebrities’ power to right the wrongs of society, but also illustrate that purchasing conflict free diamonds for a rich society’s pleasure harms small child laborers in Sierra Leone and other areas were conflict diamonds are produced.

 The beginning of this video holds lots of symbolism as Kanye tries to help his audience visualize the daily struggles the small children endure as diamond gatherers. The director uses an extreme close up on the child’s face to highlight the hardships this child laborer endures throughout his or her workday (0:39). He zooms in so the viewer can see the purity of the child’s face in order recognize the innocence of the character and narrow in on who is actually suffering: children. Through this extreme close up, the director also allows the viewer to see the complete blackness of the child’s eye, not only to show the physical strain they conquer, but also their lack of identity. By enhancing the blackness shown in the child's eyes, it figuratively shows that the people whom the children work for are not interested in the child laborer’s well being or individuality, but only the outcome of that day’s diamond collection. The black pupils are physical evidence that these children spend their entire lives in dark caves, unable to discover whom they could potentially be. The extreme close up also allows for hard work to be seen through the beads of sweat dripping down the child's face. The saddened face is completely damp making one assume that the moisture is entirely sweat; however, the darkness leaves the viewer wondering if the droplets could be tears from being extremely overworked. Additionally, the darkness surrounding them shows that grave sadness is brought upon these young children as they sit in the dark, alone, working for something that they can never hope to enjoy for themselves. Yet, despite the lack of light and optimism in the frame, the director still manages to capture hope in this frame through the child’s eyes and gaze. The child looks upwards and appears to be looking for something, indicating a longing for a better life. Also, in the child’s eye lies a tiny white sparkle, which symbolizes a glimmer of hope each child holds dear. Just like the child’s eyes in the frame, the lives of child laborers are full of darkness, but it is because of people like Kanye that they still have a small hope for change.

            After the audience empathizes with the child laborers, Kanye creates a stark contrast between the two diamond employees through the two men in the jewelry store (3:28). Through their attire and gaze they represent power, wealth, and the lack of compassion for child laborers . The men are seen wearing suits, which tells the audience that they are wealthy. Even though they appear to be the employees of the jewelry industry, they do not endure the same amount of hardships as the child laborers. Using a bug’s eye view, Kanye wants the viewers to note the gentleman on the right gazing intra-diegetically, as he appears to be reprimanding a small child. The look in his eyes is one similar to the one parents give their children in public when they want to intimidate them without having to say a word. In a similar sense, the customers do not see that the people responsible for providing a comfortable lifestyle for these men are small child laborers. In normal circumstances, adults take care of children and provide them with necessities like food, water, and shelter; however, in this case it is the opposite. The children provide diamonds so that these wealthy men can live a luxurious lifestyle. It is also interesting to notice the dark shadow coming across his face while lighter shades surround his face with the lighting in the store. This symbolizes that even though beautiful diamonds surround this man, in cases just below him, he does not see the ease of his job. In his society, his job only requires him to look down at diamonds already cut and put into jewelry for him to sell; the darkness on his face symbolizes that he doesn't see or appreciate the small children working below him to make his life easier. Even though he is still employed by diamond production, his life remains far better than the children in the caves, and relates much closer to those of the consumers.

 Kanye West uses the women’s flashy attire and the limited, yet obvious background to continue showcasing the characters wealth and their separation between themselves and the suffering that takes place in the world around them (2:58). One of the women is wearing very large earrings to represent her wealth, as well as how she chooses to spend her money. She obviously would be a customer at a jewelry store and is therefore, indirectly, the problem. The other woman wears a really bright white outfit to show how she separates herself from the rest of the world around her. White usually represents cleanliness, which shows how she differs from the child laborers who spend most of their lives stuck in dark and dirty caves. Furthermore, the artist continues to show the woman’s wealth through her large sunglasses. While this woman has to shield herself from the sun, the child in the first shot is so used to darkness that his eyes are permanently dilated. The dark sunglasses also prove that she shields herself from the conflict in the world because she wants to believe that if she does not see it, then it does not exist. One can tell this kind of mindset has been around a long time through the time period used in this frame. Rather than placing these women in the newest sports car, holding the brand new iPhone, they are being drawn by a carriage in an old town. This represents that diamonds coming from conflict zones have been an issue for a long time, but rich people like the two depicted have ignored it.

          Kanye West positions himself as a higher power to show the power celebrities hold in correcting the ignorance of wealthy consumers shown by the white men and women in the video. By using an over the shoulder shot, the videographer allows for the viewers to see that Kanye is looking at a white angel that is slightly above him (1:08). His head, pointed upwards, shows he is hopeful and the white angel represents his hope for a different future. This was shot from a bug’s eye view to compare Kanye’s power as a celebrity to God’s power as the creator of all things. His nickname, given to himself, is Yeezus meaning God. His fans know he views himself as a god, and therefore he can have a large impact on a massive audience. Through this frame he is asking for help from his fans. He wants people to realize that diamonds, the thing they give or receive in a celebration and cherish forever, come from a lot of pain and suffering. People are unaware of the misery behind the jewelry they wear every day. Kanye also calls on his celebrity friends to make a change. Now that he has shown there is a problem, he wants his viewer to recognize it and “purchase conflict free diamonds”(4:55).

Kanye West recognizes the power he holds as a celebrity and uses his music to send political messages to his large fan base. Through entertainment, he knows he can reach and impact a large audience and he uses that knowledge to defend causes he believes in. By using symbolism of color schemes, camera angles, character’s gazes, and himself as an icon in this music video, Kanye West encourages his audience to learn more about where their diamonds are coming from and to at least consider buying diamonds that do not come from a conflict zone.

While editing paper two my main concerns were in changing the wording of my thesis statement in order to convey my argument as well as changing to topic sentences to be more productive. I completely changed my thesis statement, keeping the same argument but making it so the argument was obvious and more specific. I believe that the rewriting of my thesis statement further clarified many of my arguments throughout my paper. My goal in editing topic sentences was to specify any unclear writing and further discuss my arguments through the beginning sentence of each paragraph. Through my topic sentences I aimed to connect the previous arguments with the one I was about to discuss. I also fixed a few citing errors such as where I put the time stamp and adding pictures on to my works cited page. Finally, I fixed a few spelling errors and grammar mistakes that I didn’t catch in my first rounds of editing.
