So unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 24 hours you’ll know that there are only two news stories worth talking about around the water cooler today. The first is the new iPad, and the second is the extremely viral video by Invisible Children that has sparked the Twitter and Facebook phenomenon that is #Kony2012.
Joseph Kony is a Ugandan Warlord who runs the LRA (the Lord’s Resistance Army) and is a man who is responsible for the murder, rape and mutilation of thousands of children while building himself an army of child soldiers. The video above is long – it’s a mini documentary of sorts that chronicles the history of Invisible Children and the movement they have started. It has received a ton of publicity today, and of course a fair deal of criticism as well.
Some are clamoring against Invisible Children because a large amount of their revenue goes into their production budget rather than into the projects in Uganda. Some are in an uproar because they are working along side the Ugandan Army who have also been accused by human rights organisations of similar crimes against humanity; and some are getting on their high horse about the fact that the video features too much of the filmmakers and not enough about the children and are lobbying accusations of narcissism at Invisible Children.
I was introduced to Invisible Children a few years ago when my wife came back from a youth conference having seen a presentation and purchased herself a pair of bracelets (they do this clever thing where their bracelets are sold in pairs so you can give one away and spread awareness). These people have taken on a monumental undertaking and I for one think that their cause is worthy of promotion.
It is likely true that Invisible Children are not the perfect organisation but to paraphrase a famous preacher - I like the way they do something poorly better than the way most people are doing nothing perfectly.
The stated goal of the Kony2012 campaign is to raise awareness of the issue to keep pressure on the government to do something about the atrocities happening in Africa. To raise awareness and to cause a groundswell of public support for their noble cause. So even if it means my Facebook and twitter feed are clogged up for the next while with people spamming this video, or people pontificating against them - I'll gladly put up with it if this very savvy viral campaign achieves it's goals. The lives of the invisible children matter too much to not care.
What do you think?
Some are clamoring against Invisible Children because a large amount of their revenue goes into their production budget rather than into the projects in Uganda. Some are in an uproar because they are working along side the Ugandan Army who have also been accused by human rights organisations of similar crimes against humanity; and some are getting on their high horse about the fact that the video features too much of the filmmakers and not enough about the children and are lobbying accusations of narcissism at Invisible Children.
I was introduced to Invisible Children a few years ago when my wife came back from a youth conference having seen a presentation and purchased herself a pair of bracelets (they do this clever thing where their bracelets are sold in pairs so you can give one away and spread awareness). These people have taken on a monumental undertaking and I for one think that their cause is worthy of promotion.
It is likely true that Invisible Children are not the perfect organisation but to paraphrase a famous preacher - I like the way they do something poorly better than the way most people are doing nothing perfectly.
The stated goal of the Kony2012 campaign is to raise awareness of the issue to keep pressure on the government to do something about the atrocities happening in Africa. To raise awareness and to cause a groundswell of public support for their noble cause. So even if it means my Facebook and twitter feed are clogged up for the next while with people spamming this video, or people pontificating against them - I'll gladly put up with it if this very savvy viral campaign achieves it's goals. The lives of the invisible children matter too much to not care.
What do you think?
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