Kony 2012

If I'm being completely honest, I must admit, I never watch the news.  Local or otherwise.  I don't read the newspaper.  I don't read the news online.  I don't listen to talk news radio (like Supa does) and for the most part, that's how I like it.  I don't want to know what's going on in the world because it's usually pretty depressing.  Every now and again Jade will tell me about something local or I'll hear something in break room by accident but I don't pay attention as much as I can.  (I do know what is going on with Kim and Kanye and Tom and Suri but that's a different kind of news - heehee) 

On the other hand, I do watch Oprah's Next Chapter (this is my version of celebrity "news").

Have you seen it?  If not, you definitely should.

It's awesome. It's aired on her network, OWN, on Sunday nights and I always record it.  She sits and does what she does best - interviews famous people.  One night, Lolly and I were hanging out and I was setting up my DVR to record the newest episode (I always check to see who the interviewee is).  I have seen Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Hudson, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and many others.  I saw, Jason Russell and I asked Lolly, "Who the hell is THAT?".  She didn't know either.  I said, "What the hell.  I'll record it and if he sucks, I'll just delete it."  I am so, so glad I didn't delete this one. 

What I found out what that Jason Russell is the co-founder of a group called The Invisible Children.  

He's pretty cute too.  LOL

This group produced two short films to make the United States aware of a man in Uganda named Joseph Kony who is running a child abuse ring.  (Once I heard about this, I couldn't really believe that I didn't know about it.  I know that sounds totally ignorant since I just spent an entire paragraph explaining how I don't watch the news...SMDH!)  

This is Joseph Kony.

Joseph Kony is the leader of a group called The Lord's Resistance Army.  The LRA captures children and forces them to kill their own parents, become sex slaves, train to use weapons (used for killing people) and they are made to disfigure people, cutting off ears, lips and eyelids. 

Joseph Kony hasn't just abducted a few children.  He has captured and abused thousands of children and continue to do so everyday.  The reason that nothing is done about this is because it's happening in Uganda.  The United States didn't even know what was happening. Jason Russell went on a trip to East and Central Africa and met a boy named Jacob who told him about how his brother was abducted and killed right in front of him.  Jacob escaped but thousands of children do not and are still suffering.  Jason made a promise to Jacob to help in any way that he could.  He came back to the U.S and formed the group, The Invisible Children. 

The Invisible Children have been on a mission to get the United States government to help locate and capture Joseph Kony and the other leaders of the group so that the children and people of Uganda can live normal and safe lives.  Right now, Kony is still at large and it makes me so sad to know that he is still capturing, killing and abusing innocent children. 

Jason Russell decided that the best way to make the nation aware of what was happening was to make Kony "famous" so that everyone would know who he was and what he was doing.  They made a short movie and uploaded it on YouTube.  Their goal was for 500,000 people to see it in a year.  Within 36 hours, over 1 million people saw the video.  It has now been named the most viral video of all time.  Another video a "Part 2" was released a few weeks ago. 

Now, like I said, I had never heard of Joseph Kony, Jason Russell, the LRA or Invisible Children until I saw the interview on Oprah.  Once I heard what the video was about, I paused my DVR, watched the video on my iPad (thank you YouTube) and cried my eyeballs out.  This video had a profound effect on me.  It just moved me and I wanted to HELP to capture Kony myself! 

I'm planning on ordering a Kony 2012 t-shirt for myself and possibly getting a few bracelets.  The money goes toward the Invisible Children organization.  Since I can't go to Africa to search for Kony myself, I still want to help in some small way.

The t-shirt represents that it doesn't matter if you are a democrat or a republican, together we can change the world, one foreign country at a time.  I like the dove with the olive branch.



This is the bracelet.  Each one has an individual ID number to represent every person fighting for the same cause. 

I'm posting the videos here today so that anyone who is interested can see what is going on under our noses.  The videos are pretty long (30 mins) but it's worth it.  It's such a shame that the fucking president can't send someone over to kill capture Kony immediately.

This video reminds me of how fortunate I am to have been born into a loving family in the United States of America.  I do believe that every child deserves a healthy, happy childhood no matter where they are born!!

***Jason Russell did have a nervous breakdown (damaging the credibility of the cause) after the Kony video went huge on the internet.  He was flying all over the United States giving interviews and defending the Invisible Children.  (People were making up rumors that Kony was already dead and IC was stealing people's donation money)  Jason discussed his breakdown during his interview with Oprah and I really felt bad for the guy. I wish Jason, his wife and his sweet son Gavin all the luck in the world and hope that he remains healthy and continues to fight for all the innocent children in Africa.***

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this post, as it is depressing.  I just know that together, we can all make a difference in this world that we live in if we choose to. 

Hopeful,

Apple