Because of my fascination with the International Criminal Court (ICC), I have long heard the name of Joseph Kony, who was prosecuted by the ICC in 2005 (and if I recall correctly, this is the ICC’s first prosecution).
However, I didn’t know there is a Kony 2012 movement until yesterday, when my friend posts it on his blog. In his post, he talks about how amazed he is by the power of the social media and the benign intention of the movement, which is to make Kony “famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. In this case, notoriety translates to public support.”
I decided to check out the video he posted, and I found it uncomfortable. What made me uncomfortable is not the “white man narrative “(or neo-colonialism as we call it). In fact, even when I am not a white person, I find it annoying when people always criticize the intentions of white people. I agree that although some of these movements may be underlay by egoism (that the whites are saviors), it does have the intention to solve the problems in the regions, and these problems are not ill-founded.
What discourages me from supporting the movement, however, is the ultimate goal of the movement: to keep (/to have more) American troops in Uganda to help arrest Joseph Kony. To me, this is frustrating because once again the US only knows how to help through its military forces. Although geopolitics has taught me that sovereignty has never been entirely owned by the host state but shared by a variety of actors (e.g. NGO, foreign trade partners and etc.), I still find placing American troops in Uganda as problematic, because it openly legitimizes the infringement of Ugandan sovereignty. As well, why does the movement believe that American troops, which are not familiar with the geographical conditions in Uganda, would help arrest Joseph Kony?
Finally, although I understand that the movement is an “experiment,” which aims to reshape the contemporary discourse by portraying notorious Joseph Kony as a pop cultural figure, their tactics make me uncomfortable……I have a hard time rejecting the chance that people would see this Kony 2012 movement as a “trend”, rather than a problem they should strive to solve.
In my opinion, the American public should pressure the US to support (or more preferable, join) the ICC, which is now headed by an African women and whose membership is dominated by African states. I believe it is the best for African states to cooperate on arresting Joseph Kony, and not to be intervened on the issue.
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3 responses so far ↓
Agreed. So uncomfortable. I also ranted about this -.-
have you seen the video in which the movie was screened to a crowd of people in Uganda? People got so angry about how the situation was portrayed that they started throwing rocks at the screen. It would be fine if it was just an awareness campaign but as one of the people who attended pointed out, it seems more like a commercial for that specific organization than anything else since they were trying to sell merchandise and things like that.
Hi Diana, no I haven’t seen that video and I am surprised to know the reaction of the Ugandans……Thanks for letting me know this!
I also feel uncomfortable that they are selling “merchandise”………..and more uncomfortable about that fact that those products try to popularize Joseph Kony’s face as a fashion symbol…….