Hopefully you've seen it trending on twitter, but if not, watch this okay it's 30 minutes of your life.

 

If you're a little sensitive like myself, beware.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc&feature=g-all&context=G24df922FAAAAAAAABAA]KONY 2012 - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks for posting this! Really glad you're raising awareness!

 

KONY2012

I was about to post this. I came here purely to post it. Watching the video now. It's incredible.

 

STOP KONY

copy/pasted from a tumblr post:

 

Not only are their spending habits as a non profit horrible (Mainly cause the organization has so far only been successful as sending rich white kids to Africa)

 

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12429

 

But If you watch their first documentary, its basically a bunch of privileged kids running into Africa to try and “Save” Africans.

 

http://www.wrongingrights.com/2009/03/worst-idea-ever.html

 

Which putting aside the orientalism and blatant racism aside, the problem with that is they have NO CLUE what they are doing. The end up using American sympathy to pressure the Ugandan government to try and meet with Kony to work out a truce, he agrees, and they celebrate as saviors of Africa. The Ugandan government would not have done that had a bunch of white kids caused such a ruckuses, Kony ended up using the cease fire as a way to build up more troops, and shift his military, resulting in the rape, killing, and kidnapping of thousands of people. Their second move was to pressure the OBama admin to send troops there… which derailed a second peace process and resulted once again in the killing and raping of hundreds of people in retaliation.

 

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136673/mareike-schomerus-tim-allen-and-koen-vlassenroot/obama-takes-on-the-lra

 

More reading-

 

http://ilto.wordpress.com/2006/11/02/the-visible-problem-with-invisible-children/

 

http://c2052482.r82.cf0.rackcdn.com/images/737/original/FY11-Audited%20Financial%20Statements.pdf?1320205055

 

If you have anything to add to this, or would like to correct me on anything please feel free to hit me up.

 

 

 

I'm not really sure what to believe... plus i'm not very educated on the subject so this is looking from an unbiased POV

Seems to me that he was raping and killing no matter what any government said or did so how just exactky have these people trying to stop him caused this? If I was one of those kids I wouldn't give two shits if the people trying to stop Kony were rich white kids who only wanted to pat themselves on the back. I would just want him stopped and for me to not live in fear. I'd gladly give them a pat.

Some of this whole business bothers me because what I've seen here is people just liking the page and linking the video. They're probably not actually going to go to an event about it. Some will forget by the time the event is on. Feels like a lot of people doing just tiny things and then going 'well that's my good deeds for the day! I don't look like such an uncaring person now :awesome:'

 

Also, I am slightly skeptical about the whole thing. I haven't been able to watch the video due to my lack of sound, but the summary on the website was very brief and not really descriptive...

I personally do not trust the Invisible Children organization. I've seen them marketed and advertised to no end, yet have heard of no success on their part, straight from Ugandans or elsewhere. They have next to no transparency in the dealings of their group, and their FAQ and website offers only very basic information.

 

Though, any time a large organization tries to start a grassroots movement with catchy slogans, bold colors, and blocky letters, it kind of freaks me out anyway. :disappointed: It really just reminds me of OWS, getting a lot of people to do something that really won't do anything. I saw a bunch of posters for a strip club birthday party last week, and it didn't make me any more inclined to go. ~lol~

 

They also seem kind of pro-military intervention, and I think we all remember the last time the US got involved in foreign humanitarian efforts.

Moar controversy:

 

 

Invisible Children has been condemned time and time again. As a registered not-for-profit, its finances are public. Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they haven’t had their finances externally audited. But it goes way deeper than that.

 

The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money funds the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission.

 

Still, the bulk of Invisible Children’s spending isn’t on funding African militias, but on awareness and filmmaking. Which can be great, except that Foreign Affairs has claimed that Invisible Children (among others) “manipulates facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA’s use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony — a brutal man, to be sure — as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil.” He’s certainly evil, but exaggeration and manipulation to capture the public eye is unproductive, unprofessional and dishonest.

