I stumbled upon something tonight. Yes, even at 1 in the morning I felt the need to share and to write.
When I was in high school a group called “Invisible Children” came and talked to us. They showed us a video about an African rebel group, the LRA, in Uganda and their leader JOSEPH KONY. He abducts young children and turns the girls into sex slaves and the boys into child soldiers. He makes them mutilate and kill their family and fellow boys and girls. He now has an army of over 30,000 young boys. Boys and girls of all ages are now hiding in fear of being abducted, murdered, raped and forced into the LRA.
The LRA is now moving into other countries and growing. Kony is #1 on the international most wanted list. Why isn’t he arrested? Why isn’t he captured? Why isn’t he stopped? Well, to put it plainly 99% of the world doesn’t even know who he is.
Referring to hundreds of children all packed into one room hiding and seeking shelter, the man in the video says “if that happened one night in America, it would be on the cover of Newsweek.” I couldn’t agree more.
Compared to Uganda and many other places in the world, our media is so much more advance. The way things spread with such speed and the different mediums we have to access and pass such information is almost incomparable.
Why aren’t we using this advantage for the greater good? We pass hundreds of ads a day about food, sex, cars, clothes, and celebrities. It’s time to advertise things that really matter. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Blogs are only a few of the things that we can use to spread the word. We can tell 600 of our “closest friends” what we ate for lunch on Facebook. Or what we are doing second by second on Twitter. So why not share something greater than ourselves?
The Invisible Children group has already made some success at the end of next year when on December 2 2011 our United States government sent over 100 troops to help with advice and assistance to the Ugandan military. But they may not stay there long. If the government doesn’t see how this affects us, or that we care, they could remove our military support at any time.
The Invisible Children group is now starting a new mission; making Joseph Kony famous. The easiest way to get the word out about the injustice going on around the world is to spread it by all means possible. THEY NEED YOUR HELP. We, as Americans, have the power to post, to write, to share and to search the web. The more Kony’s name is brought to light, the more light is shed on his crimes.
Want to help?
For more information go to
There's obviously nothing wrong with wanting to put a stop to the activities of the Lord's Resistance Army, but part of me is a little bit annoyed that it's taken 25 years of their atrocities for this sort of public backlash to emerge in the US. It's great that new media allows stories like this to spread so quickly, but I really think that the mainstream press needs to do a better job of spreading awareness as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cera! I finally know what this whole Kony thing is. I am not up and in with the whole social media thing to know whats going on. Nor is there time in my busy life to go snooping (not saying you did). But that is extremely and disgusting of someone to do such things. It's sickening. I do agree with Andrew that not just "social media" needs to publish, that mainstream press needs to get on this as well. Social media is making him out to be a celebrity, but also to end this monstrosity. This is just my opinion. Mainstream was successful in keeping everyone informed throughout the years with Osama bin Laden. I feel mainstream brings everyone to one attention and not stories and rumors and she said he said or I heard so and so. It publishes the truth I think more. Because others and me aren't so involved in social media. But can it be trusted so much because it is so excessively used? I think if it referenced and cited it can be trusted like mainstream.
ReplyDeleteLinking the video and website was such a great idea. It really did bring attention to your blog post. The awareness to bring Kony down is becoming so big that I think 2012 could be the year. That we as people work together and get more cultural involved is a great thing, to do whats right.