The Real Scholar Finds the Third Side

“Every story has two sides, but the real scholar finds the third side” – Dad

My dad always says this to me, and I have never considered him to be more right than I do now. With the recent uproar of the Kony 2012 campaign in the last few days, I feel that this is the best time to reflect upon this quote. I learned about Invisible Children in grade 11, when my social studies teacher screened their first video in class. At the time I wasn’t educated enough on the subject, the Invisible Children organization, or their campaign, and therefore my perspective was a bit shallow. This time, I am better able to form a sophisticated opinion.

Kony 2012 advocates for bringing the Ugandan warlord to justice through raising awareness in the western world by the means of social media. The video is an excellent example of how social media campaigns have the potential to be extremely successful if used correctly. The video did a brilliant job of touching on people’s emotions through strong images, and advanced editing skills; it thus went viral Tuesday night with about 2.7 million hits (source: taken from Youtube Tuesday evening)!

I admire individuals who want to get involved with the movement, however I encourage everyone interested in Kony 2012 to ask questions and be critical; do not allow yourself to be brainwashed by a sole video you saw online, but rather use that information to discover a second side of the story! The media exposes only what they want you to see, but it is up to you to ask questions and dig deeper; never be satisfied with information at face-value. With regards to  Kony 2012, I believe the story is deeper than what Jason Russell has portrayed in his video. First of all, the issue of child soldiers is rather delicate and extremely complex. According to Radio Free Europe, approximately “300, 000 children are currently involved in 33 armed conflicts around the world” including areas such as El Salvador, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. Yes, Joseph Kony is doing horrible things, but he is definitely not the only one involved in atrocities – I encourage you all to do some research on the issue of child soldiers and learn the global context of it. If you are truly for the cause, you will go beyond the Kony 2012 campaign and educate yourself about the world issue of child soldiers.

Another article I came across suggests that the Invisible Children Organization supports direct military intervention and the money they raise goes towards the Ugandan government’s army and other military forces of the sort. These armies are known for and have been accused of looting, rape, and other atrocities similar to ones accused of Kony.  Aside from that, is supporting the military the best way to solve this problem? Should we, as North Americans, even be attempting to take matters in our own hands or rather be helping those at risk help themselves? This ties into the term “White Man’s Burden” – if you do not know what this is, do some research! The article also suggests that in the previous year, $8, 676, 613 was spent by the organization and only 32% of that went to direct services. Most of Invisible Children’s funding goes towards raising awareness rather than contributing to the actual cause, however the organization is known to exaggerate and manipulate facts. This is an example of media showing you what they want you to see. It has been said that Kony has been inactive in Uganda since 2006...so why the sudden uproar? I definitely want to do more research about these stats and claims against Invisible Children to paint a clearer picture of what is going on with the organization. 

Well I’ve rambled on for quite some time now, so I just want to end this post by saying that educating yourself on an issue is extremely powerful. Don’t ever accept what the media hands you without doing your own research; who knows, you may find the third side of the story!

-Madiha