The Other Side

Well, there are always 2 (or more) sides to every story. I posted yesterday regarding the KONY 2012 campaign created by the non-profit group Invisible Children. I was extremely touched by the video and felt compelled to pass it on and spread the word. However, while browsing the web today I discovered many people are critical of the work done by Invisible Children. At first I rolled my eyes and thought "Really? Is it so hard to believe that there are some people out there that are genuinely trying to do good?". Then I thought I should at least read some of the criticism so that I may have all the information, from all sides.

I'm not going to restate all the criticism out there, but will provide you with links to the articles I've read so far:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/120307/kony-2012-campaign-criticized-dumbing-down-conflict

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/taking-kony-2012-down-a-notch/

http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble

I will also provide a link to Invisible Children's response to these criticisms:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

It will definitely be interesting to see how this all plays out in the following days, weeks and so on. For now, I am leaning more toward the belief that Invisible Children's intentions are primarily good. I believe they truly want to help the afflicted Central and Eastern African countries and bring Joseph Kony to justice. Based on what I have read so far I  believe their plan and methods in doing so are appropriate. With that being said, I suggest you read all you can from all points of view and draw your own conclusions.

- Amy