Symbolising enduring love and timeless beauty, the world’s most precious gemstone takes its name from the Greek ‘adámas’ which means ‘unbreakable’. For centuries, humans have been in awe of this composition of Earthly minerals that begins its hardy rise to the Earth’s surface from 140km below the planet’s exterior.

In terms of their availability, diamonds are not particularly rare and are, in fact, one of the most common precious stones around. A diamond’s value (as with the value of all commodities) stems from our perception of them. Until the 15th century, only kings were seen as fit to wear diamonds because they were thought to signify strength and courage while also making the wearer invincible.

Flash forward a few hundred years to a time when diamonds were still thought to be extremely rare and formed through the transformation of coal – when they were still only being mined in India and Brazil – and just before they were discovered in Kimberly; this is when Africa’s crucial role in our world’s diamond history became apparent.

Today, Africa is thought to have produced over half of all the world’s diamonds; but even this number doesn’t compare to the amount of human diamonds created on our continent.

Those from the Land of the Cullinan Can

On January the 25th, 1905, Frederick Wells was 18-feet beneath the Earth’s surface when his eye caught a flash of sharp light winking out of the wall at him. A 3,106-carat diamond was discovered and christened the ‘Cullinan’, and to this day it remains the largest ever found. Most of this piece of our land was taken by the Commonwealth and now resides in the Queen’s crown jewels.

We need to begin reclaiming the rewards of a land so rich in minerals and humanity: we’ve had enough of the stick, it’s time to embrace the carats. Our soil and what is found beneath it – gold, diamond, platinum, manganese-ore, and coal – is a muddy metaphor for the people that stand above the sand, and on whose backs the ever-precious stones have been brought to light.

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Study On, You Dazzling Diamond

Historically, the entire continent of Africa has been exploited; this has mainly occurred through the actions of colonialists looking to purge the land and its people of their resources and traditions. We are already more empowered than ever before in the year of 2022, but we still have a long walk to freedom – and freedom of the mind comes before all else.

We are free to create our own vision of the future: when we see the value in ourselves and others, we can then begin working towards a shared legacy. We are free to aspire – to shine as brightly as we like and be the living, breathing diamonds of this beautiful African land.  

This aspiration needs to be backed by knowledge; knowledge that can be gathered by doing a short, course through a distance learning institution like Oxbridge Academy.

You Don’t Have to Remain a Diamond in the Rough:
Register to Study with Us Today to Shine on for Yourself and the Greater Aspirations of Africa.