In light of this whole Kony 2012 thing, I feel the need to shed some light on the other side of the issue..
I have no problem with what Invisible Children is trying to do as an organization. I think its great that they want to try to help.
But the way they're going about this makes no sense to me.
Just because the dude who runs Invisible Children had no knowledge of the LRA prior to going to Africa does not mean that everyone else is as unaware. I haven't been an adult for that long, yet I've known about the LRA and problems in other African countries since like 9th grade. Invisible Children is a bit too self-important for my taste.
I watched the video that Invisible Children made about the Kony 2012 movement. And there were several things about it that did not sit right with me.. but at first I thought, well, I guess its ME who just doesn't get it. I'm sure they know what they're talking about.
The fact that Invisible Children is good at making videos and using social media does NOT mean that they know anything at all about the way international relations work, nor do they know what is in the best interest of the people of Uganda.
Upon further research & reading, my suspicions were confirmed. There are a LOT of issues with this movement, and I urge everyone to LOOK INTO THIS THOROUGHLY before blindly supporting a cause just because they made a good video that played to your emotions.
In my opinion, the only good thing that has come out of this thus far is that lots of people in the US who were completely unaware of the LRA and such are now aware of it. I am all for spreading awareness, but I do not think it was done in a very good way in this case.
Here are some basic issues I have with Kony 2012.
1. The commercialization of it. Why the hell is getting an "action kit" and wearing a crappy bracelet going to do ANY GOOD?! It does nothing. Things like that work to generate funds and spread awareness. Invisible Children has enough funds as it is, most of which they use to make more videos, and awareness has been spread.
Contrary to what Invisible Children wants you to think, the US government has been aware of these issues for years, and there have been people who are REALLY trying to help for years as well.
2. The lack of facts. We are not stupid. Tell us the whole story.
3. If Kony sees this media crusade, as an evil man, he will probably want to reinforce his power by INCREASING his murders and child abductions. He is not going to run away just because he's getting attention. The real way to catch him is to work from the bottom up.. get to his closest followers first, and get them to flip on his whereabouts or something. Invisible Children wants us to think that the US can just strut in and take him. But that is not how it works. Catching a perp is not an easy thing to do, especially one who is this confident in his influence. THINK IT THROUGH YO.
4. Wouldn't it be better to kind of ban together with the US, the UK, and countries in Europe to do something LEGIT to help the people of Africa?? I mean, Kony (when and if they catch him) would be prosecuted in the international criminal court.. and that is clearly not in the US so why does Invisible Children focus so individually on US government involvement in this?? We should be involved, no doubt, but it might work out a bit better if this were actually a worldwide thing.
5. Why Uganda?? There are lots of countries in Africa who are in great need. And Kony has kind of moved on from Uganda...
6. WHY NOW. What the hell is the significance of 2012 in all this?!? What happens if Kony is not caught THIS YEAR. Remember how long it took to get Bin Laden? A long time. Things like this are NOT as easy as Invisible Children wants you to think and it would be great if Kony was caught this year, but if he's not like.. what is going to happen then? I think its really ridiculous to put a timeline on this. Especially when it has been going on for YEARS and WE HAVE TRIED TO GET HIM BEFORE and failed.
I realize that most people reading this are going to want to smack me, but I urge you all to educate yourself fully on this issue before buying into the emotionally charged media that Invisible Children creates.
I have always been passionate about Africa, and its been my dream since age 14 to go to Africa and do something to help the children living in war & poverty have a better life.
I am in no way an expert on anything relating to this, but I am not alone in my views. After initially having negative feelings about the Kony 2012 movement, I saw these on tumblr.
PLEASE READ THEM. Get educated. See both sides of something before supporting it!!
http://w-omen.tumblr.com/post/18941964689/kony-2012-causing-more-harm-than-good
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble
Oh, and just so that I can take my own advice and look at both sides, here are Invisible Children's explanations for some of the criticism they have received.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html
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