If you haven’t seen the video above, I am sure you will. This video has showed up on my Facebook feed 10-fold. All I see are foolish/naive Americans spreading the word about things they know nothing about. If they had a semblance of intellect or sincere concern about the injustices in the world, they would have known about Joseph Kony (or Joaquin Guzman, Vincent Otti[deceased], or other international criminals for that matter) already.
This movie in a nutshell.
A white man
goes to Africa (I use “Africa” as a generalized whole purposefully).
says…
OMG! There are black children being forced to be child soldiers and sex workers. I want Americans to pay attention.
Starts Invisible Children Inc.
Word spreads all over the world.
Makes a video.
[insert viral sharing on Facebook].
A whole bunch of people that don’t know squat about Africa, let alone Uganda hit share the video because the romanticized Africans need our help.
Key notes from the video:
At 15:15, this man says:
“Even though Uganda was relatively safe…”
OH.
For real?
Because I wouldn’t have known that from your noble efforts to save the helpless Africans.
At 17:52, the political mannequins:
“Of all the problems we are after, none is more severe than one that mutilates and takes lives of little kids.”
Just smile for the camera why don’t you? At the beginning of the process…you could careless…but now that the world is watching your response….OH, what’s that? Its re-election time? Thank you for your sincerity.
[For me, in October 2011, I recall a friend posting a link about Obama sending troops to Uganda to capture Kony as leader of the LRA…and another friend responding stating “I was young then”, in reference to supporting the Obama administration. I also remember watching the news and hearing about Otti’s death a few years ago and Kony fleeing into hiding as a result. For the fools, they learn about it now because they watched a video. The epitome of the “American” in the Hotel Rwanda movie]
I am betting 50 dollars that in about four weeks-7 sevens, profile pictures of Kony will have been taken down, while the Invisible Children Inc or Tri Peace’s pockets will have filled 20 fold. Ummm….I wonder how many people will be getting raises this year? On the backs of black Africans? I cannot support this.
To the people who are hitting share after watching a 30 min recap of the politics concerning Uganda….
Do you remember when Darfur used to be the cause of the hour? That must have happened once upon a time ago when everyone cared….
Are you going to be that person that actively jumps on a bandwagon knows absolutely nothing about the cause outside of a 30 min video?
Go read a book, an article, a webpage, something….and then hit share. Preferably some of the following:
http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/be-aware-nick-kristofs-anti-politics/
The “care-ers” don’t even know who the President of Uganda is, what he has done to actively solve this problem, why he hasn’t been able to solve it, how killing Kony will affect the civilians/country as a whole…perhaps it will be like Gaddafi or Bin Laden and the news will quiet out…or maybe the Ugandans or civilians of the DRC will have to stomach a massacre after the murder of Kony. Unlike Al Qaeda, the LRA is positioned to maintain their power in the continent by wiping out anyone that stands in their way.
That being said. I am happy that people have learned the name of the worst international criminal in the world now…I just hope they take the initiative to learn 2 through 50, learn why they are on the list, how they landed there, and who gets to determine the list….(no brown people are ever invited to those meetings, yet they make up the majority of it.) Why is it important to learn about these issues? For one, education should not be limited to the classroom and two, like the honorable Malcolm X said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
Please do not misunderstand, I, by no means, do not support Joseph Kony or his actions. They are intolerable, however, I cannot support active oblivion as well. As the privileged, we have the luxury of thinking about the interconnected complexities of the world. We have a duty to think about how Kony accessed ammunition, weapons, brainwashed millions, killed millions, and the nature of Uganda and the DRC after his death or capture. I would like to take this time to invite readers to think critically about both the video and the social issues presented in the video, like George S. Patton said, “if everyone is thinking alike, somebody isn’t thinking,” let’s starting thinking.
Will we be satisfied with hitting “Share”, passing along the link to friends, and continuing our days of luxury? Or can we step up and think?
Thoughts?
For more reading on the [anti] Invisible Children campaign:
http://innovateafrica.tumblr.com/
http://texasinafrica.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-causes-badvocacy.html?m=1
http://ericswanderings.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/invisible-children-and-joseph-kony/
prudishlyfrank 