“Kony 2012,” a short film produced and shot by Invisible Children, has flooded Facebook and Twitter feeds during the past few days, shining light on the issue of child soldiers in Uganda.
The 27-minute video urges viewers to make Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, “famous” so that public awareness of Kony will lead to his defeat by the end of 2012.
“I was involved with organizations similar to Invisible Children in high school,” new Invisible Children member Sarah Peats said. “When I saw the video, it was enough to push me to get involved with this chapter. College students need to realize that we do have a big impact on what people see and hear.”
In response to the video and awareness campaign, numerous blogs and articles have surfaced criticizing the efforts of Invisible Children and its marketing efforts.
A Tumblr blog called “Visible Children” points out that the not-for-profit organization uses the bulk of its funds on “awareness and filmmaking” and only 32 percent of its finances on direct services, according to Invisible Children’s public financial statements.
“Obviously, the Kony 2012 movement has good intentions — to spread knowledge about what has been going on in Africa,” freshman Lauren Haden said. “But at the same time, Invisible Children manipulates the truth and twists conflict to make it more marketable and profitable, and that is what worries me.”
Another criticism of Kony 2012 is that people are blindly following the campaign without actually researching the organization or the situation in Uganda.
“Everyone has now become an ‘expert,’” Stop Traffic treasurer Kelsey Saragnese said. “I’m not an expert. However, the outpouring of support has happened because it is an admirable organization. Invisible Children doesn’t have all the answers, but they are doing the best they can.”
Invisible Children MU chapter President Emily Becker said she believes everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but she hopes that people will learn more about Invisible Children before they criticize it.
“I have lobbied with Invisible Children and heard author Tom Perrotta speak about non-profits,” Becker said. “He makes a great point that the public values non-profits, but yet they are criticized for compensating the people that work for them.”
Becker said the strongest criticism she has heard is Invisible Children is unrealistic in its 2012 deadline to capture Kony.
“Support for Invisible Children goes through bursts, and it’s easy to get burnt out,” Becker said. “People need to remember that. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
To spread the word about “Kony 2012,” Invisible Children is urging the nation to participate in “Cover the Night,” an event on the night of April 20 involving volunteers plastering cities across the nation with red posters of Kony.
“We are working on committees for different areas of Columbia for Cover the Night,” Becker said. “We are trying to create some organization out of this chaos that has occurred in the last couple of days.”
The MU chapter of Invisible Children will host a screening of the “Kony 2012” video Wednesday in Neff Auditorium.
“I’m ecstatic that this campaign has spread so fast,” Becker said. “People are now caring about issues I have dedicated five years of my life to.”
