by now many of you have seen the above video from invisible children. perhaps you have received facebook invites to join a group that is organizing people to be a part of the planned plastering of posters and everything else to raise awareness.
i have mixed feelings about all this. to be honest if it wasn’t for invisible children i would have most likely known absolutely nothing about the about the lord’s resistance army (lra) and the terrible things joseph kony has lead them to do to kids in uganda. i am thankful for what invisible children did initially in raising awareness and sparking some action but thanks to a friend of mine i have my questions about their latest film and campaign (kony 2012).
david is a former student from the student ministry i led at parkview baptist church in baton rouge. david’s background both culturally and educationally makes him someone i automatically respect in regards to anything african (actually i just pretty much respect david because he is an awesome person). david posted his thoughts on the kony 2012 campaign on his blog (you can find his post here). he basically says that the kony 2012 campaign is dealing with a problem that isn’t the main issue anymore in uganda. he describes it as selling 6 year old newspapers.
i’m still not sure how i feel about the kony 2012 campaign but i am sure that you should read david’s post and that his thoughts are shaping my opinion. so go read his post.
Thanks for the link Robert, I just had a feeling that something wasn’t quite kosher with this thing. The link was very good
Dad
dad – i wouldn’t go so far as to say they aren’t kosher. i think their aim is admirable (and i believe from his post david does too). the real questions is does it actually help? kony is an evil guy, no question about it, but does this campaign help or hurt in bringing him to justice and helping central africa stabilize itself? i think those are the questions that david is really asking.
Adding this article that highlights the complexity of justice for northern Uganda – both in the implementation and ownership of that justice. It also highlights a helpful aspect of this situation: many Ugandans who live in the south are largely separated from the issues in the north are pushing for the ICC option, while those affected in the north (Luo, Acholi, etc) want truth and reconciliation processes similar to South Africa.
It’s the argument between retributive vs. restorative justice, and what IC has done drives the position of the ICC and others interested the kind of justice we are used to, but not favored by the people affected. That is the success of the IC campaign. And I’m sure the ICC is also happy because now their organizational existence will be validated because the whole world is rising to try Kony.
http://www.rnw.nl/international-justice/article/trc-rather-icc-uganda
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/37403