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Fair Thoughts on #Kony2012
As a person who thrives off of spreading awareness about issues I feel passionately about, I am obviously an advocate for sharing Invisible Children’s Kony2012 in all of it’s viral internet glory. Ā I completely understand why people get angered by the whole “bandwagon” thing with popular trends like this or Occupy Wall St., for example, but I also feel that they are issues that need to be heard. Our generation is so wrapped up in technology, I can’t help but see it as a positive thing that if people are going to be sitting on Facebook, they can at least learn something important and be given the opportunity to DO something productive/changeĀ inspiring.Ā
In one of the articles I read on the “VisibleChildren” tumblr (a blog that opposes Invisible Children/Kony2012) was in respect to IC supporting Ugandan troops and government which are essentially corrupt themselves. The author wrote that “sometimes doing nothing is better than doing something.” This is so sad to me. When is doing nothing ever a good thing as far as aspiring to inspireĀ hope?Ā Hope is so important in situations like Uganda where the people have little resources to rise above the negativity that surrounds their lives.Ā
I’ve been reading up #StopKony in general and thinking about how to perceive the negative concept of the campaign simply being a “fad” or useless trend that will be washed out soon enough. I agree in the sense that most people (…the people who don’t genuinely care about dying African children/mutilated and murdered men and women…the people who move on to post about how much their day sucks or their chipped nail polish or how they don’t want to study for an exam…) will share the Kony posts and not take action. Where I disagree with the people who get so uppity about others joining in on the fad is that at least that person with the chipped nail polish now knows that there is crisis in Uganda. What they do with that, we can’t be sure of. Most people won’t do anything. But a very few will walk away feeling like they need to DO something. Doing something may be as specific as donating funds to the Kony campaign, or as broad as deciding that they want to choose a path in life that helps others and advocates for change.
I do understand that all campaigns come with facts and oppositions, sometimes ones that cant be ignored. What I also understand is that when a writer plays devil’s advocate, they will dig up things that aren’t fully warranted or explained, leaving no place for (for example) the leaders of IC to come in and say “hey, we did this for this reason,” and so on. The most glaring fact is Invisible Children’s low score (2 stars) on Charity Navigator.
It almost seems nothing can ever be easy and good enough for people to band together for a good cause, that there is always some “catch” but maybe this is simply because it should not be easy. We should have to research and know where our donations are going. But isn’t donating funds to an organization that only gives back 31% better than, for example, spending that $10 on a venti Starbucks - a company that gives little to none back with coffee cultivated by child slaves? It’s simple in that aspect. Donate $10, skip coffee once or twice. Anyway…
[Ugandan boys are kidnapped from their homes, brainwashed and forced to fight for Koney’s Lord’sĀ ResistanceĀ Army. They are sometimes forced to kill their own parents and brutally mutilate the faces of others, leaving them scarred for life. Girls are kidnapped, abused and passed around as sex slaves for the soldiers.]
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Even though I clearly support Invisible Children, here are the negative facts I’ve read on #Kony2012, fairly displayed:
- IC apparently only donated around 32% of their profit to direct services (displayed in their public finances)
- Donate to an organization with higherĀ
- The film features more of the producers than the actual Africans facing the issue
- Social media cannot find or kill Kony
- IC supports the Uganda army which is corrupt and violent in itself
- Uganda is actually experiencing its safest period and there have been no LRA attacks in years
IC’s Kony2012 is of course a campaign surrounded by controversy, as all good fights are. We do know the issue has gone viral, but what we don’t/may never know is how many people are personally affected by the Ā information and take the initiative upon themselves to say “Hey, there’s a lot of bad stuff in the world.” Sure that’s not going to find and kill Joseph Kony or stop the LRA, but it makes for a more socially aware generation. One that is inspired to spread awareness and create change. Also, this post is completely separate from recognizing that there are plenty of battles to fight right here in our own country.Ā If nothing else, the Kony campaign should make us stop and be grateful for the country we have been born into with rights and education and tools for many of us to be successful individuals.Ā
What do you think? Ā Ā
And just like my dad signs everything he sends me:
peace&love,
L
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