KONY 2012: Make a Stand, Let’s Make Joseph Kony Famous

Do you know who Joseph Kony is?

If not for social media I would not have known who Joseph Kony was. And now I do, I am happy that it has been made possible for me to know who he is and I want other people to know him, too. I want to be a part of the campaign to MAKE KONY FAMOUS. And I want to make sure you are part of the campaign, too. This fight is not just for the Ugandan people.

This is a fight for humanity, a fight for what is right, a fight to stop what we all know is wrong.

So, who is Joseph Kony? And why do we want him to be famous?

Joseph Kony is the world’s worst living criminal. For the past 26 years he has been abducting children all across Central Africa. Not just 1 or 2 children, not hundreds but thousands of children. In fact, in his 26 years of reign of terror he has kidnapped more than 30,000 children. The little girls he turns into sex slaves, the little boys are forced to become soldiers for his Lord’s Resistance Army and to do horrific things like killing their own parents and mutilating other children. He is a waging a war without any cause, without support, and simply to have power.

No one is safe. Not the children, not even the adults. So the people are forced to hide and to seek safety from the LRA even if they have to walk 10 miles every night to the city and sleep in a building cramped with other people taking refuge in the city center. Even if they had to walk in the rain because they knew what atrocities are being done by Kony and his LRA - kids are killed, girls are raped and made into prostitutes and people’s faces are mutilated – lips, ears and noses were being cut off.

And so I thank the three young filmmakers – Jason Russell, Laren Poole, and Bobby Bailey - who traveled to Africa in 2003 in search of a story. They went to film about Darfur and learned about Kony and the ongoing war. They made a promise to a Ugandan they met and befriended not knowing that it would take them years to realize their promise.

They thought that once the US government learned about the kidnapping, mindless killing and slaughter that Kony’s army has been doing they would be able to convince them to help. Unfortunately, because the US was not being threatened, national security and economy wise, they would not do anything about it, they would get involved.

And so they established Invisible Children in 2005 in order that they can educate people about Kony and started showing the documentary Invisible Children: Rough Cut, to work to end Africa’s longest-running war and most importantly to bring Joseph Kony to justice. They and the army of young people gave their time, talents, money and rebuilt schools, created jobs and build ways to protect the villages.

In 2005, Joseph Kony was the first criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court. But first Joseph Kony has to be arrested. In order to do that we have to make him famous, we have to let people know who he is and why it is important that we capture him.

In October 2011, Barack Obama deployed advisory troops who would advise forces aiming to remove Joseph Kony and his LRA from the battlefield. But it has to end now. We have to arrest him now and put a stop to all his crimes. We have to make sure that the policy makers do not forget, that people care.

Here is the film and campaign KONY 2012 that “aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. Watch and share. If the world knows who Joseph Kony is, it will unite to stop him. It starts here.”

Watch and learn how each of us can help, how each of us can make a difference. We have until April 20, 2012 where we will cover the night just like an electoral campaign.

People in different cities all over the world will meet at sundown & cover the city with posters and stickers of Joseph Kony. To Make Kony Famous. If you want to help these kids and their parents, cover the night at 4/20/2012.

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