Kony 2012

I've been the first one to support Invisible Children in the past, having been personally responsible for bringing them to campus at St. Ben's at least twice and starting the Schools for Schools group on campus my sophomore year. I think the overall idea is fantastic-motivating people to action and empowering them to believe that they CAN do something and that they DO have a voice. I think their social media technique is smart-how viral this Kony 2012 video has become overnight is a prime example. They have a huge fan base and have succeeded in raising awareness to a huge amount of people. I do believe that their intentions are pure. Having been to Uganda, as well as other places in Africa, myself and having been so deeply moved and affected by the people there that I encountered, I understand to my very core why they are doing what they are doing. Because it is so very crucial that awareness be raised and that we fight injustice.

I have doubts about how they are going about this however and about what the effects of this are/will be.

First, it is the way in which the Acholi people of northern Uganda and the so-called "invisible" children are being presented. Their inherent dignity as human beings is not being preserved and recognized. The surface idea is correct: "No child deserves to live in fear of being abducted or killed." That is absolutely true. However the depiction of Ugandans in their media campaigns preserves none of that dignity; it in fact demeans it to more effectively appeal to the audience's emotions. I felt incredibly strong emotions when I watched Kony 2012 and I felt a stirring that made me want to order the 'Action Kit' right then and there because I met some Acholi people in Gulu in 2008 and I still carry their stories with me to this day and want to help so much. Because I hate to see anyone in pain, much less children. The starving children commercials on TV asking me to donate "just a few dollars a month to help save little Susie's life" affect me in the same way. Because I remember the children I've met in the IDP camps who were just like that. I fully admit that when I returned from Uganda that first time, I posted pictures of the kids from the orphanages hoping to assault someone's senses and emotions under the name of "education" and "spreading awareness".

It's because I did not understand human dignity. I did not understand how presenting someone in that light creates a demoralizing attitude towards them and makes them seem less human to the masses. How are people suffering from poverty and hunger viewed by the world today? What stereotypes exist about them? They are sad creatures that cannot take care of themselves and we must go to their rescue. They have no hope without our charity. Their misfortunes are used to help us feel better when we give those precious dollars to save them. The oppressed are seen as uncivilized and non-intelligent. Unable to rise above and become independent. Like children or babies. LESS THAN HUMAN.

It is true that presenting the impoverished in this way does appeal to people's emotions. It gets charity. Foreign aid is a multi-billion dollar industry. Invisible Children is incredibly successful-they have lots of money donated and raised by people who were moved by their campaign. But what does charity accomplish? More dependence and further dehumanization. Certainly not a solution. Because after the billions and trillions of dollars and after infinite charitable acts, are we without poverty and hunger? NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I do not in any sense mean to say that charity is a bad thing. I know that many lives have been affected and changed because of it. However, as a society, we need to realize that nothing is changing through charity. Justice is the next step. Creating actual change in policies, education, technology, international aid, elected officials, the use of war and violence and weapons. Everything down to changing how we interact with others on the grassroots level. We need to change how we use the oppressed as pawns in our games and dehumanize them to get more support for our side.

The truth is that the people of Uganda, and of the many other places affected by violent conflict and poverty, are not just sitting around looking forlorn and waiting for some white (Caucasian westerner) knight in shining armor (with money) to come and save them from their desperate plight. They are not just a generalized mass of naked, desolate, people with flies eating at their faces and bloated bellies incapable of helping themselves, sitting around waiting to die. They are human beings with every right to basic as well as complex necessities like food, water, shelter, clothing, education, dignity of work and providing for their families, feeling safe, the ability to reach their full potential and to achieve their dreams. They are the same as you and I with hopes and dreams and enormous potential. They love and they fight and they anger and they succeed and they make mistakes. They have families and emotions. They are our equals. Whatever God you believe in or they believe in loves them just as much as He/She loves you and I. You are not more important than another person. I am in no way more important than you. Why do I get to have more money, resources, and privileges than so many other people? Why is there such inequality in our world when the foundation of our society is supposed to be that all are inherently equal? Justice is working towards this equality.

