On April 20, 2012, an effort to further the organization Invisible Children’s KONY 2012 movement covered the world…literally. Friday evening saw the event known as Cover the Night take place, decking towns and cities across the globe with posters and artwork, all in hopes of raising awareness about the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and its leader, Joseph Kony. (Really quick: if you are scratching your head, going “Who’s that?” I would like to refer you to a previous article I wrote describing the movement and its issues by following this link. Trust me: it will help).
However, it turns out that Cover the Night was more than just ‘plaster the living daylights out of walls and buildings with posters.’ In fact, it was an effort to not only raise awareness about Kony and the LRA, but also to raise awareness about our generation.
Let me explain. In the two weeks leading up to Cover the Night, Invisible Children (IC) sent out videos, describing their mission and what they were asking for from their followers. Each day, they gave out a new task to their supporters, asking them to do everything from writing letters to local officials to tweeting President Barack Obama. It was a way to increase awareness and get our countries’ leaders to hear the IC’s voice
In their first clip, they stated that part of their mission was to prove those who think “this generation is full of slacktivists and self-centered, social media junkies” wrong. To do this, IC called all of those involved in the movement to head out on April 20th and serve their community before putting up any posters. Through acts of volunteering, each group would spend time bettering their area prior to spreading the message about Kony. IC wanted to unite this generation and show that together we can make a difference. Also, as stated later in the same video, IC wished to “earn the right to be heard globally by helping out locally.” That makes a lot of sense if you ask me.
[pagebreak]
Speaking of locally, let us turn our focus to our own piece of the world: Michigan State University. Here at MSU, we have are very own IC group that has been involved in KONY 2012. On April 20, IC@MSU went out and cleaned up the streets, breaking up into teams to pick up trash between Hagadorn and Collingwood along Grand River Avenue. “This is a track of area in East Lansing that often gets neglected,” said Liz Nighswonger, a facilitator at IC@MSU. After lending a hand to the community, the teams continued on, putting up posters and stickers. “This is just to spread the word and catch people’s attention, directing them to the IC website for more information,” Nighswonger said. Their goal? To raise awareness about the issue and get people to dig deeper, seeking the truth and the change that they believe must come.
So, as you read this, Cover the Night is now behind us. Some of you may be saying good riddance; others of you may be thinking about what you are going to have for lunch. For those of you that want to get involved, there is still time. KONY 2012 is a year long movement (hence, 2012). You can visit the IC’s website to find out how you can help through donations and spreading awareness. However, you can also get involved locally. Go to Facebook and search IC@MSU to find the group’s page, allowing you to stay in the loop with local events they put on. Also, you can purchase one of the friendship bracelets IC@MSU sells, handmade by some of MSU’s very own Spartans. The proceeds go to funding IC@MSU’s meetings at the moment, but as Nighswonger said, “Hopefully, once we have more bracelets, we can start selling them and sending the money to on-site projects in Central Africa, where the money will actually go towards relief and rehabilitation projects.” Contact them through their Facebook page to get one.
What’s the moral of this piece? Things are happening in this world, events that you cannot ignore. Whether you agree with this movement or not, all I ask is that you read up on the issues and become informed. Let us, like IC wanted, prove those who think we are “social media junkies” wrong; let us step up to fight for what we believe in. KONY 2012 has showed what the power of uniting can do; so do not ignore its message. We can bring change if we become one.