kant help me

For many, this 30-minute video will be a great introduction to the horrific events in Uganda lead by the LRA. The amount of work which went into this for me to even be able to write this blog post in response is astounding. Aside from being a great example of how to mobilize people through storytelling and social media, it presents a wonderful story about how we can all make a difference, how, if we really try, we can change the minds of the most powerful people on the planet. Because we can today. We can shape history.

I was really moved. How can I begin to describe my reaction?

But if you really care about this issue, you might consider taking one or two more steps before throwing your support behind Invisible Children.

It is an American non-profit that is advocating for intervention in Uganda. That is its goal and everything it produces will be to support that goal. Unfortunately, no professional 30-minute video has been created for us to easily learn about the realities of the situation. The pathos ends here.

What you can do, however, is check out the following links:

• This short post by The Educated Field Negro: We Got Trouble is a good place to start. 
• Securing Rights also has a few thoughts on what is missing from the video - namely the other organizations and local efforts to combat the LRA (via @hayesbrown). 
• UN Dispatch’s piece: Invisible Children: Saviors or Sensationalists? provides two good perpectives and points out an important point: “There are no Ugandans on the board of directors or the US staff.”
• The Atlantic: Solving War Crimes With Wristbands: The Arrogance of ‘Kony 2012’ 
• Joshua Keating’s FP Blog Post: Joseph Kony is not in Uganda (and other complicated things) (thank you @kalsoom82)
• LRA abductee and survivor Charles Okwir’s take on ‘Kony 2012,’ ”I have a serious problem with activists and organizations like Invisible Children sounding the war drums.” Read more here. (thanks @mjwilkerson)
• Guardian: Kony 2012: what’s the real story?
• A Twitter essay by Teju Cole, author of “Open City“
• Siena Anstis’s post (thanks @kasmoie)
• Ryan Linstrom: 5 (and counting) Essential Reads on Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 Campaign (thanks @aliciasully)
• HuffPo: Remember When Stop KONY was About Stopping Kony?

I also recommend these links:

• Why Dev has a great “Reader’s Digest” - a collection of articles, comments and tweets about Kony 2012 (via @danatgu)
• Foreign Affairs: Obama Takes on the LRA November 15, 2011 
• Charity Navigator Rating on Invisible Children (2 our of 4 stars)
• International Crisis Group’s November 2011 report (thanks @danatgu)
• Black Star News Editorial: KONY 2012, Invisible Children’s Pro-AFRICOM and Museveni Propaganda
• RT: Kony 2012: Viral video for the misinformed?
• Invisible Children’s Response to the Criticisms
• The VISIBLE children in Uganda – loved, cared for, in school, smiling… (via @kenyanpundit)
• Al Jazeera Youtube Video: Recording of @rosebellk for an Al Jazeera stream program on the KONY2012 video (thanks @asimhaneef)
• The Daily What: On Kony 2012
• Africa as a country: The #Kony2012 show 
• Thought Catalogue: Evaluation Of Invisible Children’s KONY2012 Campaign
• The Visible Problem with Invisible Children 
• Discover the Journey is an organization of video journalists which document injustices children face around the world. Here are two short videos on the LRA: Let the World Know, Let Us Be Free: A Plea for Relief from the Violence of the LRA.
• Dining With Dictators: another interesting attempt to raise awareness about dictators and international criminals
• ThinkProgress: A Partial Defense Of Invisible Children’s Kony2012 Campaign (thanks @coconutsurfing)
• Invisible Children - Pretty Dang Visible
• A humorous response in the form of a drinking game to #Kony2012 from Wronging Rights

If after all the reading, you are inspired to make a change. You should know that it is possible, and you can do it, as Natalie Warne of Invisible Children did (TEDxTeen Video) (via @NiamhHughes).

But it’s a complex issue, and we are more intelligent than the adorable Gavin. It’s not a good guys vs. bad guys situation. Please read into the organizations and causes you are supporting.

I try to stay informed through this list of various hodgepodge of security, political, economic news sources on Twitter. (See also Foreign Policy Twitterati and Women Who Tweet + Are Crucial to Foreign Policy).

Good Intentions Are Not Enough. We should share and act responsibly (thinking before linking), but most importantly, now that the conversaion’s started, let’s keep it going.

Update: I’ve added some more articles I found interesting between March 7-10, 2012. Feel free to tweet me @nettra to suggest any other insightful commentary. Thanks!

Also wanted to include this meme which illustrates just how complex the situation is. See it here.