So the entire Internet is in an uproar over the KONY 2012 thing -- everyone is very, deeply divided on the issue.
Which is dumb, since the issue is "should we stand by and ignore it while someone abducts and murders children?" I feel like this should be a pretty unifying thing.
Alas, it's not. And all for reasons that -- compared to the issue at hand -- a really quite petty. Some people take issue with the organization, for various reasons. Some people don't think raising awareness is enough to make a difference. Some people seem to believe Kony must not really be a problem since they never heard of him before this.
I know Invisible Children already addressed a lot of the criticisms... but they did it in a polite, professional sort of way that lacked the snark and sass that I so desperately felt it needed. And by "felt it needed" what I, of course, mean is "would have put in if I were writing it on my own personal blog". Like I'm doing right now.
I want to preface this rant by saying: it's ALWAYS good to know what you're getting into. NEVER blindly follow anyone or anything. Always research first, and make sure your sources are reliable. If you're unsure of how to do this, they teach it in the fifth and sixth grades and I'm sure there are teachers who would be more than happy to have you sit in on their classes.
You SHOULD be asking questions. You SHOULD be curious to find out more. What you should NOT do is be dismissive of an organization that is trying to do good things. You should NOT be dismissive of an issue that has the potential to save lives. You should also NOT be so negative about all of this that you are trying to quash discussion of this issue. If you don't like Invisible Children, even after reading this, that's fine. But don't just say "Invisible Children is a scam! Don't donate to them!" instead try, "I think we should all hold off on giving Invisible Children any of our money until they can give us a more detailed explanation of where that money will be going." or "Instead of donating to Invisible Children, try this organization..." Those are constructive but still make your point.
Now here's my point(s)...
Financials - Salaries
While I can't pretend I understand a salary of nearly $90,000, I CAN tell you I'm jealous. However, Charity Navigator reveals that huge salaries aren't uncommon for people running a charitable organization. Just perusing the top 10 most viewed charities I find that the executive director of the Wounded Warrior Project pulls in a paltry $199,171 each year. The president/CEO of the American Red Cross, meanwhile, is grossing just short of one million dollars annually. The CEO of the Susan G. Komen Foundation is getting paid $417,171 each year just for making poor decisions about Planned Parenthood (I kid, I kid!) The Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society is more in line with the Red Cross, pulling in just over $900,000 -- which isn't even the highest salary they provide data on. The *retired* Deputy CEO and *retired* VP of Direct Services both get paid over one million dollars a year.
I won't go through the whole list here, as you can easily find it for yourself. But here's what I'm saying: apparently running a charity is where the money is. I'm even considering founding the "Grahamburger Does Good Foundation for Good Stuff". Now, Invisible Children is nowhere near the size of these organizations but $89,669 per year (the highest any of them get paid) is also not anywhere near to what these other salaries are. If you're going to go around complaining about something like salary, you HAVE to have some idea of what the comparisons are.
Financials - Film-making and Transportation
People have also complained about how much of the donations given to Invisible Children go to film-making and travel/transportation.
Now, let me explain what Invisible Children does. Their mission is to spread awareness. They do this in a couple ways: they go around the USA and speak at colleges and schools, where they also show films they've made on the topic of Kony and the LRA. (I believe there's other trouble spots around the globe they sometimes talk about, but for the purpose of this we'll go with the LRA as it's their number one mission.) They also go to Africa to film, help rebuild, interview, etc.
So, to summarize: the Invisible Children is an organization that spreads word about Kony and the LRA through use of film and speaking engagements across the nation.
....so people are upset about how much money goes towards travel and making films? And you know about them because they made a film which went viral? In other words, you're upset because they put money into something which made them successful at their mission?
Can you see how that's like being upset with a School for the Deaf for putting too much money into programs which help people who can't hear?
Financials - Independent Audits
I'll concur that their finances could be a little more transparent, a little more easily understood. But tons of people are whining that Invisible Children haven't been independently audited. Not to burst anyone's bubble, but if you Google "Invisible Children financial audit" you get a PAGE of independent financial audits. These are so SO easy to locate that I'm not even going to bother linking them. This is your homework -- move your mouse up to the right-hand corner of your browser, where the search bar probably is -- and type in "Invisible Children financial audit".
People, I want to make this perfectly clear: being too lazy to Google something for yourself, is NOT the same as it not existing.
Financials - Political Advocacy
Somehow the fact that some of their money goes to political advocacy was translated to the idea that they are giving money to the Ugandan government. They deny this and I've not seen this cited in ANY reliable source. I have seen this cited in many blogs that give no source for that information. And when pointing out that there's no source, I have been flatly told that they haven't provided proof they're NOT giving money to the Ugandan government, who aren't real prize winners of goodliness in mankind either (anyone else remember the "kill the gays" law?)
