Kony 2012

I understand this isn't about gadgets or gizmos, but I feel like I need to say something about Kony 2012

Let me first say that any video about Uganda should not show a young white american child most of the video. Then, let me say that I do not support the Invisible Children organization and I'm not writing this to get into the details of their organization. My reasons for not supporting them are my own, and I refuse to bash any organization on this blog. Saying that, this video was posted on Youtube on March 5, 2012. For those of you who haven't seen it, I suggest watching it. It's only thirty minutes long. 

This video was made by the Invisible Children, which is a non-profit organization. The video is about a man named Joseph Kony. He is the worst living criminal and he abducts children and makes them kill their own parents. He calls the children he abducts the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). He takes girls and forces them to be sex slaves. He has taken well over 30,000 children and forced them to be soldiers in the LRA. He has been doing this for over 25 years and he still is out there taking children. 1.7 million people have been displaced from their homes because of this man.

He once was primarily in Uganda, but he has moved into other parts of Central Africa. He is still out there. Still taking children and killing people. Very few people knew about him before this week.

 I learned about Joseph Kony when I was in high school. I had a teacher that talked about him and other criminals like him. I've known about him for a while, and I knew very few others did. Which is why I was so surprised when I saw KONY2012 trending on twitter on Tuesday. I'm happy that people are finally noticing this horrible man. He does need to be arrested and brought to justice for his crimes, but I don't think trending his name on twitter is going to do that.

The movie says that he is invisible to the world, and for a long time, he was. The video aims to make Joseph Kony famous, so that we as citizens of the world will demand his arrest. The video wants us to unite as a people and make a difference. It says, "We can help make a change. We can make a difference."

They are right. We can make a change. We can make a difference. I think the popularity of the video in just two or three days has shown that. People have seen this video and they are outraged. They want him brought to justice. But saying something and wanting something isn't enough. People need to do more than just post it on Facebook and tweet about it on Twitter. We as a people, need to unite and tell our governments that this isn't right, and we will not stand for it.

We can donate to groups that will work to stop him, sure that helps. But we need to do more. We need to write to our senators, to our president, to people with power. We need to demand his arrest. If everyone in this country did this, he would be stopped immediately, so why is Joseph Kony still out there. Why has he been out there for years? Every child deserves to feel safe. I've done something. Will you?

Do some research before supporting any organization. Don't let people scam you. But people like this man need to be stopped.