Remember when the only thing people were talking about was Kony? Remember when all the students, teachers, and friends would bring up the topic about how evil and insane Joseph Kony was? Or do you even remember the Kony 2012 video posted on Youtube by the Invisible Children?
It was only months ago, when people couldn’t speak to one another without bringing up the topic of Kony and the crimes going on in Uganda. Now people can not even remember the dates they were supposed to go out to wear their red t-shirts and put up posters across the town at night.
“People were supporting what they believed was a good cause. At that time it was appealing to their morality. I think it’s wonderful that people were trying to make a positive difference, but the fact that everyone has lost their interest shows that people only flock to what’s trending and popular. That I don’t approve of,” junior Rani Kaur said.
The 30 minute video, which immediately went viral, was directed by Jason Russell, who was inspired to make the video after his trip to Uganda. That is where he
met a little kid, named Jacob, who told the story of Kony and how he fled from the LRA.
Joseph Kony, the man behind the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which had been abducting kids for nearly 26 years. The LRA would turn girls, under the age of five and older into sex slaves and boys into soldiers. Once the boys were soldiers, the boys were forced to either kill their own parents or to fight with other child soldiers.
In the video, Russell explains that the only way to stop Kony and the LRA is to show the world his destruction due to the fact that 99 percent of the world wasn’t aware of his doings. The video posted on Youtube became a major hit as people all around the world became aware of Kony. Celebrities came to Twitter to spread the news by tweeting about Kony. Twitter exploded as #StopKony and #Kony2012 became a worldwide trends within minutes.
When this topic was presented to government officials by Russell and his friends, it was rejected. Some officials said it was not in the interest of the American government because it was not affecting our national security nor was it a financial issue. Since this proposal didn’t pass through, Russell thought of another plan.
They started a non-profit organization called Invisible Children and “Make him famous” which became the slogan of the campaign. The money raised in this organization went to rebuilding schools and towards the goal of capturing Kony and his LRA. People were encouraged to buy the Kony 2012 Action Kit, which included bumper stickers, buttons, a t-shirt, stickers, bracelets and posters. The website says 100 percent of the purchases go to the mission of the Invisible Children. However, the company’s financial statement says that nearly 40 percent of the money goes to travel expenses, salaries and film production.
“Cover the Night” was one of the ways Invisible Children wanted to make Kony famous. “Cover the Night” first started on April 20, 2012. On this day people were encouraged to go out at night and cover up the streets with Kony posters, which could be purchased through their website. Though Invisible Children was hoping “Cover the Night”in April would be more succesfull, the Twitter campaign went much better in promoting the cause. So what was the biggest reason people decicded not to participate in “Cover the Night?”
“I think it was ironic that “Cover the Night” was on 4/20 since it was the day we were supposed to be ‘saving’ Uganda from Kony,” junior Sara Khan said.
One of the biggest reasons for this delima is the fact that not everybody is still interested in fixing the problem. It has become a one hit wonder that reached its peak. However, people need to bring the cause back, because Kony is still alive and the LRA is still doing what they were created to do, people need to bring the trends back on Twitter and make everyone more aware.
Another big reason Cover the Night was not famous, was because of the Director Jason Russell. A couple days after the video went viral, Russell was taken into custody for lewd conduct by police. He was not arrested because a SDPD spokesperson said that he needed mental treatment. Because of Russell’s actions most people didn’t take the Kony problem too seriously.
