Saturday, March 10, 2012
The Week of Kony
I started to see Kony2012 posters back in January. My husband and I were totally confused and thought, "Kony? Is it a movie?" It was not until this week, with a big ol' fat full moon in Virgo on top of Mars and a building Mercury/Pluto square that something finally popped into the Zeitgeist. Kony 2012.
In truth this is more about Uranus's journey in Aries which started last year and is responsible for the revolution in north africa. Basically, we all know it but if we have ever doubted it, look no further than Kony2012---Social Media will change the world!
Joseph Kony is the Uganda War lord who has been stealing chldren from their families, turning them into soldiers and using them to murder tens of thousands of children and adults. He has gotten away with it for thirty years because the regular joe does not even know his name. For example, my husband and I better known as Mr & Mrs Regular Joe.
Cut to Jason Russel who went viral this week with his short movie, Kony 2012.
The group's 30-minute video, which was released Monday, had more than 32 million views on YouTube by Thursday. The movie is part of an effort called KONY 2012 that targets Kony and the LRA.
Here's the VIDEO.
"Kony is a monster. He deserves to be prosecuted and hanged," said Col. Felix Kulayigye, the spokesman for Uganda's military.
But Kulayigye said that Kony's forces — once thousands strong — have been so degraded that he no longer considers Kony a threat to the region. Because of the intensified hunt for Kony, his forces split into smaller groups that can travel the jungle more easily.
Experts estimate that the LRA now has only about 250 fighters. Still, the militia abducts children, forcing them to serve as soldiers or sex slaves, and even to kill their parents or each other to survive. The LRA now operates in Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
Uganda, Invisible Children and (hash)stopkony were among the top 10 trending terms on Twitter among both the worldwide and U.S. audience on Wednesday night, ranking higher than New iPad or Peyton Manning. Twitter's top trends more commonly include celebrities than fugitive militants.
Jolly Okot was abducted in 1986 by the militia group that later became the LRA. The then-18-year-old could speak English so was valuable to the militants. She was also forced to have sex.
Today, Okot is the Uganda country director for Invisible Children, in charge of 105 employees. She said the group is helping 800 people affected by LRA violence to attend high school and university. She said the program has given hope to kids who previously dropped out of the education system.
"The most exciting thing about this film is that I'm so grateful that the world has been able to pay attention to an issue that has long been neglected," Okot said. "I think it is an eye-opener and I think this will push for Joseph Kony to be apprehended, and I think justice will get to him."
Here's the link to a story.
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I was at first excited by this social media campaign. Until I dug a little deeper and found that the team behind Invisible Children got a big chunk of the story incorrect, are being less than transparent about where their nonprofit money is spent (a good deal of it is going in their pockets), and have strong ties to evangelism orgs. http://bit.ly/wNc9mo
ReplyDeleteWhile I salute the idea of using social media for good, I caution that we not act as lemmings and we use it responsibly and question hidden agendas.
FishGirl, I was hesitant to weigh in too strongly with my own opinion for exactly your reasons. I didn't know enough to say anything more than the influence of kony2012 and www and social media and Uranus in Aries. Thanks for the update!.
ReplyDeleteOh, and now it has gotten even yuckier.
ReplyDeleteI guess Jason Russel was just arrested for well, stuff that I shouldn't really mention...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/jason-russell-kony-2012-naked-mental-hospital.html