Kony 2012

Most of my blogs have been about uplifting, inspirational topics. Today I want to address something that is not so inspirational. Many may think this political - it is not, it is about morality, it is about life. Many may think it is none of their business - they would be wrong, it is everyone's business, we are all interconnected. The topic is the Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony.

I got involved in working with the Internet back in the early days of the Web, less than a year after it had been invented in fact. The world has changed dramatically in those intervening 18 years. Now much of the world is connected in ways we could not have dreamed of 20 years ago. Through  Facebook, Youtube and the like we are able to overnight reach out to millions of people all over the world. I have loved the way I am able to find and reconnect with old friends, make new friends and follow the latest online trends. I love the way I can find information on virtually any topic. I love the way I can watch movies and play games where ever I am and easily shop online. But the Web has grown up. It is no longer just a tool to share information, to communicate with friends and family, to entertain ourselves. It has connected us in a way we have never been connected before and more importantly it has empowered us. And with that empowerment comes a new responsibility.

Mother Teresa once said "“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” That has always been the case, but it used to be those ripples might take years, even decades to change the world we live in. Now with the Internet, those ripples can take mere days, even hours to have an effect, a profound effect. Gandhi also said "Be the change you wish to see in the world." The Internet gives us a opportunity never before had, to be that change and to affect others.

Back to Kony. Joseph Kony is the head of the Lord's Resistance Army, a group with an extreme religious ideology that is known for its violent atrocities including killing, mutilation, rape, and even cannibalism. Kony is especially known for his use of child soldiers. Estimates as high as 100,000 children have been abducted and forced to fight in his army. More than not, the families of these children were slaughtered, often with the children being forced to kill their own parents. These children were placed on the front lines because they were easily replaced by abducting other children. For more than 20 years now Kony has carried out these atrocities escaping capture.

It is true that in the complex situation that is Uganda and the surrounding regions, there has been no innocent side in the conflict. But the crimes of Kony must be stopped and it is time that he was finally held accountable for those crimes. Bringing him to justice or his death will not repair the suffering, the pain, the grief that has been caused these past 20 years. It will not bring back the tens of thousands that have been killed. It is a shame on the world that we have not done much to stop this barbarism before now. But thanks to the Internet and the potential it holds, there is now a chance for you to play a small part in bringing about a big change. I would urge you to watch this video on Youtube by a group of people wanting to help bring about the end to the tyranny of Kony. Watch it, follow your heart and act. Kony 2012

Getting involved with this movement on its own is not going to change the world, it will not banish evil, it will not resolved the problems of Uganda and Central Africa. Winston Churchill once said "It would be an inconvenient rule if nothing could be done until everything can be done." We can solve all the problems but we can do something. Here is your chance to do something, to try to make a difference, to potentially help the future of thousands of children and other individuals. 

Let us take the power and the responsibility the Internet has provided and send a powerful message to our leaders and to the world, that we will no longer sit back and allow the atrocities that Kony is known for to continue in the world we live in. Let us awake, shake of the dust of apathy, and let our voices be heard - that we care, that it matters, that we will not be silent.