Since becoming a dad, I've been thinking about the kind of world my kid is going to grow up in. What kind of man is he going to become? I'm lucky enough to spend my life in front of kids who honestly care what I have to say, and I think this generation has a bad rap. You can be a hipster, a scenester, a goth or a prep -- and someone's got something to say about you. But I never lost hope in us, because we're still standing on the shoulders of great leaders, we've got the resources, the knowledge, and the iPhone to do anything. The only generation to ever change America's course -- I mean really break the chain, were the youth. Every decade saw it: the radicals, the revolutionaries, the punk rock kids, the kids who lit shit on fire, (seriously, watch the Weather Underground). They were the only ones with the balls to think they could change things. And they did.
So you'd think we're all apathetic and lazy, twittering the world our laments on last night's episode of Lost. Maybe we are. But in our hyper-connected world, the group of radicals have gone global. We're your neighbors and your co-workers. And maybe you don't know our names, but soon you will: I'd like to tell you about a few friends of mine, who, in a few days are about to make history, and they want you with them.
They're called Invisible Children. They're a movement of people who literally gave up everything because they believed in humanity. They put their money where their mouth is. I watched the film Invisible Children: Rough Cut a while back, about kids sleeping in the streets in Northern Uganda -- hundreds of them -- because they feared being abducted by rebel leader Joseph Kony and forced to fight in his rebel militia, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). They're kids. Except no one told them they were, so they carry AK-47s, kill their parents and murder, rape and terrorize their own people on command. In the past two decades, 30,000 of them have been abducted. This is a reality neither you nor I could ever begin to understand. It was one of those times in my life where I was given a choice -- continue ignoring the issue because it wasn't in front of me, or forget about myself and do something. I was losing sleep, I had to go to Africa. My band Fall Out Boy traveled to Northern Uganda to film our music video "Me and You" to see it for ourselves and my experiences have forever changed me.
Everyone I met, everywhere I walked, with every step, the hardwiring in my brain began to change. I was quiet. Every time I wanted to complain, I made sure to bite my tongue instead. One day, we were stopped by some local men holding machetes; they wouldn't let us pass. The fear I felt was paralyzing, but I looked into the eyes of these men and all could see was desperation. A pervasive hopelessness. These men stood at the mercy of a twenty-three year war.
That night, the lights went out in the village, and in those moments of pure darkness, no one could differentiate if you were a rock star or an orphan, more importantly, it didn't matter. Coming home was surreal, I couldn't rationalize anything and nothing really made sense.
My friends at Invisible Children know these stories, they know the names of the people. They are the culture-changers and paradigm shifters. They are the millions of kids who don't care if you think they're cool or not. They refuse to idly allow a modern-day holocaust to continue just because there's nothing in it for anyone to end this war. No oil, no resources, nothing to gain.
Here's where you come in. On April 25th, Invisible Children is staging an event called the RESCUE, in 100 cities across 10 countries worldwide. Thousands of people are going to symbolically 'abduct' themselves and stand in solidarity with all the abducted children forced to fight as soldiers. In turn, every group will be 'rescued' by a celebrity, politician, local luminary -- someone who will make noise and bring the media out. I will be there, in Washington, D.C. standing in solidarity with thousands of other people so that these kids in Uganda will be noticed. And if no cultural leader shows up in one particular city, then everyone in the surrounding cites that were rescued, will take a bus to join them. This will continue until every participating city is rescued. Now, this could take days, or even weeks, but it's going to happen.
The RESCUE is going to make history. It's going to make a positive impact. We will be at the frontlines. And I want YOU to be with us.
I thoroughly believe that after April 25th, the world will see a shift in consciousness, and things will be different. You will be changed, or at least you'll have a hell of a story to tell. Go to therescue.invisiblechildren.com and watch their new film called The Rescue of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers to learn more about the specifics of why this is the next step. Then sign up. This is your chance to be a part of something great, not for the glory, but for the courage it takes to stand up for justice. Just don't light shit on fire, I don't want to get in trouble.
Invisible Children (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If you can think like a parent, perhaps you can appreciate the hundreds of parents who's children are still missing. These children were the targets of an American-financed attack in Congo this past Christmas with AFRICOM's "Operation Lightning Thunder."
Yes, it is good to take a stand for something, however you might learn more about the issue in order to effect change. A restriction of gun sales and trade in Africa would be a great start.
So your friends at Invisible Children are telling the compelling, convenient part of the story in a warped way that leaves out a lot of the facts. Yes, the story is complicated... but it would be like telling the story of the Jews without explaining who Hitler and his enablers were... supposedly the IC audience is "too innocent" to get the real story.
Unfortunately for these children who continue to suffer, or have died at the hands of rebel and government troops, their existence is part of a twisted reality where children are mere pawns. Like another viewer pointed out here, the Ugandan government, which seems to be so "helpless" against the LRA, but is able to fight in Congo and Somalia, continues to use child soldiers.
A great perspective on the issue is here: http://www.blackstarnews.com/?c=135&a=5605
I do not think you know Uganda very well. First and foremost, Kony/ LRA has been used as a SCAPEGOAT by the Ugandan govt for FAR too long! See and read below...Did you know that this is happening?...Talk to Andrew Mwenda!
http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php/cover-story/cover-story/82-cover-story/830-detained-tortured-a-mputated-horrors-from-updf-detention-dungeons.
Good luck and long life.
Thank you, Pete, for your interest in this rather forgotten issue.
This is in America, what's up? I also understand a bill was signed that included a volunteer military & a non volunteer military force recently. I think that means the draft is back.
I went to some Zimbawi sites on you tube & was stunned to see what was happening there. I followed a link posted on huff. We have 700 military bases around the world & 300 secret bases I read somewhere. What's going on? I hope this movement changes things for alot of countries. Good luck & God speed.
What they have to go through is unspeakably horrible, and you're absolutely correct that the more we put it in people's faces, the more they'll respond. I didn't know it was happening for MY ENTIRE LIFE TIME until I saw that documentary. I should have known, and it freaks me out that I didn't and that it's probably happening in other countries and I don't know about it.
In any case, raising awareness is a great way to promote change for the good, and I applaud you as a role model for the generation after mine (I was born in 1983) using your accessibility & visibility in such an admirable way.
I would like to ask all readers to read BLACKSTARNEWS.COM and the old RADIOKATWE.COM(although it has been disabled by Uganda government, you can still get some good informations from that old site).
Kony has done some bad things but he had to do so as he had to protect us. Museveni is the worst killer the world has ever known. All the human mutilations going on were done by his(Museveni's) army and some of them have defected and now they are trying to tell the world about Museveni's genocidal actions to wards to the Acholi people. I wish you all could just leave Kony's matter alone and allow us Acholis to handle him. This is like a family affair. Kony will always be our saviour and we will always forgive him.
MUSEVENI and KAGAME are the murederers the world and ICC should be looking for to be put behind bars in Der Hague!!