In Defense of Jason Russell, Invisible Children, and the KONY 2012 Campaign

Over the last few days, the KONY 2012 campaign video has become one of the most watched and shared videos on YouTube. I watched this video and as you can read from my last blog post, I was blown away by the documentary itself, but also by the message and how it was delivered. I knew a little about this conflict and these issues, not much at all, but enough to recognize some of the issues and consequences. I can say without pause that the tiny amount I knew was more than most Americans. By a landslide.

I won’t go into my constant frustration with American media and just how “American” it is. Global news isn’t nearly as in depth or covered as it should be, and it is even hard to find the details if you are looking for them. It isn’t truly the media that is to blame, we are only given what we ask for as a nation. We want quick snippets of the latest news, and we want mostly to know about things that pertain to our little corner of the globe.

So, this young filmmaker and activist, Jason Russell, has the audacity to go out and make an incredibly well crafted 29 minute documentary highlighting an issue that is close to his heart, and that he has fought for, mostly in obscurity, for nine years. Within this film, he also has the audacity to come up with a clever idea, harnessing the power of social media to try and make a small dent in an issue that the masses in the US know little about. I am sure he hoped for the best when all was said and done and his video would be posted. I am also quite sure he never knew what was coming, both the good and the the bad.

The video took off, spreading virally from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter the way cute animal videos and news blunder footage usually spreads—videos of no real consequence. People were moved to share this video, and at 29 minutes, people were still watching every second of it, taking it in, getting outraged, wanting to learn more, to help.

Jason Russell, how dare you!

I don’t care if every detail isn’t 100% factually backed by all the organizations out there trying to help Uganda. I don’t care if he glossed over some things, or inflamed some moments for theatrical affect. In the end, this isn’t a video about Jason Russell or some hidden personal agenda. It is a man and an organization who thought- let’s make a difference in the world. That is a huge undertaking. Where do you start? Are you careful or brazen? How do you start? Who will hear you?

With an undertaking this huge, are you going to offend some people or make others angry? Evidently, yes. Very angry. I will probably get a nice little stack of hate mail (via my email inbox) for saying this, but I honestly think that some of the organizations doing good work for the same or similar causes are all worked up over this documentary out of a good bit of jealousy. These organizations struggle every day to get the message out, to have their work be seen. And maybe they HAVE done more and done it better than Jason Russell. But here HE is getting all of this attention. Social media is powerful. Right now, I think more than any other moment, social media has become such a powerful tool in so many ways. Jason Russell is a gifted filmmaker and found a way to harness that power better than a lot of other people and organizations.

What angers me more than anything is this. Will this campaign alone solve all the problems? No. But tens of MILLIONS of people are aware of an issue that they knew nothing about last week. The ONLY reason we are talking about these atrocities right now is this campaign. And that is good. The ONLY reason that anyone is listening to the other organizations that are upset about this campaign is because of this campaign. This awareness will cause people to seek answers and find ways to help. Whether it is through Invisible Children (the organization that Jason Russell highlights in his film) or not, people will try and find ways to help now. And honestly, at the base of this campaign is nothing but people wanting to make a difference in the world. Are the people behind it perfect? No. Is there room to criticize? Always, I guess. Yesterday, Jason posted this from his twitter account: Gandhi said, "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

Jason Russell is a good man fighting a good fight. I believe that. While the internet and social media have power, it can be both good and bad. I have seen evidence of both in so many ways. I guess it is human nature to doubt and criticize, to want your voice to be heard above the fray. But, today, I hope that Jason Russell hears a few voices like mine that say, thank you. Thank you for raising awareness for dark places in the world that need a little light. Thank you for being one of those souls who does not sit back and just wish for peace and good things, but tries and keeps trying even when it all seems futile and hopeless.

I have said many, many times that my favorite quote in all the world is this one: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” This is also a quote from Gandhi. When I think of that quote, I think of all the things I wish I could do. I think of all the things I wish others would do. And now, a little part of me will always think of Jason Russell and what he is DOING to be that change in the world.

Read a recent NY Times article about Jason and the KONY 2012 campaign here.

If you haven't seen the KONY 2012 video yet, I encourage you to watch it here or in my previous blog post.

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Invisible Children: Joseph Kony 2012

Every day, I see quite a few videos posted on my friend’s Facebook walls, and on twitter. I click on some of the humorous ones—especially when folks who share my sense of humor post them. Every now and then, a cute animal video will also snag my attention, and I pass some of those along, as many of my friends are also animal lovers.

But today, I saw a video shared by several people -the same video- and by people from all shades of my friendship spectrum. I clicked on it, and I was transfixed. First, by the pure and amazing skill of this filmmaker. The video in itself is an amazing piece of work, the kind of documentary that is so perfectly timed, edited, narrated, and sewn together that you dare not think of pressing pause.

So, there’s that. Then, the subject matter.

In Central Africa, a war is raging. To me, it is a war against innocence and the future of small children. But however you see it, and however you categorize it, it is indeed raging. Children are being kidnapped --stolen—and indoctrinated into an army against their will. The young girls are sold into sex slavery, the young boys are given weapons and a choice: kill or be killed.
You may know a little about this war. Some movies allude to it, books have been written, and every now and then, a nighttime news show covers the story in some small way. I know a lot about this war, I have read quite a bit previously, but this was one of those problems in the world where you think…how can I possibly make a difference? What could possibly stop this?

