TO THE EDITOR:
During spring break this year, a 30-minute video about Joseph Kony, the Lord’s Resistance Army and violence in Central Africa exploded on the Internet and garnered more than 100 million views.
The video describes the horrendous, heartbreaking crimes committed by Kony and his army against innocent civilians.
As members of STAND, a national student organization focused on mass atrocities advocacy and education, we were astounded by the overwhelming and instantaneous popularity of the video.
But youth advocates in the West must be self-critical of their engagement with human rights issues. We have several concerns about the video and subsequent activism. These concerns include:
- The video’s oversimplified message and distortion of factual evidence.
- Its perpetuation of the idea that online action alone is sufficient.
- Its focus on advocates from the United States.
- An almost complete lack of historical background about colonialism, post-colonialism and the complexities of Central African politics and culture.
- Its representation of Central Africa as ungovernable and incessantly violent.
- An insufficient call to action beyond sharing the video and buying a $30 action kit.
- An insufficient focus on past military action and political initiatives aimed at ending Kony’s atrocities.
- Its focus on a single individual, rather than the systems that gave rise to his violence.
If you are interested in taking “Kony 2012” offline, we urge you to join us. STAND is committed to informed, effective and targeted advocacy, as well as comprehensive education about mass atrocities.
Our meetings are on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. in room 207 of the Campus Y. We can be contacted at education@standnow.org.
Sean Langberg ’14
Global studies
Co-chair
STAND UNC
Nicole Chaluissant ’13
Psychology
Co-chair
STAND UNC
