My first reaction as I began to watch was, "Africa is not a country, geddit?" Then, Ahhh...the white hero comes to save Africa. But at the end of the video, I had to put aside my nationalistic and racial pride to focus on the core of the message of the video which is - Kony and his LRA are committing crimes against the civilians in Northern Uganda, he has been indicted by International Criminal Court, he is wanted by the Ugandan Government and I can help stop him, even from America. The question was, will I support Invisible Children to Cover the Night on April 20?
Since it was right beside the Kony 2012 video, and I wanted to fully satisfy myself that I have enough information to answer the question, I had to hear from the horse's mouth himself. This is an interview with Kony done about six years ago. I took most of what he said with a heavy dose of salt, of course. I think, if he's really genuine, he would come out of the bush and answer to the allegations against him. It is clear from the interview that he's open to peace talks and has been working with local authorities to stabilize the region. It is also obvious that why he does not have as much power as Invisible Children ascribes to him, he's a deluded man, and quite dangerous.
I get that, but still, I would not totally dismiss Invisible Children. Sure, their video is emotionally manipulative, it presents a western agenda, and it was not be as rounded or up to date as it could have. But we have to remember the video was intended for a predominantly American audience. The people behind Invisible Children are obviously not journalists, they are a charity, and they wanted a video that will move people enough to do something.
I choose to cut Invisible Children some slack because they have been on ground in Uganda for almost 10 years and there were a couple of Ugandan politicians and other local voices represented in the Kony 2012 video. Finally, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Kony is a criminal, he is a part of an ongoing war, and he needs to be arrested.