KONY2012

Before reading this blog, I wholeheartedly ask you to please take less than half an hour to watch the Kony 2012 video. It explains the numbers, the history of the conflict, and the movement in ways that I cannot, and that I will not attempt. It provides a visual representation of why you should and how you can get involved. My words will not be enough to convince you of the importance of this movement. So please, watch this video.

Two days ago, Invisible Children posted a video called Kony 2012 on the internet. It has since gone viral. For two days, people have been posting, sharing and tweeting. They have been blogging. Talking. Thinking. Students. Youth. Adults. Celebrities. Politicians. Everyone from Jay Z to Sara Bareilles. Hollywood and Capitol Hill. But more importantly...ordinary citizens. People who knew about Invisible Children or the war, but didn't know the whole story. Those who have spent up to 12 years advocating. And those who had never heard Kony's name.

StopKONY and KONY2012 have been trending globally on twitter. People everywhere are larning what's really happening to the children of Central Africa. Their stories are being told. Joseph Kony, the man who has devestated the lives of thousands, destroyed communities entirely, who single handedly holds the power that is allowing the LRA to continues mass slaughter...his name has become known. Along with the mass atrocities he is responsible for.

Today, thousands more people know than did two days ago.

Because of one YouTube video. One campaign by one organization. But more importantly, because of the thousands of individuals who are sharing the video, spreading the word, and joining the movement.

I am amazed. Everytime I scroll through the news feed on my facebook or twitter, I am in aw of the number of people who are talking about this issue. Justice seems reachable. Peace seems possible. Because complacency and ignorance will soon no longer be an option for society.

This obviously speaks hugely about the power of social media in our time. But that's not what I want to talk to you about.

I want to talk to you about YOUR POWER.

The power of VOICE.

And why you need to use yours to help bring awareness and action. So that we can finally bring peace to Central Africa.

And for those of you who have been critical of the movement, I especially want to talk to you. To address some of the criticism and provide you with a slightly different look at this issue. Some perspective that I think is lacking from simply watching the Kony2012 video. And so I hope you will continue to read and keep an open mind.

I speak to all of you not as an expert on the history of the region or the conflict. I will be the first to acknowledge that while my heart and soul are deeply embedded in this issue, there is much more I should know. Much more research I need to do.

I do, however, speak to you as someone who has met child survivors of this war. Former child soldiers and sex slaves of Joseph Kony and his army. Children who were forced to do unimaginable things at Kony's command.

I have held their hands. Heard their stories. Seen their physical and emotional scars up close.

They told me about what he did to them. What Kony did to them. How they were forced to kill. Innocent civilians. Their own brothers and sisters. Mothers and fathers. Their best friends who got caught trying to escape. How they were forced to chop off body parts. Burn down homes and entire villages. How they became lifeless out there in the bush. They were orphaned. Abducted. Trained to kill. Raped Forced to take drugs.

Kony stole their childhood. Their family. Their education. Their innocence. Their agency. Their lives.

I watched these children tell their stories. With words and with pictures. Vivid drawings. No child should be able to draw such a perfect representation of an AK47. Such horrific scenes of slaughter and war. But...they drew them. They dreamed them. They remembered them. Because they lived it.

And these children...well, they were the lucky ones sadly. Because they escaped. They were rescued. They survived. While so many others did not...


I watched them cry. And hold each other in their pain.

But I also watched them smile and laugh. As they shared with me...their hopes and dreams. As they drew beautiful, radiant, colorful pictures of peace. Of life after war. Of safety. Of refuge. Their dreams are for this war to end. Yes, they are now safe. They survived and Kony's army has moved to other countries.

But these children don't want other children to experience the hell that they were forced to live through. They dream of peace in the entire region. They want to save other children from experiencing suffering.

These children are back in school. They receive counseling and rehabilitation services. They dream of one day becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, and social workers. They are now safe. They have enough food and they have shelter. They have each other for support.

But these 154 children who were living at Village of Hope Uganda when I visited...are the lucky ones. There are thousands of others who are living in displacement camps. And even more who are still trapped in the army. Forced to kill every day this war continues. Experiencing more and more psychological trauma and emotional pain every day this war continues. Losing more of their childhood innocence every day this war continues. In danger of dying every day this war continues.

