It Wasn't About the Diamonds

This post originally appeared on Shrink Rap.

I was listening to my Nightline podcast this morning and I heard an interview with Naomi Campbell, the celebrity model called to testify in Liberian dictator Charles Taylor's war crimes trial. There were a number of curious aspects to the story: Campbell's admission that prior to traveling to the country she had 'never heard of Liberia', and the fact that she receives gifts so often that she thought nothing about having a bag of raw diamonds delivered to her in the middle of the night, or the fact that she's so rich she immediately gave the diamonds away to an acquaintance. I was also struck by her statement that she was annoyed by the inconvenience of being involved in the prosecution of someone accused of hundreds of murders. I'd say 'inconvenience' was a small price to pay for justice.

Separate from the celebrity spectacle aspect of the story, there is a back story here which I find more concerning. Campbell mentioned that she was reluctant to testify out of concern for the safety of herself and her family.

This was the issue that brought this story directly home for me and the patients I work with in Baltimore.

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