It was on a warm June evening that I was introduced to Invisible Children. I was nearing the end of my senior year of high school, and I was at my weekly Bible Study, where we took a night off of our usual program and watched the Invisible Children film. At the end of the movie, while Sufjan Stevens' "For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti" played in the film's soundtrack, tears poured from my eyes.
There is no denying the Invisible Children films are very moving and emotional. There is also no denying that the story they tell is a tragic one. I bought a copy of film not to long after. I think it cost about $20.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the Invisible Children organization, you can read more about it here www.invisiblechildren.com.
In short, it's mission is to bring awareness to the war in Northern Uganda against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) headed by Joseph Kony. The term Invisible Children refers to the children who fled in the middle of the night to escape from being abducted and forced to fight for the LRA.
In Invisible Children, I see compassion, determination, heart, a love for God's people, and a cry for justice. Some of the words that have floated around the Internet in the past couple days, like manipulative, shady, dangerous, are pretty harsh. One word that I think fits as a better critique though, I don't necessarily mean it in a negative way, is naive.
It wasn't long after moving to San Diego that I realized Invisible Children was very noticeable in the city. Even those outside of the Evangelical community knew about them. Their large gray and lime-green vans are plentiful and hard to miss. I also realized the generational aspect of the organization: its staff and supporters were all very young.
I would like to think I was a fairly politically and socially savvy youngster, but please, did I know anything of substance about non-profit business models or foreign policy? No. Many of the supporters of this organization are old enough to understand the tragedy and suffering of the stories in these films but aren't really aware enough yet to understand the fabric of the foreign policy issue involved, and I'm not sure the organization as a whole does either.
Awareness creates numbers and numbers is what creates the pressure making legislators take action. However, awareness is only going to get you so far. Currently there are American troops to bring about Kony's capture. It hasn't been made clear whether Invisible Children is trying to make a bigger splash to persuade Washington to do something more, or if they just want everyone to know they want Kony to be captured by the end of the year.
Yesterday, Chris Carver, Chief Operating Officer of Invisible Children spoke on KPBS where he said something that really struck me. Carver says "...capture Kony so we can actually see his trial put on at the international criminal court so that he will be an example to other future criminals like him." To me this shows some unrealistic naivete.
That would be a great idea except corrupt leaders have been committing crimes against humanity for a very long time. These leaders are well aware what happened to the corrupt leaders who came before them, but they still committed genocide and other war crimes. Sadly the people who do these sorts of things don't feel remorse and aren't going to react to an example.
I can't admonish someone for their idealism, but I can admonish someone for spending outrageous amounts of money to continue making films for advocacy purposes when it may not be the most effective way to handle the situation.
Moreover, I can't admonish someone for wanting to use his or her gifts and passions (film making in this case) to help others and make a difference; I just think it may be time for the organization to change directions.
Links:
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/mar/08/invisible-childrens-joseph-kony-2012-video-goes-vi/
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things#.T1fmznkEx3M.facebook
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/03/08/440851/defense-kony-invisible-children/?mobile=nc
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/invisible-childrens-stop-kony-campaign/2012/03/07/gIQA7B31wR_blog.html
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