via paulftompkins (sourced below):
Thank you John & thank you Grace. On the topic of #KONY2012:
Since Uganda is getting a lot of interest on the internet right now, I figured it was important to try to present an alternative source of information. Invisible Children is, as many already know, a highly problematic organization, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to help. Here are some other sources of information, statistics, and ways to donate/help.
- American Progress’s 2007 report, “What to Do About Joseph Kony”
- Amnesty International’s 2011 report on Uganda
- Global Security’s page on the Lord’s Resistance Army
- Washington Post, “A Child’s Hell in the Lord’s Resistance Army,” May 2006.
- HRW: “Protect civilians from LRA abuses,” May 2011
- AllAfrica.com, “Amnesty International wants Kony arrested,” May 2010
- AI’s Uganda Portal
- Human Rights Watch’s Uganda portal
- Democracy Now!’s Uganda portal
Slow down, breathe a moment and look into other resources besides Invisible Children.
(Source: earthsmightiestheroes)
via coeurdesfeuilles:
As we speak, one of the most pervasive and successful human rights based viral campaigns in recent memory is underway. Invisible Children’s ‘Kony 2012‘ campaign has taken Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and every other mainstream social media refuge by storm. In many ways, it is quite impressive. But there’s one glaring problem: the campaign reflects neither the realities of northern Ugandan nor the attitudes of its people. In this context, this post examines the explicit and implicit claims made by the ‘Kony 2012′ campaign and tests them against the empirical record on the ground.
Before jumping into the fray, however, I should preface the post by noting that, in many ways, Invisible Children have done a fantastic job in advocating for the rights of northern Ugandans, highlighting the conflict and providing tangible benefits to victims and survivors of LRA brutality. Indeed, this post is not intended to take aim at Invisible Children as an organization but rather to debunk some of the myths its ‘Kony 2012′ campaign is propagating.
The Problem is Popularity?
Kony 2012 is about making Joseph Kony, the leader of the notorious LRA, famous because, the line of reasoning goes, if everyone knew him, no one would be able to stand idly by as he waged his brutal campaign of terror against the people of East Africa.
I am actually stupefied that any analysis of the ‘LRA question’ results in the identification of the problem being that “Kony isn’t popular enough”. The reality is that few don’t know who Joseph Kony is in East Africa and the Great Lakes Region, making it all-too-apparent that this isn’t about them, their views or their experiences. But even more puzzling is that Joseph Kony is one of the best known alleged war criminals in the world – including in the United States. This is the case in large part because of the advocacy of Western NGOs, including Invisible Children and the Enough Project as well as the ICC arrest warrants issued against Kony and his senior command.
I would understand if this were the 1990s or even the early 2000s when the misery plaguing northern Uganda flew completely under the radar. I would understand if this campaign was about the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But a campaign in 2012, premised on Joseph Kony not being famous enough is just folly.
Umm…what about northern Ugandans?
It is hard to respect any documentary on northern Uganda where a five year-old white boy features more prominently than any northern Ugandan victim or survivor. Incredibly, with the exception of the adolescent northern Ugandan victim, Jacob, the voices of northern Ugandans go almost completely unheard.
It isn’t hard to imagine why the views of northern Ugandans wouldn’t be considered: they don’t fit with the narrative produced and reproduced in the insulated echo chamber that produced the ‘Kony 2012′ film.
‘Kony 2012′, quite dubiously, avoids stepping into the ‘peace-justice’ question in northern Uganda precisely because it is a world of contesting and plural views, eloquently expressed by the northern Ugandans themselves. Some reports suggest that the majority of Acholi people continue to support the amnesty process whereby LRA combatants – including senior officials – return to the country in exchange for amnesty and entering a process of ‘traditional justice’. Many continue to support the Ugandan Amnesty law because of the reality that it is their own children who constitute the LRA. Once again, this issue is barely touched upon in the film. Yet the LRA poses a stark dilemma to the people of northern Uganda: it is now composed primarily of child soldiers, most of whom were abducted and forced to join the rebel ranks and commit atrocities. Labeling them “victims” or “perpetrators” becomes particularly problematic as they are often both.
Furthermore, the crisis in northern Ugandan is not seen by its citizens as one that is the result of the LRA. Yes, you read that right. The conflict in the region is viewed as one wherein both the Government of Uganda and the LRA, as well as their regional supporters (primarily South Sudan and Khartoum, respectively) have perpetrated and benefited from nearly twenty-five years of systemic and structural violence and displacement. This pattern is what Chris Dolan has eloquently and persuasively termed ‘social torture‘ wherein boththe Ugandan Government and the LRA’s treatment of the population has resulted in symptoms of collective torture and the blurring of the perpetrator-victim binary.