Invisible Children and the aid industry in general is not helping the people they claim to fight for when they present them to the world such as this. At the very heart of it, the very name 'Invisible Children' assumes that they children were invisible until they swooped into save the day. Racism, stereotypes, inequality, and injustice will always exist if these campaigns persist in this way.

To be successful and to raise awareness and educate others, I think appealing to the emotions of the masses IS important because emotions run the world. Love and hate, and anger and happiness dictate so much of our thoughts and actions. I believe there is a different way to achieve motivation of the masses and preserve the dignity of the oppressed.

Rampant starvation and poverty do exist in the developing world. But even more shocking, is that it exists right here in our neighborhoods as well. How many mothers come into the outreach program everyday that I volunteer for that cannot afford diapers or food for their adorable children? Children just like the ones that Invisible Children show in their videos. How many kids did I meet when I worked in San Francisco one summer who did not know where they were going to sleep that night and lacked security? A similar injustice that IC brings to light in Uganda. The truth is is that situations like the ones brought to our attention by IC exist in every society all around the world. People, human beings, are starving, cannot afford basic necessities, women are raped, people are tortured, wars are fought, lives are ruined in every sense of the word.

I think the key to change lies in the ability of each person to strive to recognize and preserve the dignity that is inherent to all as human beings. We need to recognize the dignity of the person on the other side of the situation.

Example: last fall one of the 7 year olds in the after school program I worked for said that when he grew up he wanted to be an army pilot so that he could "kill the bad guys." I asked him who the bad guys were and he didn't say anything. I asked him how he would feel if someone killed his mom or dad or brother or sister. He said he would feel really bad. And then I said that that is how someone else would feel if you killed a 'bad guy'. Because that 'bad guy' has a mother and a father, or a son and a daughter, or a husband or wife, and the list goes on. Put simply, that 'bad guy' is just like you.

Another example: I brought the kids I work with to the police station for a tour one afternoon and we were brought into the shooting range and the majority of the kids were absolutely enamored with the guns. The target on the shooting range was a drawing of a gruesome-looking man. When we were talking about guns and the officers shooting people, a human being, they were called 'bad guys' once again. No one mentioned that the people being killed were just that, people. Guns were literally talked of as toys and not a thought was given to their purpose and use to kill a human being.

One more: When I worked in San Francisco, the kids would go into the Tenderloin district (where most of the poverty in SF is concentrated) and be absolutely in awe. They would point fingers and wrinkle their noses and be 'grossed out' by the people they passed on the street. I would hear things like "well they deserve it" and "well they got themselves here" and "why can't they just get a job and fix it?" Throughout the week I would push them to interact more and more with the guests they came into contact with. For some the week culminated in standing in the food line and then eating with the guests who came to eat lunch. Then I started to hear things like "He likes the same baseball team that I do!" and "He has a doctorate in architecture!" and "She just pulled out a Bible and shared her favorite passage with me!" The kids had begun to recognize the humanity in the people around them. They weren't just an oppressed mass of poor people whose names and faces did not matter. They became Bob and Jill and Steve who had faces and stories.

This part, I do think IC understands. They have many individuals who they have pulled from Uganda to tell their stories to the world. People to stand out and become those faces and stories.

I think that the first step to justice is truly seeing the other person on the other side of a situation. Whether it's recognizing the person behind the wheel of the car that just cut you off on the highway, or the politician who ticks you off so much, or the children affected by the LRA in Uganda. Even the human being behind the atrocities committed by the LRA, Joseph Kony. If we recognize that everyone has rights, both basic and complex, and that everyone has needs, and, most importantly that no one is perfect, I think we will be headed in the right direction towards true justice. Once we recognize this, then each person we encounter, or learn about, will be just as important as our mothers and fathers and will truly be our brothers and sisters. We will care about their well-being just as much as we care about our own family's and they will care about yours. We will not demean them and we will want them presented in such a way that celebrates life and potential, not in a way that takes away their value and worth.