Joseph Kony’s Ugandan rebel group is responsible for tens of thousands of kidnappings, killings, and mutilations over the last 26 years. The atrocities cannot be totaled when you think of all of the lives affected, destroyed, and lost, and the ripples of after affects in generations to come.

It is bigger than we can imagine, more horrific than we can fathom.

And then, someone like this filmmaker, like this group that formed this nonprofit, comes together and decides that saying, “It’s too much, I can’t help,” is not an acceptable answer. They look at the vast, unending reach that the internet and social media have right now, in this moment. They form a plan, simplistic, yes, but also a little brilliant.

I am so inspired by this declaration, this stop-at-nothing movement that is blazing across computer screens at this very moment. The confidence they have in the world, the confidence in they are banking on in response...there really is no way for this to fail. Whatever criticisms come this organization’s way...they are reaching and affecting people that had never heard of this nightmare.

They are teaching us all to think bigger than our own world, and father away than we thought our whispers or shouts could carry. Bravo to them for that, and for everything else they will accomplish.

The world is watching.

And I can tell you one thing I know for sure, Joseph Kony wasn’t banking on that.


Watch and share the video above. Visit the Invisible Children website, Facebook page, and twitter account. Join the cause, make a difference.

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About Face

Over the years, throughout the six or so cities I have called home, a letter or email would come from my high school reunion committee. For awhile, they even seemed to lose track of me—not a hard thing to do—as I have moved more than any one person I know. I was fine with that. I really had no desire to revisit an extremely awkward time in my life—and all the players seemed frozen in time-just as we all were then. That was fine by me, too. In a way, it made me feel better. At least back then, so many people expected so much of me—so many high hopes. If no one knew differently, I had achieved everything I was supposed to. So much so that I couldn’t be bothered to make it into town for a visit with old friends, past acquaintances, and school crushes.

The truth was, of course, completely the opposite, at least in my eyes. I imagined a party—all the familiar faces, and whispers behind plastic drinking cups about one another. How wonderful so-and-so looked. How so-and-so hadn’t changed a bit. And of course what people would think of me. Not married, a bit uncertain of my future, and weighing a few more pounds than I would have liked.

So when several close friends began encouraging me to join Facebook, I wasn’t the least bit interested. At the time, the only real social networking I was familiar with was My Space, mainly through my friend’s teenage children, and the thought of anyone my age spending time online for such a purpose seemed ludicrous. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to do such a thing. What a waste of time.

As one of my friends went on to explain status updates and how you could share what you were doing at any given moment—I thought surely she had lost her mind. Who does this?

I can’t remember when I finally took the leap, although I think it might have been to prove to that very friend (and myself) what a bunch of nonsense the whole thing was. And at first, it did seem that way to me.

Then, a few friend requests popped up. Some faces I instantly recognized, others sent me to my bookshelf to find my yearbooks, turning pages—remembering—and a bit shocked that some of these people remembered me at all. I had felt invisible for a lot of high school and there was something revealing in knowing I was seen.

As my friend list grew, I rekindled relationships with people from my past, kindergarten classmates, friends of friends…acquaintances I met through past jobs, through travel, and through the other random moments in life. I found children I was a nanny for in college, all grown up with the same three year old grin hidden somewhere in their expression, and magically recreated in their own toddler’s faces.

It became all a little bit—captivating. No longer were all these people frozen in time---judging me and what I hadn’t done—it startles me to think how self centered and more than a little paranoid that thinking was. My own fears made me believe no one could see past well, the past, when it was me that was stuck in time, forgetting that we all step through trap doors, miss our chances, take new directions. We all do. And we become who we are because of it.

Even my closest friends that I stay in constant contact with have become dearer to me. I do know what they are doing at any given moment when they feel like sharing, and it is a gift. I no longer just hear from Judith through emails or the occasional call. I know that she just got great news, or shares pictures of her son’s visit from college, and I get to be a part of her life again—just as I did when I lived around the corner from her in Atlanta, even though we now live five hours apart.

I join in my friends' joy as they add to their families and share pictures of moments I would have otherwise completely missed. I see us all growing up, doing everything all over the map. And all my paranoid visions of judgment are laughable now. The love and support from people I once only knew from Algebra class and school field trips now encourage me before a job interview or send snarky comments to me when I need to laugh. My heart swells when someone is in crisis, or worries in the ER for a sick child, and a group of Facebook warriors from all across the globe keep thoughts and prayers flowing through message after message lighting up the screen at all hours. It has been a learning experience, and for any naysayers about social media, there is something so connected, real and genuine about it all, and I can honestly say it has enriched my life.

In those small snippets of text that grace the main pages, there is humor, wisdom, sadness, and acceptance. And for me, there has been more. It is how I met the person I love. Through careful steps, shared memories, and more than a little trepidation, we got to know each other. And I am absolutely certain I would never have been able to open my heart any other way. Coming from a shared background, knowing his past, him knowing mine, others knowing both of us (and encouraging a romance)—it was the perfect formula for me to step back into the world of trust.

And I did, one status update at a time.

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