As noted in January, I didn’t see many 2011 releases. I’ve since seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: the film adaptation of the 1974 John le Carré novel. Although it struggled to maintain lucidity as it approached its climax, the movie is well-acted and beautifully shot. I suspect the novel manages the ending better.
The film version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy reflects a genre in transition. The Cold War thriller has become the Cold War period piece. This does not necessarily bode ill for spy movies. Munich was great. The Lives of Others was terrific. Carlos is a masterpiece. Still, while minimizing the USA-USSR tension, these remain period pieces. Even spy movies set in the present struggle to emerge from the Cold War’s shadow. The abysmal Salt tried to pretend the Berlin Wall never fell. Ronin was solid, but relied on the ‘evil Russians’ conceit. New Bond movies are entertaining, but have lost much of their Bond-ness. I haven’t seen any of the successful Bourne movies, but the books they are based on were written during the Cold War.
I anticipate the arrival of a new sort of spy movie. Echoing the Western genre’s shift in tone from Cowboy John Wayne to Cowboy Clint Eastwood, these will feature deeply flawed protagonists freed from the trappings and mores of their antecedents. Perhaps something along the lines of Bunker 13 can sufficiently hack the genre.
ALL THE TIRED HORSES - BY TIM HEIDECKER and THE EARTH IS A MAN (and Bob Dylan)
During the last few weeks I have been traveling around the USA doing press and holding screenings for B$M movie. I was sitting around in my hotel in Austin, reading this article about the new Dylan covers CD called “Chimes of Freedom.” I had some spare time and thought it’d be fun to try and make my own Dylan cover on my laptop and post that I was angry Amnesty International cut mine from the record.
I chose the first song from “Self Portrait” and started working on it on my laptop and was having a good go at it, but I felt I could do a better job if I was back home in my studio…
When I got to Chicago, I thought, “I bet there’s a nice guy out there who’s a fan who’s got a studio…. I’ve got a Saturday off, I’ll post something on twitter and see if anyone’s game to do a little recording with me.” sure enough a great group of dudes answered my call, and on Saturday afternoon I headed out to Wicker Park to build the tracks for this song.
These young gents couldn’t have been nicer and more eager to record… By the way, their band is called The Earth is a Man
I hope you enjoy it! I don’t really know why I did it!!Donate to Amnesty International Today!
Fuck Cancer for Valentine’s Day!
Please reblog this, and check out the rest of Fuck Cancer’s awesome Valentines. Let’s spend Valentine’s Day telling cancer to go fuck itself!
Video: via philipgirvan: http://t.co/nd98iWg6
via philipgirvan:
Pre-ordered Thierry Marignac’s Milieu Hostile today. It’s a follow-up of sorts to Renegade Boxing Club, his 2009 novel. I encourage you to read his books, regardless of your French language ability.
I also recommend visiting his website Antifixion on a regular basis.
Readers can sample M. Marignac’s English language writing at his eXile page.
À lire dans Mot Dit numéro 6 : la poésie de Jean-François Leblanc | http://t.co/pfA0oYgJ
RT @MotDitOttawa: Besoin d’un cadeau original? http://t.co/v1q6RHFa
Besoin d’un cadeau original? http://t.co/v1q6RHFa
Video: via philipgirvan: http://t.co/WT7yk8h1
via philipgirvan:
The way to test a great work of art is to ask how it survives decontextualisation, transposition into a new context. One good definition of a classic is that it functions like the eyes of God in an Orthodox icon: no matter where you stand in the room, they seem to be looking at you. For instance, by far the best cinema version of a Dostoevsky novel is Akira Kurosawa’s The Idiot, which is set in Japan after the Second World War with Myshkin played as a returning soldier. The point is not simply that we are dealing with an eternal conflict that appears in all societies but that, with each new context, a classic work of art seems to address the very specific qualities of that epoch.
The quoted paragraph is from Slavoj Zizek’s review of Ralph Fiennes’s Corolianus in the New Statesman.
Appel à contribution : Mot Dit numéro 7 | http://t.co/ZAlTILtE avant 15 février 2012 #littérature #poesie #photo #arts #ottawa
Envoyez vos textes avant le 15 février 2012. http://t.co/wCCOAwAq
RT @MotDitOttawa: C’est à lire dans Mot Dit numéro 6 : la poésie de Daniel Dugas | http://t.co/cEWjoTtN
