Before I make the giant leap into the mass Invisible Children discourse, I have to provide a disclaimer to assure that my words are not interpreted out of the context of what I believe: I am NOT on either side. I am NOT anti-Invisible Children, nor am I an advocate for many of their campaigns. The volunteers, staff, and supporters of Invisible Children with whom I have interacted are some of the most passionate, caring, and strong-willed individuals I have had the pleasure of meeting. In many respects, Invisible Children has had a profoundly positive effect on the development of Northern Uganda for the last ten years. But over the last few years I have noticed that something is off. There seems to be this strictly linear equation implemented into the ideology of Invisible Children and their followers: social media + trendiness = “change the world” (which is currently probably the trendiest statement in existence). This equation can also be reversed: change the world + social media = trendiness. These equations have drawn a very vague line between those who yearn to see legitimate, sustainable change, and those who want thousands of friends to like their status.
Because Invisible Children has drawn this line so faintly, it’s impeccably easy to find yourself on the trendy side. That’s exactly where I was. And often times I still find myself there. I want to be a part of a movement. I want to be admired for fighting off the oppressors and appreciated for bringing justice to the world. And it wasn’t until I was asked very specific questions about myself and social justice that this line was even revealed. But I learned that it is crucial to recognize that this way of thinking makes these movements more about me than anyone else. KONY 2012 is often just tagline for individualized self-promotion. I know this because I used THE RESCUE for the same purpose three years ago. But if we are going to see a dramatic shift in the direction of Uganda, then we cannot afford to overlook our own social and emotional biases from the issue itself. We have connected them, and we must recognize the connection and figure out our own crap before we can enter into the realm of Ugandan social justice because it goes much deeper than Kony.
QUESTIONS
Both myself and my family has spent a significant amount of time living in Uganda, and in our time there we learned very quickly that in order to find ourselves ever promoting any kind of sustainable change within the communities, we have to ask questions first. A lot of questions. And the troubling aspect of this KONY 2012 movement is that the overwhelmingly controlling question of the campaign is “How do we get rid of Kony?” And people are blindly following this thought without any question. I fully agree that Kony is an awful man who has done awful awful things, but if you ever want to see legitimate change in Uganda, a lot more questions are to be asked, such as…
1. - Who is the President of Uganda? What is he like?
2. - Why does he support Invisible Children?
3. - Why did Joseph Kony start a rebel army 26 years ago?
4. - Why do you support Invisible Children? (Think of something different aside from “I want to change the world” and “saving African children.”)
5. - What happens after Kony is dead?
WE ALL WANT JUSTICE. We all want Uganda to see drastic change. But in order for this to happen we must start asking different questions. We must look at the root of the issues, because the fact of the matter is that as long as there is a President like Yoweri Musevini in office, there will always be men like Joseph Kony trying to overthrow them. Although I love the hearts and intentions of IC, I think they have a very surface level approach to issues of justice and consequently ignore and even SUPPORT more fundamental issues that pervade the entire country of Uganda with corruption and injustice.
Did you know that Musevini has had thousands of peaceful protestors tier gassed, and brutally beaten for walking to work instead of driving in protest rising gas prices? Did you know that Musevini has had many opposing party leaders beaten and imprisoned under false claims? Did you know that when the UK gave 70 million euros of financial aid to the country, Musevini spent 30 MILLION OF IT on a private jet while the entire country is facing devastating economic poverty? Did you know that during election season he openly bribes millions of citizens for their votes with a bag of rice? Did you know that the people are scared to speak about him in public because they are afraid of being killed? Did you know that Uganda’s military, the force which Invisible Children openly supports, has been countlessly accused of acts of rape and looting? (Oyston, Grant). Did you know that Kony’s intentions have always been to overthrow the Ugandan government? Like I said, Kony is an awful awful man who has done awful awful things that God can only forgive, but his Hitler-like celebrity status has indirectly awarded Musevini with a badge of honor and a pat on the back for putting up strong fight against Kony, and consequently, his actions are ignored. Unfortunately, culture and politics are the roots of this pervasive issue and if we view the country with strict, narrowly focused tunnel vision fixed upon Kony, then Uganda will never see the peace that they hope for.
Injustice is an infection that has spread throughout Uganda without any intention of healing itself. But the healing that is necessary will not come from killing Kony, nor will it come from you or me. We are only trendy bandaids put over an amputated leg. The true healing will come from the people of Uganda. Healing will come when we humbly accept our role as servants not saviors. We have yet to explore the possibility that the people of Uganda are fully capable of bringing justice to their country in the ways that they see fit. Our only purpose is to come alongside them, listen to them, and support them in their process of leading their country out of their brokenness.
