KONY 2012

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that pretty much everyone at this point has heard of the KONY 2012 movement by Invisible Children. If not, log onto Facebook and I guarantee you'll be well educated within the next half hour.

Let's look at this somewhat logically. On the one hand, we have this completely viral Internet sensation that is #stopkony. People are coming together to fight Joseph Kony, who has been oppressing the children of Africa for the past 20+ years by abducting and turning little girls into prostitutes and young boys into child soldiers. The movement is, essentially, a fight to get the US government to do something about the official arrest of Kony, which needs to happen this year while the interest level is high.

Recently, a blog post came up on Twitter by a Grant Oyston, who believes that while this is a great cause, the goal is ultimately unattainable because of financial issues, etc. He has a whole list of numbers if you wish to see them (Read it here: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/). Then there are a whole bunch of critques who call this the "worst idea ever", using big words to describe the insanity of the college aged kids who started the group and the impossibility of their goal.

Back up...did I say college aged?

Yes. Kids in their teens and early twenties got up out of their chairs and did something. For the past 8 years, they have been campaigning to stop Joseph Kony and to save the children who are affected or will be. Now you can criticize Invisible Children and write angry posts about how much they actually spend on helping the children, or the insane amount of money this would cost, considering the financial issues the US currently has. Or whatever you don't like about the movement.

The thing is, they're doing something. And I would go as far as to say that something IS better than nothing. Because six months ago, nobody knew who Joseph Kony was or what he was doing. Now, people know. And when those people believe in something enough, they'll e-mail senators and write to celebrities. They'll stand outside in the pouring rain to get the government's attention. They can make all the difference in the world, because the people are who ultimately run this country.

So yeah, maybe you don't like the way Invisible Children is doing their thing. But the fact is, they're doing something. So go out there and make your voice known, because this is just the beginning of the end to Joseph Kony.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc
Watch the video. Take the pledge at www.kony2012.com.

TTYL.