Headlines and Perspectives

Congratulations President Obama! My hope is that we can expand our awareness of the conditions our brothers and sisters face around the world.

The very fact that you are reading this Blog means that, unlike many Americans, you have read about our company Ruff&Cut—a jewelry company that aims to make the world a better and safer place by contributing 10% of gross sales to charities in the most impoverished countries. The fact that you read about it means you “read.” You are probably more informed about current world events than 99% of the world’s population, and you may actually even care about all global citizens. Potentially, you may believe that it’s possible to alleviate poverty through activist consumerism. Yes, YOU can make a difference right here, right now, and it’s so simple. Whenever you buy something, whether it’s coffee, or chocolate, or jewelry, you have the power to do good by making an informed choice. That’s our mission at Ruff&Cut – to offer you an ethical, socially responsible, environmentally sound option when you purchase jewelry.

And what empowers us to make good decisions? One thing: information.

Like you, I’m keenly interested in what’s going on in the world around me, and am constantly hunting through the various news media for information. Here is what’s been bothering me lately: There’s something missing. We’re citizens of the world, right? But what’s leading the news in the US media? Here are a few examples of recent headlines:

US Taxpayers Bail Out Wall Street’s Bad Gamble.

Wall Street Legend Bernie Madoff Admits to $50 Billion Ponzi Scheme.

In Just Eight Years, White House Takes U.S. Taxpayers from a $400 Billion Surplus to a $1.2 Trillion Deficit.

It’s not that these stories aren’t important, just that there’s more going on in the world than America’s current financial woes. To be fair, there are international news stories to be found, and some of the terrible things that happen in the wider world do get coverage:

President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Says Iran is Ready to Rule the World, and that “A World without America and Israel is both possible and feasible.”

Presidential Candidate in Pakistan Murdered.

Marriot Hotel Bombed in Capital of Pakistan, killing dozens in the most violent act of terrorism ever in the capital city.

Venezuela and Russia Agree to Naval Training Operations in the Caribbean.

All well and good, but what’s missing? The headlines that trouble me most are not on the front page, but tucked away on pages 25, 26, 27. What do these stories have in common?

The President of South Africa States AIDS is Not a Virus—and he has led the resistance against implementing antiviral treatment, stating that AIDS is a defamatory plot against Africans and a con job by drug companies.

Oil Terrorism in Nigeria—Niger Delta Rebels Hit Another Pipeline. The Niger Delta, a labyrinth of rivers and creeks on Africa’s southern coast, is the poorest region of Nigeria despite earning billions of dollars of oil revenue every year for the last 30 years.

The story that has concerned me the most in recent weeks is the one that follows. Do you know where Guinea is? Guinea is Sierra Leone’s neighbor to the north. This news story has failed to impinge on more than a few of even the most internationally informed of us:

Guinea Junta Appoints Government
Military leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara seized power in Guinea after former President Lansana Conte’s death last month. Guinea’s military leaders have named a government made up of military officers and technocrats three weeks after they seized power.
No representatives from political parties have been appointed, but former banker Mahmoud Thiam has been put in charge of the mines sector.
The junta has promised to stand down and hold elections this year, according to a senior French official. They initially said they would hold elections in 2010.
Guinea has been suspended from both the African Union and the West African regional bloc Ecowas until it holds elections.

What’s so significant about this? More than a third of the world’s bauxite reserves are in Guinea, making it the second-largest producer internationally. It also has large reserves of gold, diamonds, iron, and nickel. Haven’t we seen over and over again in Africa what happens to innocent people when bad people control resources like diamonds and gold?

Here’s the deal: Africa rarely gets news headlines, yet one-sixth of the world’s population lives on the African continent. Africa is the last bastion of the world’s underdeveloped natural resources, yet it is home to some of the most impoverished, neglected, and politically unstable countries on the planet. One of my favorite photos is from NASA and is called The World at Night. What do you notice about Africa?


It’s time Africa was brought front and center. I’d like to see due attention given to our brothers and sisters in that wonderful continent. Here’s one example of something amazing that happened in Africa that got barely any international coverage. How about this for a leading story:

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the Must-See Movie of the Year
Abigail Disney is making an Academy Award run in the category of best documentary with her movie on Liberia’s war and the democratic election of Ellen Johnson-Shirleaf—the first woman ever elected to lead an African nation. This amazing movie chronicles how Christian and Muslim women came together to end the war by means of peaceful demonstration, including calling for a sex strike until their men joined in the effort to end the violence.

Two things strike me most acutely about the movie: first, these events took place during the last few years, yet few people in the West are even vaguely aware of events in West Africa. Second, the movie is being screened and translated in places like the Sudan where, after the screening, a similar movement coordinating women immediately began to replicate the Liberian women’s efforts in the hope of ending the war and violence in Darfur.

My hope with Ruff&Cut is that I can introduce YOU to the concept of activist consumerism and that together, through spreading the word about our company and the sales of our jewelry, we can in fact make the world a better and safer place. You have the power to change the world. Spread the word!


Highest Regards,

Wade