So if you haven't heard of KONY 2012 yet listen up. Above is a link to a 30 minute video depicting the Invisible Children Organization's effort to bring public awareness to the world about Joseph Kony.
Joseph Kony is head of the LRA, (Lord's Resistance Army) an Ugandan guerrilla group who steals children from their homes and forces them to join Kony's army. The girls are turned into sex slaves and the boys are forced to fight in war where they often have to kill their own families and partake in facial and genital mutilations.
Besides bringing awareness, the video has a clear intention of encouraging activism as well as for the end goal of capturing Kony in 2012.
Now if you don't know this about me, I love little nuggets, (nugget is my term of endearment for children) I have dedicated most of my adult life it to becoming an educator to enrich the lives of little nugs everywhere. So you have to know how physically sick I feel about Joseph Kony. After watching this video I was upset, (were talking tears people) I was angry, and mostly I was confused. How had I not heard of Joseph Kony before!?
I had first heard about invisible children when I asked my friend Jimmy about a sweet hat he was sporting one summer that had an image of Africa with a heart over Uganda. He gave me a quick run down of what it was and it was a real eye opener but at the time I didn't really give it the research it deserved. Then in 2009 I was cast into Springfield College's production of the Vagina Monologues ("Vagina Motherfuckers") and that year's spotlight was on Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which gave an inside view of the violence and atrocities being perpetrated against women and girls in DRC. (The three rebel groups that have caused the greatest destruction in the DRC in the most recent years have been the LRA, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) and the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR).)
So even after having two direct real life experiences dealing with the LRA I still did not know who Joseph Kony was, that was until I saw that video.
So he is now famous to me. I will not forget his name. & because this blog is my way of communicating to the world outside of my social network, I feel the need to let you know who he is. So I got to thinking. Since the launch of Rhinestoned Adventures last month, many people who I have ran into out and about on my own adventures have asked me to see my nails & I have happily showed them. So I decided to become my own activist.
So not to get into too much detail on how to do this because that's not what this post is really about, but I used the same technique for the nail art that I used in the valentines day post. so you can use your imagination ;)
So whether you share the video with your friends and family, 'like' a link, tweet a hashtag, donate to the cause, buy a bracelet or action kit, call your senator, or paint your nails, spread awareness of this cause because it has the best of intentions.
Do it for the nuggets.
On a side note,I posted this on my facebook when I had just about had enough with all the people jumping on the jaded negativity bandwagon. "just throwing it out there to all the naysayers flapping their lips about the invisible children organization: last month when you were gobbling down your girl scout cookies, did you give two thoughts about where your money was going, because looking into that you would see that most of the money doesn't go to the actual girl scouts. But you still ate your cookies with a smile and felt good about yourself right? So quit your bitching, no organization is perfect, eat your cookies and spread some damn awareness about child abuse. No child deserves to have their innocence ripped away from them. KONY 2012"
I am also posting a link to a post by Lorin Ashton aka Bassnectar who I think summed it up best.
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