Uhm, wait, hold that thought.
As a gay man, the anti-gay rhetoric routinely accuses me of having sex with children and animals. I've never provided proof that this isn't true (it isn't though, I promise). Am I therefore guilty? Obviously not, or I would be in jail right now alongside every other gay man in this country. When did this country become one where you are guilty until proven innocent? And even if that IS how this country is now, why is that okay? Why are we using that logic? Could it be because you're digging for reasons to hate on an organization that's doing some good and you don't have any? And what kind of person does that make you?
Anyways, political advocacy is what a layperson would call "lobbying". Yes, Invisible Children has done some lobbying. No, I don't like what lobbying has done to our government either, but I'd rather have an organization like Invisible Children spending money doing it than major oil tycoons who are the ones that usually do the lobbying. Maybe we should be thanking Invisible Children for doing lobbying the way it's supposed to be done?
Financials In General
So you still don't want to give money to Invisible Children? Cool. Great. Whatever.
Why would that stop you from participating in a movement that is mostly based on spreading information? I don't know if you've noticed -- but, y'know, probably since you're reading this blog -- but we live in an age where information spreads rapidly. For free. So don't donate, but seriously that's NOT a reason not to Tweet, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, etc on behalf of this cause. You don't even have to spend money to participate in the Cover the Night event... make your own posters! The point isn't the organization, the point isn't the money -- the point is *just* this: Joseph Kony is killing children, and people need to know.
Charity Navigator and the BBB
A lot of flak has been given over the fact that Charity Navigator marked points off of Invisible Children for their independent audits -- and this is where the rumor that the audits don't exist started. The points are marked off because Invisible Children doesn't have an audit oversight committee and the fact that they only have four members on their Board of Directors. You can learn this by reading.
As for the Better Business Bureau -- who, by the way, I generally consider to be a joke. They're one of those organizations that pretends to have a ton of power and influence and really doesn't DO much or have the authority to do much. Like a lot of the United Nations committees.
No business or organization is required to give information to the BBB. And with such a small board of directors that even Charity Navigator is marking points down for it, I'm willing to bet the BBB would mark them down a LOT for that. Could it be that they are waiting to expand as they claim before giving information to the BBB?
Kony's Not in Uganda, So Why is He a Problem?
Kony was in Uganda for 20 years, so MOST of the devastation he caused is right, y'know, there. The recovery efforts are focused on Uganda. And Uganda is the only country the USA is currently helping attempt to capture him. Despite the fact that he left Uganda in 2006 and began to terrorize the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan. Part of what makes Kony SO dangerous is that, unlike regional governments, he is not bound by borders -- and that's one reason that regional governments are not well equipped to handle him.
By the way -- neither the Central African Republic or Southern Sudan currently have militaries, at all, which makes them kind of defenseless against the LRA. But, naw, they got no problems there. Seriously, people?
What Can the USA Do That's Not Already Being Done?
Aside from lending aid also to the three other countries where Kony is leaving his mark in the form of training and advisors, the USA and other nations can do a bit more than advise. They can help facilitate communication between the nations, they can provide thermal imaging and other tracking technologies available to us that are not available to these third world nations, etc.
In other words, a ton of shit we're not doing already.
Kony is Only One Part of a Much Larger, More Complicated Conflict
Uhm. Yeah. Duh.
But when did anyone claim otherwise? And to use this as an argument NOT to go after Kony is basically saying, "This is really complicated and hard, I don't want to do it!" No, arresting Kony so he can be tried by the ICC will not end the troubles facing the region of Central Africa. But removing a piece of the puzzle will help. Why wouldn't we try to bring peace to Africa, and if we want to do that why wouldn't we start with the ICC's most wanted criminal? Answer me that, and maybe I'll stop assuming you're just too lazy to Tweet.
If you have more concerns about Invisible Children you'd like me to address or talk about, please post in the comments. As always, I'm open to discussion. It doesn't have to be polite (because, duh, I'll be discussing it too) so long as it's constructive.
Remember the goal here is to stop children from dying! "There's two kinds of evil people in the world: those who commit evil deeds, and those who see evil deeds being committed and do nothing."
PS The reason this isn't a video of me ranting is because I got roughly four hours of sleep last night and I have the worst circles under my eyes. I can only make videos when I can at least pretend to myself that I'm pretty! :-P There may (probably!) a YouTube version of this rant on a day when I'm feeling cuter! Going to get some beauty sleep now!!
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