Nancy Frimpong is speaking about the illegal gold mining industry at a talk from 12-1 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the Leadville campus. Photo by John Eisele
Breaking down the Gold Mafia: CMC Leadville's Speaker Series focuses on issues of illegal mining in West Africa
On Monday, Nov. 6, the next installment in CMC Leadville’s Speaker Series will feature Nancy Frimpong, a Ph.D. candidate from the Department of Communication Studies at Colorado State University. Frimpong will talk about issues related to the illegal mining industry in West Africa.
“Gold Mafia: Power, Inequalities and Resistance in Ghana’s Mining Menace” will focus on Frimpong’s research regarding the negative impacts of illegal mining on the environment and human life in Africa – but how it also is a matter of survival for many living in extreme poverty.
Her community lecture will be held at CMC Leadville’s Coronado Café at 12:15 p.m., and is open to faculty, staff, students and community members. It will be followed by a community discussion, held at 1:30 p.m. in CMC’s Pinnacle Library.
Frimpong says the mining, known as “galamsey,” is done by unlicensed, small-scale workers who pursue their livelihood despite personal health risks. Her talk will look at the impact of this mining on communities and the resistance to the practice. The topic is part of her critical media studies at CSU, where she focuses on representation and multiculturalism, globalization, Indigenous language media and culture.
As a tie-in to Frimpong’s topic, on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 5, CMC will also be screening the 2006 film “Blood Diamond,” as part of CMC’s Movies and Popcorn series.
The movie, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou, is a fictionalized story of the African diamond trade, set during the Sierra Leone civil war of the 1990s. Both DiCaprio and Hounsou received Oscar nominations for their roles.
According to Cindy Harman, a library technician at CMC Leadville, the speaker series’ movie themes complement the speaker topics, and the public is welcome to join the screening and discussion of the film’s content.
Both the film and Frimpong’s presentations are free. Contact Elizabeth Parks at CMC’s Leadville campus, 719-486-4225 for more information.