Having an email account today can be an open door to all sorts of solicitation, good and bad. So how do you know which ones to trust? “You can’t” is the short answer. No one on the Internet is as trustworthy as you think they are, even if they are trying to save a country.
Millions are jumping on board the anti-Joseph Kony campaign and it is easy to see why. Take a half-hour of your time to watch the viral video made by the Invisible Children, Inc. and you will instantly want to become a humanitarian. The words professed by Jason Russell, Invisible Children, Inc., and the narrator of the video, made an impact on many people. The video evoked an almost instant hatred for Kony that has many devotees of the video clearing their schedule for the night of April 20 — the night scheduled to raise awareness about Kony all over the world.
I am writing not to thwart the efforts of this movement, but to raise awareness to actually researching something before committing to it. It is really easy to follow the herd and mindlessly join the growing numbers of the “Anti-Kony Campaign.” But if all you did to make an “informed” decision was watch the video—you have some homework to do.
The video is too black and white. It portrays Uganda and Kony in an exaggerated, over-simplified light. Take a minute. Do the research and find out who Invisible Children, Inc. really is. Only once you actually understand what is happening should you fully commit to something, especially a movement based on a 30-minute video.
Now, I do think that Kony is indeed a bad person in need of a swift kick in the butt. Problem is, the list of people who need their butt kicked in 2012 is only growing; will the problem in Uganda actually end if Joseph Kony is gone? I really doubt the intentions of the campaign is based solely on the fact that the resolution to the Kony issue doesn’t seem to be a productive one for the people of Uganda.
Al Jazeera, the independent news agency based out of Qatar, has been reporting on the Ugandan area for years, and many of their experts are skeptical of the results the Invisible Children campaign is looking for. One news package from Al Jazeera, as seen on YouTube, shows a crowd of people in Uganda watching the Kony 2012 video and the aftermath is shocking. Outrage and anger would be the best way to summarize their emotions. They are angry because of the amount of attention Kony is reciveing. I agree with their outrage, the focus of attention should be on the people of Uganda. Not a perpetrator from the past. The people of Uganda need help just like hundreds of other countries. Removing Kony is minuscule compared to the real aid they need.
