Kony 2012

Overview
Kony 2012 is an online vigilant campaign which aims to arrest the Ugandan guerrilla group leader and head of the Lord’s Resistance Army Joseph Kony before the end of 2012. The operation seeks to create viral media to raise awareness about Kony’s use of children as soldiers and sex slaves in order to urge the American government to assist the Ugandan military in capturing him.

Background
Kony founded the United Holy Salvation Army, which was later changed to the “Lord’s Resistance Army”, in 1987 after dropping out of high school. The group was inspired by Alice Auma’s Acholi Holy Spirit Movement, which was a rebel group that claimed to be fighting for the Christian Holy Spirit. Auma distanced herself from Kony as she did not condone the killing of civilians. Following Auma’s military defeats, Kony claimed to be following in Auma’s footsteps in order to recruit former soldiers of the Holy Spirit Movement to the Lord’s Resistance Army.

The Lord’s Resistance Army preaches a hybrid of Christianity and Acholi beliefs and has been known to attack and enslave unarmed Acholis. It has been reported that the group kidnaps young children and forces the females to become sex slaves and the males to become child soldiers.

Invisible Children

In the spring of 2003, three filmmakers; Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole traveled to Africa to document the genocide that was occurring in Darfur, Sudan. During their visit, they learned about the war against the government and the dangers of the rebel group’s control over civilian population. They formed the non-profit organization Invisible Children Inc.

In 2004, They formed the non-profit organization Invisible Children Inc. in an effort to bring more attention to Kony and Lord’s Resistance Army. It also helped with education in Africa and the building of an alert system for counter-resistance groups.

Kony 2012 Video

On February 20th, 2012, Invisible Children uploaded a 30 minute video to Vimeo titled “Kony 2012” which detailed Kony’s history followed by instructions for viewers to support the cause by spreading the video and donating to the organization. The video, directed and narrated by Jason Russell, features clips of his time spent in Africa.

In the video, Russel explains his plan to solicit support from 20 notable celebrities, athletes and billionaires actively involved in global humanitarian efforts and 12 political figures to support the legislations against child soldiers. The video also announces the “Cover the Night” event, which would entail spreading Kony 2012-related media in major cities from sundown on April 20th in order to raise awareness.

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