“IF THE WORLD KNOWS WHO JOSEPH KONY IS, IT WILL UNITE TO STOP HIM.
IT STARTS HERE. KONY 2012 IS A FILM AND CAMPAIGN BY INVISIBLE CHILDREN THAT AIMS TO MAKE JOSEPH KONY FAMOUS, NOT TO CELEBRATE HIM, BUT TO RAISE SUPPORT FOR HIS ARREST AND SET A PRECEDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE.”
These words come directly from the Invisible Children website, captioning the film that can and will change the world. The movement is a campaign to end the longest running armed conflict that is currently taking place in the country of Uganda.
In 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What they found was a war in which “children were both the weapon and the victim.” Since then, they created the film, Invisible Children and have vowed to the children in Africa to stop the man responsible.
Joseph Kony has been leading the Lord’s Resistance Army for 26 years. The LRA is a rebel movement that began in 1986 to originally end government oppression in the northern parts of Uganda. After the original leader was exiled, Kony took over. Soon, he lost followers and could not maintain regional support. As a result, he began to implement brutal tactics in order to fill the ranks of his army. His main target became young boys and girls.
Since he began the terror, Kony and the LRA have abducted over 30,000 children in northern Uganda. He often forces children to kill their own parents and siblings, mutilate the faces of one another and uses young girls as sex slaves. He claims to these children that he has spiritual powers, using this to brainwash and manipulate them with lies.
At the height of the conflict, the only known protection for these children was “night commuting.” Each evening, boys and girls all over Uganda would walk miles away from their homes. Their destination? City centers. In these places, countless groups of children would gather in schools, churches or bus depots to spend the night in order to avoid abduction by the LRA.
“If this happened on night in America, it’d be on the cover of Newsweek.”
This quote comes directly from the film and was the reaction of one of the filmmakers in Africa after learning of “night commutes.” This kind of horror and victimized lifestyle would never be accepted in the United States and a man like Joseph Kony would not be given the freedom to brutally manipulate and murder people throughout the entire country. We took a stand during World War II, when a man just like Kony started a Holocaust. It is our responsibility to stop his reign and change the lives of the people in Africa.
By using the power of media and platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and YouTube, we can UNITE the world and successfully stop the terror. Invisible Children hopes to inspire young people to “Make Kony Famous,” and spread the world in any way possible. Email your friends, post videos on Facebook, hashtag #MakeKonyFamous on Twitter – the possibilities are endless.
We already use these platforms to share silly videos, post pictures, and share our thoughts and personal experiences. Take a moment of the day to share something that truly can make a difference and improve the state of an entire country.
To learn more about the movement, visit the Invisible Children website. There are many opportunities to donate, including a monthly commitment through the program “Tri.” If nothing else, watch the video and spread the word to everyone you can. It WILL make a difference if we MAKE KONY FAMOUS!
Follow Invisible Children on Twitter @Invisible and “like” the Invisible Children page on Facebook. The more you do, the more famous Joseph Kony will become!
Photo Sources: