Millions of viewers have thronged to watch a video put together by the California based media company “Invisible Children” about one of the world’s most notorious criminals Joseph Kony. Since the 30 minute video went up a day ago supporters of the company have flooded twitter and facebook promoting the capture of Mr. Kony. According to Invisible Children the aim is to make Kony so famous that his capture would be inevitable. It seems to be working. That is the part about capturing the imagination of a certain demographic of largely young college kids. Most of them look to campaigns such as this as an opportunity to do some good in the world and make it a better place. And now even P.Diddy has joined #StopKony2012 along no doubt with his 6 million followers. Not since Idi Amin Dada and perhaps the “Kill the Gays Bill”, has Uganda been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator, accused of cannibalism amongst others occupies top spot. His life was reduced to the award winning film “The Last King of Scotland”. Joseph Kony seems to be heading that way too.
To call the campaign a misrepresentation is an understatement. While it draws attention to the fact that Kony, indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in 2005, is still on the loose, it’s portrayal of his alleged crimes in Northern Uganda are from a bygone era. At the height of the war between especially 1999 and 2004, large hordes of children took refuge on the streets of Gulu town to escape the horrors of abduction and brutal conscription to the ranks of the LRA. Today most of these children are semi-adults. Many are still on the streets unemployed. Gulu has the highest numbers of child prostitutes in Uganda. It also has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.
If six years ago children in Uganda would have feared the hell of being part of the LRA, a well documented reality already, today the real invisible children are those suffering from “Nodding Disease”. Over 4000 children are victims of this incurable debilitating condition. It’s a neurological disease that has baffled world scientists and attacks mainly children from the most war affected districts of Kitgum, Pader and Gulu.
It is true that since the theatre of Kony’s operations shifted from Northern Uganda ( in December of 2005) to neighboring countries he has continued his mayhem. According to the United Nations increased attacks in Orientale province have led to thousands of displacements and abductions including children. However the LRA leader is the subject of an international manhunt by a joint force of Ugandan, Congolese, Sudanese and Central African troops. This effort is assisted by US combat troops deployed there since October 2011. Ironically Uganda that has approximately 4000 elite troops after Kony and the LRA, uses former child soldiers, ex-LRA abductees to hunt him which some success.
So why the misleading campaign? Why now? What does it profit to market the infamy of a man already famous for his crimes and whose capture is already on the agenda? Critics of Invisible Children are also likely to be critics of foreign aid and by extension the place of Western charities in the mis-education of western publics about the realities of Africa. The real danger of the game-show type “pornography of violence” that Invisible Children as made so appealing also has a dangerous hold on policy types in Washington DC whose access to information and profiles of issues is as limited.
Recent examples of the impact of evangelizing NGO’s can be seen from the distortions of the Save Darfur Coalition to a recent mining ban in the DRC under the guise of saving hapless Africans. The simplicity of the “good versus evil”, where good is inevitably white/western and bad is black or African, is also reminiscent of some of the worst excesses of the colonial era interventions. These campaigns don’t just lack scholarship or nuance. They are not bothered to seek it.
Like a colleague once told me a campaign such as this cannot be mounted about peace in the Middle East because that would require actual scholarship and knowledge of the issues.
Many African critics unsurprisingly are crying neo-colonialism. This is because these campaigns are disempowering of their own voices. After all the conflict and suffering is affecting them directly regardless of if they hit the re-tweet button or not. At the end of the day the Kony2012 campaign will not make Joseph Kony more famous but it will make Invisible Children famous. It will also make many, including P.Diddy, feel like they have contributed some good to his capture- assuming Kony is even alive. For many in the conflict prevention community including those who worry about the militarization of it in Central Africa this campaign is just another nightmare that will end soon. Hopefully.
What exactly are you saying is misleading about the campaign? It sounds like you don’t care that Kony is still at it, as long as it’s not in Uganda. And he is still at it, by the way, it’s not some bygone era. You seem more concerned about saving face for Uganda than bringing the realities of the war to light. Why do so many people drinking tea on their verandas in K-la have trouble admitting how bad the war was and how pathetic the Ugandan military has been in getting Kony? His capture has been “on the agenda” for 30 years! I’ve enjoyed a lot of your posts, but this one is a bust.
Nowhere in this post did he suggest that capturing or stopping Kony is unimportant. Far from it. He’s simply pointing out that this sudden explosion of activism, though well-intentioned, is not going to be effective. And he’s made the same points about Invisible Children that I have – they claim to support and work with Africans, but have no Africans in leadership positions in their organizations. The organization is simply a group of Americans thinking that they have the answers to all of Africa’s problems. The video asks us to support the Ugandan government in their efforts to capture Kony. Do you believe the current Ugandan government is an entity worthy of unequivocal support? I should hope not.
The issue the author – and many others – are taking with #Kony2012 isn’t that we don’t agree with the point BEHIND the movement (raising awareness of Kony and others like him), we simply disagree with the uneducated manner in which the information is being presented. Also, the fact that this particular group is 100% American, and has no Ugandans in their ranks, is alarming.
The Invisible Children website indicates that they have a lot of Ugandan people on their team. True, the leadership of the American branch is all Americans, but I don’t find that surprising, as the Ugandans are mostly in Uganda. Am I missing something?
I find this article a bit wishy washy because it asks the question ‘why the misleading campaign’ without ever really saying how the campaign is misleading?
I don’t think IC is saying they have the answer to all of Africa’s problems. Why are we all so quick to criticise groups that are successful in mass awareness raising, when the alternative is the pervasive apathy that we mostly see. (And it’s not entirely IC’s fault if people blindly follow the media without thinking for themselves and doing the research.)
If all the critics think IC is doing the wrong thing, well then, stand up and do the right thing instead of criticising from computer chairs.
I have to agree with this post being a bust I’m afraid. What’s misleading? He’s still out there. Young Western people have come together and raised their voices combined with the voices of young Ugandan people to raise the profile of a prolific criminal who has evaded capture for too long. How can you call any movement that is positively trying to end any crime a nightmare? Let’s applaud Jason Russell for creating this momentum and trying to bring about some change. It is never easy.
Applaud James Russell? U having a laugh. What has he done for those children. This has been there for over 20yrs. In this time your gives have removed so many dictators why not Kony? We don’t need your patronage now. We tired of you thinking we stupid we can’t solve our problems. Why don’t you highlight your companies that are stealing our resources? There are no good intentions here. Looking at the production crew of Russell no local person was involved. Please don’t think Africans are stupid.
Wow. Heightened sensitivities reign clearly. I’ll take my well-intentioned ideas elsewhere.
*Jason Russell, make sure your argument is well researched or else you’ll be setting yourself up to not be taken seriously.
We’re all entitled to our opinion, people that want to help don’t need to be attacked with quotes like ‘We don’t need your patronage now’ ‘We tired of you thinking we stupid we can’t solve our problems.’ The post that riled you up wasn’t half as offensive as your tone.
There are local people involved, like Jolly Okot, though they should have been given much more time to talk in the video.
James Russel doesn’t control the US government, money does, so that’s why not Kony. He has dedicated 9 years of his life to this, so even if he seems naive and oversimplified things immensely I don’t think it’s fair to make him the bad guy in this.
No one thinks Africans are stupid, they think Americans are stupid, that is why the video is done the way it is.
But I agree with you that the main focus when it comes to Africa in the US and Europe should be companies stealing your resources.
Some of you are obviously missing the point, and that is this:
Whether or not this campaign helps at all to capture Kony, which in itself is no longer the biggest problem in Africa, is irrelevant.
What Angelo is trying to say is that this campaign is insultingly patronizing and manipulative. It is a way for celebrities and sheltered Americans to feel like they have done something, where in truth, they have simply helped a corporation gain dishonest profits at the expense of Uganda’s sovereignty.
I’m not missing any points, I just completely disagree with the premise that defending Uganda’s “sovereignty” is the most important thing. There is no threat to actual or implied sovereignty whatsoever, unless any kind of involvement in this international issue from anyone other than Uganda is a threat? Maybe you mean the expense of Museveni’s administration’s pride? Capturing Kony is important. We all know the ICC is mostly irrelevant, but it would be a good thing if one of their most wanted is captured. More importantly, the killing and terrorizing he’s doing in the Congo has to top! So it’s not irrelevant whether Kony is captured.
I just don’t get what the pseudo-intellectuals want. It’s so easy to sit back and take offence at anything, and to criticize it for this or that, to make you feel smart about yourself. I get that there’s a lot of baggage. Colonialism, aid with strings, etc. But nothing is perfect, and complaining about everything that’s not your idea isn’t helping. This blog has complained again and again about how Americans don’t pay attention to African issues. So what do you expect it to look like, getting large numbers of Americans to care? Not everyone is going to be as savvy as a policy expert. But it matters that people are paying attention and caring, EVEN IF it’s not the absolute perfect solution or the most pressing problem in your book.
Do you really know anything about IC, or are you just bringing your baggage? IC has been operating for several years, with little celebrity support, and not when one guy tweets, they are suddenly all about celebrities? For the record, while the dozens of “bricks and mortar” projects IC has done (working with and paying northern Ugandans!) may not change the world in your eyes, even that is more than anyone writing on this blog has done. One of their guys there on a visit died in the bombing in Kampala a few years ago. He wasn’t there out of self-interest! They have a minimal in-country staff because that’s not the nature of most of their work, and the staff in America is almost all college interns that are volunteering their time. They are not a corporation, they are a non-profit, and I’m not sure how everyone thinks they are getting so rich. And if you don’t think advocacy is worthwhile, why is journalism important?
The film was not even made with Northern Ugandans in mind. AJE visited people who were most devastated by Kony’s military (back when he was in Uganda), and they were incredibly upset with the film. A large number of people in the country have yet to know about the film let alone watch it. How are we solving a problem if that “problem” is up for debate in the area of focus?
You are right to note that Invisible Children is not a new organization, but you’ve got to be kidding about the celebrity comment. They have used influential people– in Hollywood and in Washington– to politicize their campaigns since they were established. That is, in essence, the “awareness-raising” platform. It has been used over and over again to bring attention to outdated “atrocities” in African nations for the sole purpose of marketing a specific organization’s name. And guess what? It doesn’t work.
Pingback: 5 reasons why #StopKony2012 is a bad way to feel better about yourself « Major Karnage
Pingback: Why You Should Feel Awkward About the ‘Kony2012′ (Video) « Nepal – the country of the Mt. Everest and the Buddha
Pingback: KONY 2012 – Where are we going? « She Is On Her Way
Pingback: Living in a War-Zone in Uganda? | Kabiza Wilderness Safaris
Pingback: Kony 2012 – Get past the Misgivings for the Charity & support the Cause, if not Kony there are plenty of Bad guys out there to oppose « True Conspiracies
The guy is trying to make his project known worldwide. Who wouldn’t? The intentions are to stop Kony by making him “famous.” Wouldn’t you want well known people advertising your ideas? The point is to get the word out there. So how is this project misleading? As a matter of fact, the guy is a genius. He might make millions off of this project. And so what? You can do that..He is promoting peace not hate. I feel like your accusations are nothing more than an ironic attempt to make yourself “famous” by opposing a successful positive idea with your pessimistic blog typing skills. Stop Hating.
Who ever wrote this article should be a ashamed of themselves….can’t say whether your just ignorant or stupid…to even think your are Ugandan is even more disturbing. What have you done for this country. You have no clue what is going on in northern Uganda do you? Have you even been t northern Uganda before? You say Kony is no longer in northern Uganda. True. But do you know how many times he has been chased into neighboring countries and to later re-surface and attack people who are trying to re-build their lives. This is not about arresting kony only…this is about re-building people’s lives…bringing the aid necessary to build schools,clinic,market places….help rehabilitate war causalities. But of course all you care about is the number of followers on your page. At least the people who made this video made a point of visiting Northern Uganda. I suggest you try it sometime…if your not too busy siting behind your laptop and eating ice cream!
Dial down the anger. I have a long and personal history with the North, I am from West Nile Madi and also have a personal stake in what happens. I ordinarily would not rush to display my “conflict credentials” or such about after 12 years as a Ugandan journalist and considerable time on the issues of this conflict I recognise what anger and frustration can do to conversations about its end.
Uganda has struck oil, 2.5 to 6 billion barrels, the spotlight is on your country and several high ranking government members are under investigation for taking bribes from a British Oil company, all oil contracts have been frozen as of the end of 2011.
My opinion is they could not take it by bribery, now they will take it by force, Kony 2012 may just be what the governemt needs to get the backing of the public for yet another military invasion.
You only need to look at the USA, their defense expenditure exceeds that of all other countries combined, they always have somebody to go after, always, and it seems Kony is next.
I really do hope I’m wrong, but history makes me cynical.
Pingback: Hollywood Supported Stop Kony Viral Video Sparks Backlash From Activists and Journalists – Hollywood Reporter | Mesa Christian Radio
Pingback: Kony 2012 Invisible Children charity hits back at critics over ‘immoral’ viral …
you got some fair points, and since you live in Uganda and do have the insights, whats your solution to the current issues in your country and the fact that Kony is still out there? (just a reminder, even though most of the ppl living in african knows who Kony is, it doesn’t mean that the rest of the world does)
tl;dr they told white lies
but seriously, media and reports in a negative light always get more attention.. thats why they write them – extremely formative of everything wrong yet hardly ever as informative on the rite..they will use words and statements and as much information they can to get their story trending..sound familiar? their using the same tactics that they are fighting against. fire with fire.
So why not support IC, regardless their bent truth and exaggerated stories being immoral their long term goal is a good one and will probably never be completed until this world is perfect, their mid term and short term goals have already been so widely accepted that it’s about time the media switches their P.O.V into pure support for them to get attention and views.
It is easy to point out the negatives in something.. had IC had any idea how big this would of gotten I’m sure they would of made a resource center where they back all their claims and answer all your questions.. oh wait.. http://invisible.tumblr.com/ – http://www.theresolve.org/ There are more then these two – Google is your friend. try to stipulate a common ground where anyone who is against this, can share something with those who are with it – how about a common hatred for misguided information? sounds good to me cuz I’m ignant as heck and don’t need getting stupider!
There are so many great causes out their that need your support, but, if your like me and instantly switch off from something that hasn’t grabbed you the way KONY 2012 has – just keep it in the back of your mind that all the good you are doing for this cause will have a ripple affect that will eventually reach these causes. They’ve been suffering for decades, but thanks to this movement, as long as it is kept in a positive light, the point on the timeline where they will be fixed has drastically came earlier.
Everything in your post is up to date and relevant, and it is very well written and informative. now can we have the report of the same caliber highlighting the good side please?
I am glad that a saw the video, because I did not know who Joseph Kony was before. I understand that there is more to it, there always is, but it’s a good thing making people more aware.
And to all who criticize, what is your solution? How come so many people had no idea about this?
Best regards,
Moa
from Sweden
I agree with you. Invisible Children is a young organization founded by ordinary people with high school diplomas and humble degrees and no real substantial experience with business or charity or campaign objectives.
With that in mind, I can’t have the unfair expectation that it is the most frugal, efficient, and diligent charity out there. However, I didn’t know who Kony was before Invisible Children, and I might have been far more ignorant, having no cognizance of the war crimes and atrocities that took place in Uganda, even if it was so long ago.
I just can’t understand the vastness of criticism towards the campaign. Nobody is perfect; at least this gives people a vessel through which to help out those who need helped.
Whether or not it’s an opportunity for whites and westerners to “feel good about themselves” is, to me, irrelevant. If another person is benefitting from it, then whether you feel good about yourself or not for it shouldn’t be of concern.
Lastly, I don’t see the campaign as particularly condescending or patronizing to the people of Uganda. If a larger and more powerful nation was taking this approach at benefiting parts of my country, the USA, I would be okay with it. It’s not a hit at Ugandan’s intelligence or capability.
I understand criticism of a good cause but unless it provides or encourages a better cause, it’s superfluous.
Peace
S. Taylor
Bygone era? Huh, is that what 5 years is an era now, wow, since this campaign isn’t making Kony famous like you claim (though many people I know just now heard of him from the video.) Also I would like to address the issue of the grown children, obviously by being abducted they aren’t in stasis but that doesn’t mean Kony isn’t constantly repopulating his child army (which he is), and why is it that you have an issue with those children growing up and fighting back? Also how do you hunt something with “some success” you either catch it or you don’t. I hunted 5% of Kony today, sorry that’s not how it works. Last and possibly most important, why address that others getting involved don’t know the issues at hand (and I don’t see what issue makes child abduction okay), but than fail to provide those issues? Your article provides no truth, evidence, or solid arguement against Invisible Children.
Pingback: Kony 2012 video: Joseph Kony's capture won't include casualities, Invisible Children filmmaker says | News | National Post
Well Mr. OPI-AIYA IZAMA, I wouldn’t have read your article or post without that campaign.
Pride and apathy seem to really rule in your part of the world in this matter. You should welcome
any help in resolving this nightmare and making that black hole a beautiful, safe place to live. That’s all these well meaning modern day ‘colonialists’ want. End this cottage industry of the 4000 plus ‘elite’ joint force military and you can work to heal and cure the problems you face. Productive energy is what is being offered. Take it where you will. It’s so ridiculous to hear someone from Foreign Affairs castigate I.C. because there aren’t 30,000 ACTIVE child soldiers but that that is mearly the quantity abducted and weaponized over 30 years. You should wait five more years right? Be Bop, NYC
You may be right about one thing. One of my mentors once said that African intellectuals are caught in a dilemma of pragmatism or idealism. I totally see the truth in that.
I don’t know if that’s an African intellectual problem so much as a *human* problem…
Pingback: African Critics of Kony Campaign Hear Echoes of ‘The White Man’s Burden’ Rhonn Mitchell Rhonn Laighton Mitchell
/* What does it profit to market the infamy of a man already famous for his crimes and whose capture is already on the agenda? */
Who can say? At any given moment, there are a large number of horrible things happening in this world that I am utterly helpless to do a single thing about. Couldn’t do anything about Kony when I first learned about him and the LRA back in high school, for instance. Still can’t do anything now. Can’t do anything now about Syria, or Yemen, or Bahrain.
Sometimes, I just think the only moral course of action available to me – at all – is to at least be aware of what’s happening and what has happened in the world. If something like that happened to me, I’d at least want other people to know about it. Maybe that’s all we do in this world. Give due to the already dead.
What I like about the IC film is that it got a big percentage of the world to know about the Kony problem. Yes, Kony is not in northern Uganda but he is still doing the same things in neighboring countries and he always re-mobilizes from neighboring countries and return to make our life hell again in Gulu and northern districts. So, while we argue, pictures from bygone era, let’s remember Kony is still out whole. Let’s stop the shallow -mindedness of merely looking at now that there is a semblance of peace in northern Uganda and let’ think the bigger picture. If Kony crossed over to Gulu now, the kids WILL be back at the Gulu bus park and other shop veranda as in the IC film and with immediate effect. Do you want to start thinking about that only when Kony is back? This is always the challenge in Africa, trying to think solutions only when the problem is here, when even thinking is hard because of the terror. Why not prevent it? I think that is what the IC film is calling for. PREVENTION of the return of Kony to terrorize Acholi children and community. TRUE 100% that the solution they suggest CAN’T work. But what are you going to suggest and/or start up that works? I believe the the publicity about who Kony is, is what I take as positive from that film. Again TRUE some people have known about Kony for decades but haven’t done anything because they are not in position to do anything. But also give room for those who haven’t known and have just know from this video-and these are many too. I am an Acholi and there are places I have tried to talk about our northern Uganda Kony challenge and have been looked at like am from mars BECAUSE all people out there know is that Uganda is now a peaceful democratic country. Even if all the IC film ever achieve is calling the world to witness, I am okay with that. Let the world know that Uganda is not as peaceful and as democratic and it is marketed out there by gov’t tools. NOW LET’S HEAR SOMEONE CLAIM THEY NEVER KNEW! Plus, I am puzzled and saddened if there are people out there critiquing IC for using bygone pictures and adding that Kony is not a problem now in northern Uganda because he is in Congo, Southern Sudan and Central Africa. PLEASE PEOPLE, what does this imply? So, don’t you care that he is still out there (and in for Congo, Southern Sudan and Central Africa) and doing what he did to Acholi children? Acholi people? Kony is still at large moving freely between Congo, South Sudan, Central Africa, all places very close to northern Uganda and he will return to northern Uganda if not intersected now. And that’s what IC is drawing attention to. Now we know they solution is not practical, OBVIOUSLY, so let’s brainstorm as planet earth for THE SOLUTIONS. Again TRUE, we should be making these films but we don’t have support systems. No national art funds so what options would we have to make this film and market it, turn for funding support to the same west we don’t like. S.A took charge of its truth and reconciliation justice and theatre even creating an arts fund because there was political will-internal political will. The Acholi tragedy doesn’t have any internal political will and let’s stop pretending. Of course the gov’t is also a problem in the Acholi tragedy, as much a problem as Kony and his LRA team. But obviously this isn’t something IC could have in their film otherwise it would be risking their work in the country. I was listening to Milton Allimadi’s speech posted on facebook where he points fingers at the gov’t tools so directly and my whole family went like: of course this is something you can only say from out of the country. Here no one would say that because of fear for their lives. And looking at the video of that DARING speech on facebook, only Acholi people are liking it and yet the Ugandans making the most noise about the IC film’s negativity are not even Acholi people. Comments from most Acholi people about the IC film are objective-while they critique the solution IC is suggestion (military intervention, which we have had enough of), they also recognize IC’s contribution to publicizing the tragedy, school construction and children’s scholarship etc in the region. Unlike those who are just not seeing anything positive about the IC film…..It is like while we are accusing IC of looking for fame, we are also looking for fame by rubbishing everything about IC. SAD! SAD! SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!
Perhaps the greatest atrocity is teaching these children that they spread this carnage by the power of the Holy Spirit to purify the “unrepentant,” twisting Christianity into a religion of horror to their victims. It is spiritual warfare at its very worst, and it could not be more satanic. . .
Under threat of death, LRA child soldiers attack villages, shooting and cutting off people’s lips, ears, hands, feet, or breasts, at times force-feeding the severed body parts to victims’ families. Some cut open the bellies of pregnant women and tear their babies out. Men and women are gang-raped. As a warning to those who might report them to Ugandan authorities, they bore holes in the lips of victims and padlock them shut. Victims are burned alive or beaten to death with machetes and clubs. The murderous task is considered properly executed only when the victim is mutilated beyond recognition and his or her blood spatters the killer’s clothing.
In 2008, Michael Gerson shared this horror story in The Washington Post:
A friend, the head of a major aid organization, tells how his workers in eastern Congo a few years ago chanced upon a group of shell-shocked women and children in the bush. A militia had kidnapped a number of families and forced the women to kill their husbands with machetes, under the threat that their sons and daughters would be murdered if they refused. Afterward the women were raped by more than 100 soldiers; the children were spectators at their own private genocide.
This is ultimately the work and trademark of a single man: Joseph Kony, the most carnivorous killer since Idi Amin.
I think most of the criticism of the Kony 2012 is unwarranted.
The video clearly states that it covers a period of 9 years (since the creators first went to Uganda) and clearly showed with a graphic that Kony had moved out of Uganda.
It gave a positive note of the rebuilding of Uganda (in a slick montage no less) asking for donations to their Ugandan projects separately from the campaign to catch Kony. It showed that they were winning the battle against the LRA in the region (emphasizing the Radio network that IC built) and the positive rehabilitation of former child soldiers returned from the LRA.
It showed the US advisors assisting the Ugandan Army, emphasising they weren’t there to engage in combat.
It’s endorsed by the chief prosecutor of the ICC and Human Rights Watch.
“These campaigns don’t just lack scholarship or nuance. They are not bothered to seek it.” Hold on, they interviewed the chief prosecutor of the ICC in the video. Who has a more “nuanced” knowledge of Joseph Kony than he does?
It has a white POV, because the market they wanted to capture was white college kids.
It’s actually a pretty amazing campaign, it should be applauded imo. Obviously they’re not creating foreign policy in a video, and the situation faced by the UN and US personnel on the ground is very complicated. But, so what? I don’t see the point of an ICC if the international community isn’t even going to bother to assist in the capture of the worlds most wanted war criminal.
If you have a problem with this campaign, you should apply that criticism equally to all Western based NGO’s. All of these charities have a “hero complex”. In fact I think that IC’s approach is far superior to many “on the ground” exclusive NGO’s.
I find it ridiculous that this video is being accused of “disempowering” African voices. African voices that no one had heard before, but that have been heard thanks to this video. Ironic much?
And finally:
“policy types in Washington DC whose access to information and profiles of issues is as limited.”
You mean, the US state Department???
Glad you are taking an interest in this. I wrote a paper on the ICC in Africa and would not describe Moreno Ocampo has having nuanced knowledge of the issue. In any event is first verdict ever is expected on Wednesday at the Hague. It is the case of Thomas Lubanga also accused of using child soldiers. Policy choices in this area have been researched to death in fact. I think criticism of the video is about what it excludes and chooses to focus on. African voices are not unheard, they are disempowered by someone choosing to tell their own version. Indeed those of us who reject foreign aid in principle do so because it is a dogma unto itself and displaces other forms of interaction between Africa and the rest of the world.
While you are at it you may want to know that since 2008, the most violence against children has happened in South Sudan. Massive pogroms between rival tribes may have claimed the lives of over 7000 people there. Its worth knowing because keeping the context in mind is very relevant to the solutions one can come up with. One of the benefits I must admit of the video is that here we are discussing the broader context. I hope your interest stays. Thank you.
Pingback: The Lede Blog: African Critics of Kony Campaign See a ‘White Man’s Burden’ for the Facebook Generation | World News Portal
Angelo, I agree, a responsible approach involves carefully weighing up the merits of any mass media advocacy programs. However, I disagree with your conclusion that the Kony 2012 campaign is misleading, neo-colonial or lacking any objective basis.
Yes, the campaign creates a moral dualism of a good and bad. But how else are you to judge the crimes committed by Kony and the leadership of the LRA? Are you suggesting that the crimes committed by Kony are ambiguous? Of course not. And neither does the prosecution team for the International Criminal Court.
And what of your notion that because 6 years has passed these crimes – are of a “bygone era” are no more? Are you suggesting that perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity should not be prosecuted after such a brief interlude in time? And what of the victims of the atrocities that continue to live with the physical and psychological traumas created by the LRA? Do they have a right for the instigator of these crimes to be held to account? Should we not ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted as a means to dissuade would-be perpetrators in the future?