These children I visited last summer wrote letters to President Obama. Begging him for his help. Pleading for his assistance. Sharing their personal stories, and asking him with all of his power, to do something. To send troops. To kill Joseph Kony like they knew he killed Osama Bin Laden. Yes, they knew that Obama sent troops to hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden. And they asked him to find, capture, and kill Joseph Kony, too. To end this war.

Those letters were delivered to President Obama.

And later that year, Obama responded to the call.

He sent 100 advisors...not combat troops...but military advisors to assist the Ugandan army in finding Joseph Kony. So that the #1 wanted criminal by the International Criminal Court could be found and finally brought to justice.

And in November, our team went back to visit those children and more. And they wrote more letters to the President. Thanking him for sending troops and begging him to send more.

I am not writing this to advocate for anyone other than these children. The children who have been strong and resilient enough to survive. The children who were killed or died of exhaustion. And the many children who to this day are stuck in Kony's army. I write this to advocate for...

Children.
Children.
Children.

Young. Innocent. Beautiful. Children.

For 26 years the world has ignored this war. The world ahs been turning its back to these children. Thousands and thousands of children. Who do NOT want to kill their friends, family and neighbors. Who do NOT want to be the so called "wives" of rebel leaders. Who do NOT want to fight. Who do NOT want to be tired and weary.

Who instead...want peace. Who want to be heard.

If this happened for one day in America, the world would be outraged. But because it is happening in Central Africa, we are not. Because the US has no political or financial interest there.

This happened to these children simply because they were born there. That is all.

What if it was you?

What if it was your child?

And no one heard them crying out for rescue. And no one cared. And no one did anything to stop it.

You would be OUTRAGED. You would fight until your death to save them. You would tell everyone you knew. You would make it your life's mission to bring them home safely.

But it is not your child.

Does that mean that you can look away? Does that give you the right to say you are too busy to advocate? Too uninterested to take action?

No.

Where you live should NOT determine whether you live.

You should be just as outraged as if it were happening to your own child in your own backyard.

I understand that many people are frustrated about the desire to send troops. That many people think militarization is not the answer. That many people say why do we need to fight more to bring about peace. That we should not impose our military on another society who may not want our help. I get those arguments.

But so far we have only sent advisers. To help the Ugandan military who is already hunting down Joseph Kony. Right now thousands and thousands of people are dying. Who are we to say that they can continue to die because we don't want to send troops to commit more violence? Who are we to send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, but not to Central Africa? Who are we to allow Joseph Kony to terrorize an entire region?

We have sat back and watched genocide after genocide happen in this world. We have sworn "never again." Yet, we are still complacent. What if no one fought against Hitler during World War II? While he slaughtered millions of Jews and others. What if people simply said, we shouldn't use military force to bring him down? Do we not remember Rwanda? When we were too timid to call it a genocide? When we did not want to intervene, because we were too selfishly concerned with our own agenda?

People can criticize Invisible Children for the amount of money they spend on activism or for their flawed techniques all they want. You don't have to love their style or their way of bringing this to the public eye.

But this is what it took to tell the world. 12 years. Facebook and Twitter. Donations and expensive filming equipment. T-shirts and posters. Trips to Africa to learn more and trips across the country to share more. Speaking events and film screenings. Dialogues and benefit concerts.

And now...people know. They know both who Joseph Kony is and what he has done.

And if that's not enough for you...if that video doesn't make you care and want to act, let me leave you with this:

I have met children in Northern Uganda who survvied being a soldier in Kony's army. I ahve heard their unimaginable stories. I have held their hands and watched them cry, laugh, sing and dance. And let me tell you...straight from the mouths of survivors of the LRA...

They want peace.
 They asked for our help.
 They begged Obama to help end this war.

These children have suffered immensely. They have survived. And they have spoken.

Hear them, world.

See them, world.

Do something to help them, world.

None of us are too far removed from this to act. none of us can escape responsibility as long as this continues. It is happening.

Are we listening?
Are we seeing?
Are we acting?

If we don't, who will?

These children are anything but invisible to me. Though I have only met a very small amount compared to the thousands who have been affected, I know their names and their stories. I think about them every day.

And I am asking you to make the conscious choice to...
See them.
Hear them.
And use your powerful voice to advocate for them.

You are critical in this movement. Your voice is integral in getting the world to stop watching silently and start acting. To finally...

END          THIS          WAR