Social media is a very powerful tool. For the first time in history people all over the world can share ideas, pictures, and videos. Through social networking sites that have over 750 million users like Facebook, people from all walks of lives share things with their communities everyday.
Invisible Childern, Inc. is a non-profit organization that is striving to make the world's worst criminals famous. The concept is that if the world's worst criminals are made into the same type of celebrity we see on the cover of magazines and head-lining popular blogs, then people can be made aware that they exist and the horrible crimes they commit.
Currently, Invisible Childern, Inc. has created a 27 minute video entitled "Kony2012" that is going viral about Joesph Kony, the Ugandan guerilla group leader of an organization called the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). For more than 20 years, Kony has abducted nearly 30,000 African childern. The abducted childern are forced to kill their parents, subjected to rape and sexual slavery, and forced to mutilate and kill civilian populations all in the name of Kony's warped version of "Christianity." Kony was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2005 and is listed as the world's worst criminal. His crimes transend politics and money, as they are against humanity and effect the lives of innocent childern by robbing them of their childhoods and forcing them to become war machines and sexual bargining tools.
While the validity of Invisible Childern, Inc. has been called into question (it is reported by some sources that only 31% of the proceeds go towards this cause and the rest of the proceeds remain in the pockets of the group's creators), the fact remains that the concept of making criminals famous spreads the word about who they are, their crimes, and envokes the masses to do something to stop them.
As the viral video states, "Nothing is More Powerful Than an Idea." Watch the moving video below.
I love this post. While I think the cause of KONY 2012 is worth while one, I don't think he is public enemy #1. Kony's rise to power is only possible due to the decade’s long destruction of this region’s infrastructure and organization by European and Western world powers. This has created the conditions allowing "small time" villains to rise to power by exploiting the already toppled and ravished communities. I definitely empathize with the plight of those suffering at the hands of Kony in Uganda, I know that arresting him will only allow another person to rise to power and do the same. I am not as much of an activist of this guy and I applaud his efforts but, I don't agree with making his villainy a celebrity because, it fuels the ambitions of others to follow his example. In a world where people are attracted to money, power, and respect, you advertise to impressionable people how much can be obtained by doing such things. Let's call it the Scarface effect. After Oliver Stone's 1983 release of the Scarface movie. Al Pachino's character was boosted into media and pop culture infamy. Then, the cycle of life imitating art, imitating life began to spiral out of control. So many people began to idolize this “celebrity” and follow the example of becoming a “cut-throat” druglord.
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