 

 

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

There have to be better organizations out there for helping these kids specifically. :disappointed:

There have to be better organizations out there for helping these kids specifically. :disappointed:

 

 

I guess the way I see it, I don't want to sit around and wait for a different organization to come along. It's been going on too long at this point, and Invisible Children seems to be taking the lead in this.

 

I don't doubt they spend a lot of money on travel and marketing. I know they aren't perfect, no company or charity is. They did however, put enough pressure on the US government to send soldiers to protect some of these areas. That's a first, and I see it as some sort of accomplishment.

 

I think you can support this cause without giving money (if that worries you). There are tons of politicians you can write to listed on their website. It's free, and you can still feel worthwhile doing something.

I guess the way I see it, I don't want to sit around and wait for a different organization to come along. It's been going on too long at this point, and Invisible Children seems to be taking the lead in this.

 

I don't doubt they spend a lot of money on travel and marketing. I know they aren't perfect, no company or charity is. They did however, put enough pressure on the US government to send soldiers to protect some of these areas. That's a first, and I see it as some sort of accomplishment.

 

Exactly what I'm thinking! And besides, they don't really advertize that much about their organization anyway - the point of the video is, as they say, for people to help making Kony famous.

Exactly what I'm thinking! And besides, they don't really advertize that much about their organization anyway - the point of the video is, as they say, for people to help making Kony famous.

 

:nod: I won't join their organization, or buy their stuff, but I shared the video, because I agree that exposing Kony is a way to fight him and so people need to know about him.

I've read up on Invisible Children and I have to say they are terrible people.

Published.

 

 

change, now.

:nod: I won't join their organization, or buy their stuff, but I shared the video, because I agree that exposing Kony is a way to fight him and so people need to know about him.

 

Same here!

 

But yeah, of course the probability for this idea/plan/whatever to actually work is a little shaky. But might as well share the video and inform people. I'm pretty sure everyone who doesn't live under a rock is familiar with Kony now, and that's good!

Exactly what I'm thinking! And besides, they don't really advertize that much about their organization anyway - the point of the video is, as they say, for people to help making Kony famous.

 

No, what's bad is that is all they do. They tour high schools in the US, sell their products, and advertise. That's it.

 

Here's some stuff.

 

I just really want you guys to be careful about this organization...this group seems to be much about "raising awareness" rather than taking solid action, and supporting further military action, which would probably not be cool.

Invisible Children is really active at my college. They sell a lot of stuff, and when I ask the students who are involved with them, they have no idea where the money goes. For some reason they weird me out.

I know I'm going to get slated for this, but opinions are just that for a reason. But this goes a little further.

 

"To everyone that has jumped on the KONY2012 train, please research this organization before you get involved. The LRA and Joseph Kony are both a huge problem, but an organization who only donates 31% of their funds to fixing the problem and spends the rest on first class plane tickets to Uganda and their movie making isn't going to solve it."

 

Please read

I did a huge fundraiser for Invisible Children as my big senior community project in high school. I later realized that it was the stupidest thing I've ever done.

 

I'm glad more people are finally finding out about Kony. But I'm upset at the way they're finding it out.

Bored?

 

This is kinda interesting. A friend of mine posted it on twitter.

 

I've read up on Invisible Children and I have to say they are terrible people.

 

YUP.

 

This thing is a fucking fad.

 

In 2005, Invisible Children sponsors came to my school and they showed us a video that was almost identical to this one now, and no one cared. But now that everyone is being all awesome social activists, it's cool.

I only heard about Kony yesterday, at first I thought it sounds great them helping people and raising awareness etc. :nice:

Now I think it's disgusting that they spend so little on what they are supposedly all about and spend so much on luxuries such as first class flights.

"The capture or killing of Joseph Kony was "probably months, if not weeks away" as the African militaries slowly closed the net, he concluded. "Now, with this glare of publicity, it's much harder to say."

 

Read the article here

Sorry, this needed to be posted..

 

Sorry, this needed to be posted..

 

 

yes