I recognize the 3 boys' commitment to the people they met in Uganda and I commend them on their efforts and triumphs in doing all that they have. Truly, it is incredible what they have achieved. But I would encourage them to really examine how they are presenting these people to the world and what attitudes and stereotypes they are encouraging and reinforcing by doing so. As I said, I completely understand, because I went through the exact same thing coming home from Uganda and wanting the world to know about the injustices I saw. It has taken so much for me to see the big picture in terms of the damage being done by removing someone's dignity.

Second, (I know my first response was ridiculously long) I am not sure that what the KONY 2012 campaign is calling for is the correct solution. Violence does not solve problems. Ever. It never has, and it never will. It instills fear and anger and retaliation/retribution, none of which have anything to do with peace. Getting the U.S. military involved is not the solution. Getting the U.S. involved as a third party may do some good, I am not sure, I do not pretend to be an expert on the situation. Catching Kony is important and bringing him to justice (not to violence or death) is crucial. But sending in more people with guns is absolutely not the solution to an already tense and elevated situation. Let's not get hotheaded and race into another war without exhaustively trying non-military peaceful solutions. (Yes, I am aware that previous peace talks have gone on and failed). I absolutely do not think we are out of other options yet.

Also, the campaign serves to raise awareness about the situation, but only one side/part of it. Kony and the LRA are absolutely not the only perpetrators of injustice and violence in this war. The Ugandan army and government, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, as well as all of the other forces involved in the DRC and CAR are just as guilty as Kony for committing crimes against humanity. Why is Invisible Children not calling for their international recognition and capture? (Again, I do know that they decided to begin with the ICC's #1 of the list of criminals) But what will capturing Kony do to end the war? Obviously he has a wide support base and taking out the top of command may only anger his followers and lead to more bloodshed, we do not know. Invisible Children is calling for a temporary fix, not a solution to the decades of war and violence that plague the region. What about the dictators that lead the so-called democracies and have been in violent power for just as long as Kony? What about the deeply and long-held resentments that boil between people on different sides that could easily push new leaders forward to continue the war? What about the people who have to figure out how to live in the same communities when the war is over, who killed each other's families? What about calling for reconciliation instead of more fighting? What about the sense of retribution fostered when IC talks about capturing Kony? I believe that these are valid questions perhaps that IC and other parties involved have not fully considered. They are equally as important as bringing Kony to justice, if not more so, yet the focus on these other things is slim.

In addition, I do not think that the Kony 2012 video does anything in terms of educating the people they hope to get on board with this campaign. The assault on emotions distracts the viewer to the point of not realizing that little to no factual information is in fact provided in the video. How many people that reposted that video on their social media site of choice could realistically sit down and tell me about the conflict? My bet is very few. However IC’s fan base has drastically expanded and many people are now rooting for military intervention in Uganda when in reality, they know nothing about what’s going on there because few will take the time to do outside research.

I think Invisible Children has done good things. However, I also think that they are having effects that they have not considered or intended. As I admitted, I myself am guilty of so many of the same things and I definitely do not have the answers or even a right way of doing things. I just think it's important, especially when so many people are involved, using their voices to speak up for this cause, to think about the implications and to do research on both sides.
Some articles that were interesting:
http://thedailywh.at/2012/03/07/on-kony-2012-2/

http://www.reddit.com/r/DAE/comments/qlqzd/am_i_the_only_one_who_is_suspicious_about/

http://pomee.tumblr.com/post/18899601760/kony-2012-causing-more-harm-than-good

http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/taking-kony-2012-down-a-notch/

And IC's response is also important:http://www.invisiblechildren.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/critiques.html