A new hot topic has arisen not only around the world, but also in the AHS community- Kony 2012. Kony 2012 is a promotion by the Non-Profit Organization Invisible Children that brings awareness to the crimes committed by Joseph Kony against children, thousands of whom he forced to become soldiers and prostitutes. Facebook and Twitter have been filled with posts from AHS students about the video and many have taken to setting their default pictures as the campaign’s poster.
Director Jason Russell made the 30-minute video on YouTube that discusses the experiences he encountered in Uganda, Africa, that lead him to have the desire to increase the popularity of the topic.
Kony, leader of the Ugandan party Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has been abducting kids for nearly 26 years and turning girls, around the age of 5 and older, into sex slaves and boys into soldiers. The boys are forced to either kill their own parents or to disfigure or injure other children’s faces. According to Invisible Children, Kony’s main purpose for doing all this is to gain power.
“I think he needs to be stopped,” freshman Leah Turner said.
Kony is named number one on the list of the world’s worst criminals by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is currently trying to prosecute him and other people accused of doing wrong in the world. He is prosecuted for crimes against humanity and war crimes against the people of Uganda. The ICC is also prosecuting him for murder, sexual slavery, abductions and rape.
Russell was inspired to make the video after a trip to Uganda. He met a little boy named Jacob, who was a victim of Kony’s political party. He explained how he had to run away from his home to hide from the rebels. Jacob is one of the 30,000 kids who have been victims of the destruction throughout Uganda.
Russell says that the only way to stop Kony is to make the world realize who he is and what he is doing, since 99 percent of the world population isn’t aware of what he does. The news of Kony’s action have swept through social media sites, as #StopKony and #Kony2012 became worldwide trends in the days after the publication of the official “Stop Kony” video. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Chris Brown were just a few of the many who tweeted about this and promoted their followers to watch the video and sign the petition to help stop Kony.
“I think that it’s not too late to make a difference and we can stop Kony with the support of many Americans,” sophomore Kowthar Said said.
Russell and his friends tried to bring this rising topic to the government, but it was rejected because it does not affect our national security or U.S. financial interests. That’s when Russell thought of another idea and decided to show his videos from Uganda to people here in the U.S so that a spotlight could be put on the situation. The slogan of the campaign is “Make him famous.”
Invisible Children says the money raised through this will be used to rebuild schools back in Uganda.
“I think that Kony is a very horrible person and the only way to stop him is to buy the action kit which supports the foundation a lot,” sophomore Jennifer Lee said.
Views have quickly climbed from a few thousand to four million on YouTube, and ‘likes’ have risen from only a couple hundred thousand to one million; Invisible Children has grown its audience in just a matter of days.
To watch the much discussed video, go to:
