This week, thousands of students shared a video featuring shocking images of kidnapped child soldiers — a video student activists said has drawn widespread support for their fight against injustice in Uganda.
The 30-minute “KONY 2012” video, which was produced by advocacy group Invisible Children, illustrates how Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, reportedly captures Ugandan children and forces them to join his troops. The narrator, Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell, said Kony forced some child soldiers to kill their own parents and mutilate other victims.
The video reached nearly 40 million views since it was first posted to YouTube on Monday. In those past few days, leaders of this university’s chapter of Invisible Children and We See At UMD said they have been approached by a number of students eager to help raise awareness to stop Kony and his army.
On April 20, the student groups plan to join activists across the nation for a “Cover the Night” operation, posting fliers all over cities to draw further attention to the issue. University students have already formed several Facebook event pages to cover the campus as well as Washington.
“It’s going to be insane,” said Jocelyn Daniels, the president of Invisible Children CP.
Daniels said about 150 students have joined her organization on STARS since the video was posted. To prepare for “Cover the Night,” the group will host a screening of an Invisible Children documentary with a guest Ugandan speaker the day before the event.
We See At UMD — a student group formed earlier this semester to advocate for social change — also saw its Facebook group membership nearly double in the past two days. Group members plan to host a free bracelet-making event outside North Campus Diner today at 5 p.m., where they will solicit donations for the cause.
“A lot of people have sort of become interested in the group itself and helping us out,” said member Eva Morgun.
However, not everyone who viewed the video joined in support. On Wednesday, a student at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, posted a Tumblr blog called “Visible Children” and questioned whether Invisible Children actually uses its donations to help Ugandan children or to simply create more videos and fliers.
Daniels said she was apalled by the post.
“The more something becomes generally accepted, the more it’s questioned,” Daniels said.
Among university students, however, support for the cause has only continued to grow as more people post the video to their Facebook pages and encourage their friends to watch.
“You kind of felt the power of how social media has spread the word,” said junior kinesiology major Chad Simmons, who reposted the video Tuesday.
news@umdbk.com
