Invisible Children

Ok, I laffed too but the backlash ain’t as funny…

Wednesday morning, like many folks I watched the KONY 2012 video and spread the word, as I saw fit… by that evening it had already become internet fodder for ridicule… These are the 5 things folks have complained about Invisible Children’s effort to spread awareness of Joseph Kony…

1. Why are they “all of a sudden” chasing Joseph Kony? Nothing happens overnight… nothing. I remember Phonte & Zo discussing on a message-board once that, a lot of the “new artists” the average consumer “discovers” are definitely not new… It takes 3-5 years before that artists reaches you… Translation… this is “new” to us… b/c we weren’t “in the loop” with their efforts when it started in 2003…
2. But why Kony, there’s plenty other warlords doing the same, plus he’s not even in Uganda now? I think the 30 minute doc does a pretty good job answering this… Jacob. They met Jacob… and for whatever reason decided they were going to go after the guy that did this to him and his people… Yeah, it could have be any other cat doing the same… but they chose Kony… it was THEIR mission… Who’s yours? As for the “he’s not even in Uganda anymore”… does it mean since he moved onto other nations they should stop hunting him down?
3. “It’s flat-out propaganda bullshit…” I love this line because it provides the notion that the speaker of said line… is knowledgeable enough to know when there’s “bullshit” about… Yet, it couldn’t be further from the truth… When I started on.us.tees, there was a guy named Steve Jennings… I forget how we crossed paths… but he saw some of my t-shirts (Do Better Movement, Raise You Kids, Get It Crackin) and believed my intentions of selling “shirts with a purpose” aligned with his organization, zyOzy… a foundation that “creates and amplifies high impact cause initiatives, taking direct action to support sustainable; water, food, education, health, shelter”… from there I met Emmanuel Jal, co-founder of Gua Africa and former Sudanese child soldier… His organization’s goals are to “overcome the effects of war & poverty” in both Sudan & Kenya… The overriding theme for both of them was to spread, promote and publicize their cause… Which is something that the Invisible Children group has done a damn good job of doing… I’d hate to see the backlash for zyOzy or GUA Africa simply because they were successful getting their message across…
4. “Invisible Children”, Really??? Oh, they’re invisible now!?!… Frank answer, Yes… Invisible = “unable to be seen, ignored or not taken into consideration”… Just like Kony… when most of us went to sleep Sunday night, I’m willing to wager there were few, if any, prayers for the kids of Uganda… however, I know folks were looking forward to what Apple was going to announce Wednesday… The name is completely appropriate for situation at hand… If we ALL had gave a shit about these kids a decade ago… then yeah… Invisible would be a bad choice… but since not many saw… then I suppose visibility of the situation was a concern…
5. Where’s the money going??? How come most of the money doesn’t go to the child soldiers??? One… first understand non-profits… and realized this… majority of the leg-work going into these efforts are done by US citizens… It costs MONEY to pay US citizens to do shit… If it didn’t we’d be making iPads in the backwoods of Tennessee… there’s a reason why China is cranking out those wondrous $600 plus doo-dads for $2.50/hr… 10 hours a day… 6 days a week… Two… if I’m not mistaken the mission clearly states to goal is to arrest Kony through use of US & International diplomatic measures… If you think it’s costs a lot pay the average US non-profit employee… How much do you think it costs to get US congressman to do anything? There’s a reason why Warren Buffet’s company NetJets spent 2.5M on lobbyist to pass favorable tax legislation… Real change takes real change*… The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t free… they had to hit them in the pockets before they let us sit in the front… Lastly, if their primary goal is to get Kony out the way… don’t expect them to ship food and clothes… although I’m sure they do so in some regard… but that’s not their mission… There’s plenty other “propaganda bullshit” organizations with that aim…

There are a few other comments/topics folks have raised… but all in all… it comes down to this…

Before you question the actions and intent of others, big or small…

…what the fuck are you doing about anything?

– do better…

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