08 March 2012

From the frivolous to the serious

I'd seen headlines and heard bits and pieces on the radio about the Kony 2012 campaign, but no one had sent me a link, and I'm blissfully disconnected from Facebook, so I wasn't exposed to it. Then this afternoon I saw a poster near the Dal campus so I decided I would actually check out what all this is about. I haven't really formed an official opinion yet, but while the video was slick and inspiring, there are an awful lot of articulate detractors out there. I'm not going to post the video, it's not hard to find. But read a bit about them before you give them money. 

Raising awareness is our generations pat on the back, our absolution of guilt, our mechanism for maintaining our neo-liberal, do-good Whiteness which separates us from those OTHER horrible people who ‘do nothing.’ Source.
Military intervention may or may not be the right idea, but people supporting KONY 2012 probably don’t realize they’re helping fund the Ugandan military who are themselves raping and looting away. Source.
On the other hand, I am very happy – relieved, more than anything – that Invisible Children have raised worldwide awareness of this issue. Source.
Further reading someone else compiled.


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