Your assertion that the dualism created by the film clip was of white as good and black as bad is disappointing. Unlike you I saw the message of the campaign as one of empowerment. The campaign’s immediate target audience is Americans. Not because there is something superior about Americans but because this is the home country from where Jason Russell and his friends are from. Jason was obviously touched by his experience in Uganda and his friendship with Jacob. Can’t you respect that? Why is it so difficult to see that Jason just wants to help. Why does everything have to become a white vs black; coloniser vs colonised thing? When can we see each other just as fellow human beings who feel compassion for another and seek to help another in a time of need?
I believe Kony 2012 is an attempt to motivate and inspire ordinary people that they can make a difference to the lives of others. I believe that anything that gets Generation C to take political action that aims at furthering the work of the International Criminal Court and international law is a good thing.
I am quite surprised that a journalist like yourself who has risked much for free speech can only see the negative in this campaign. Angelo I respect you for your courage as a journalist in Uganda. I wish you well in all you do in helping to put the spotlight on fellow human beings situations. I also hope you can see that the Kony 2012 campaign, despite all its flaws, like the flaws of any campaign or any human endeavour is based on good intention, good strategy and it will God-willing achieve the result of making this world a safer place by ensuring perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity are held to account.
Thank you for your candid comments. As you may know from my past work I long have had reservations about the ICC and international justice as is constructed. I was one of the first to consciously object to Uganda’s referral of Joseph Kony in fact. But that is a conversation for another day.
The LRA is not the only thing going on in Uganda. 100 million misled to think there is conflict and war in Uganda is pretty serious don’t you think?
I completely agree with you, Angelo. 100 million people outside Uganda were misled by a video made by an American NGO and now millions of non-Ugandans are expressing strong opinions in support of, or debating the merits of going after Kony. Having travelled and worked in developing countries myself, the first lesson you learn, if you have any cultural sensitivity whatsoever, is to LISTEN. It saddens me that people outside Uganda do not understand this very fundamental point, and are quick to prescribe solutions. Even worse, when presented with facts from Ugandan people, that the video was blatantly misleading, want to argue the point with them! For goodness’ sake, Ugandan people surely know their country better than we do! Most of us have never set foot on the African continent. Do you realise, people, that the video was shot in 2003?
The bottom line is that Ugandan people have the right to frame the debate and to make decisions within their own communities and as a nation, in this post-conflict era, rather than swallowing the opinions of non-Africans. Perosnally, Angelo, I think you have the patience of a saint to respond so politely and graciously to all of the non African “experts” coming to this post. My 2 cents’ worth to all fellow non-Africans is LISTEN UP!
As the Nigerian-American writer, Teju Cole tweeted with regard to the American public’s outrage at Kony, and determination to “help” Uganda:
“Feverish worry over that awful African warlord. But close to 1.5 million Iraqis died from an American war of choice. Worry about that.”
Kia Mistilis
journalist,
Athens, Greece.
Hi Stewart Mills.
I am also Australian and originally from Sydney. Perhaps if you are unconvinced by the informed criticisms of Kony2012 made by African people living in Africa, you may be interested in this short video response by the independent Australian media org, The Juice Media. For other visitors to this post, please know that not all Australians have swallowed the Kony2012 video as factual or helpful to the people of Uganda, who like people around the world, would like to live in peace.
Stewart, never forget that the video advocates military intervention, ie war. Perhaps you would not be so quick to support the video’s message if it was our country, Australia, that an NGO was suggesting be invaded via their viral video. You cannot dispute the IC’s advocacy of violent intervention, it is clearly stated in their Kony2012 video. The clear message I hear from listening to African people generally and Ugandans specifically, is that people want peace and they do not believe that will be achieved with U.S military intervention.
http://thejuicemedia.com/
Pingback: #StopInvisibleChildren | The Platform
Pingback: More On Kony 2012 - The Daily What
Pingback: KONY 2012: Something to do - Converge
Pingback: KONY (continued) …long post, but really good stuff « Bucs' Blade Classroom Blog
Pingback: A Child’s Wisdom About Kony 2012 |
Pingback: American Students: The Saviours? « Revisiting the Kony 2012 Campaign