Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Blog, page 255
March 8, 2012
Points worth considering re: the Kony debate…
rtnt:
RTNT...
Points worth considering re: the Kony debate…
rtnt:
RTNT On The Problems With KONY 2012
The deluge of social media attention that has been given to the simplistic KONY 2012 campaign and the surrounding haze of misinformation has reaffirmed our purpose at Read This, Not That. Joseph Kony is a warlord and a monster - this much cannot be denied. The present controversy swirls not around Kony himself, but rather around the substance of the campaign, and the intentions of the organization behind it: Invisible Children.
Conversations are raging across the web between supporters and detractors - conversations that suffer, in many instances, from a lack of understanding about the current state of Uganda and of Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (details of which are notably lacking from the film.)
There has been much resistance to criticism of the campaign, resistance founded in knee-jerk reactions meant to defend the perceived good intentions of Invisible Children. The appearance of a noble cause to mask questionable action is not anomalous in our world. As such, it is our responsibility to be skeptical, especially when engaged with propagandistic media that aims to affect us emotionally and prompt a very specific reaction: in this case, to give money to Invisible Children.
Our effort here is to offer articles that inform the debate surrounding KONY 2012 and to encourage everyone to embrace critical conversation, even when that gaze is directed at what appear to be good intentions. Things are rarely as simple as they are made out to be, and we can be sure that the state of Uganda and the LRA is not as simple as the KONY 2012 campaign makes it seem.
Michael Wilkerson, writing for Foreign Policy, asks what the video is meant to accomplish:
So the goal is to make sure that President Obama doesn't withdraw the advisors he deployed until Kony is captured or killed. That seems noble enough, except that there has been no mention by the government of withdrawing those forces — at least any I can find. Does anyone else have any evidence about this urgent threat of cancellation? One that justifies such a massive production campaign and surely lucrative donation drive?
TMS Ruge, writing for Project Diaspora, pleads with us to respect the agency of Ugandans:
This IC campaign is a perfect example of how fund-sucking NGO's survive…They are, in actuality, selling themselves as the issue, as the subject, as the panacea for everything that ails me as the agency-devoid African. All I have to do is show up in my broken English, look pathetic and wanting. You, my dear social media savvy click-activist, will shed a tear, exhaust Facebook's like button, mobilize your cadre of equally ill-uninformed netizens to throw money at the problem.
To call the campaign a misrepresentation is an understatement. While it draws attention to the fact that Kony, indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in 2005, is still on the loose, it's portrayal of his alleged crimes in Northern Uganda are from a bygone era.
Musa Okwanga, writing for The Independent, discusses the complexities the video left out:
What the narrator also failed to do was mention to his son that when a bad guy like Kony is running riot for years on end, raping and slashing and seizing and shooting, then there is most likely another host of bad guys out there letting him get on with it. He probably should have told him that, too.
The LRA is reported to be 90% made up of abducted children – military defeat would mean engaging in combat and targeting of the very victims of this war; these children are the LRA.
The author of Visible Children examines the armies on the other side of the war:
Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People's Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is "better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries", although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn't been since 2006 by their own admission.
People who have lived there for years, bona fide aid workers who have studied foreign policy and other relevant fields like public health, who are really there because they are trying to solve problems — they see Invisible Children as trying to promote themselves and a version of the narrative.
Eric Ritskes, writing at Wanderings, reminds us that it is not about us:
It falls into the trap, the belief that the problem is ignorance and the answer is education. When we tell more people about Kony and the LRA, something WILL happen. It's not true…More education does not change the systems and structures of oppression, those that need Africa to be the place of suffering and war and saving…We need to learn: It's not about us.
Patrick Wegner, writing at Justice in Conflict, offers some final thoughts:
To conclude, the Kony 2012 campaign is a reminder why we should see advocacy campaigns to interfere in conflicts with some scepticism, no matter how good the cause…. It also challenges us to think of ways how to design advocacy campaigns that mobilise many people without dumbing down the problem and its purported solution.
We put in a lot of work reading, reviewing, compiling, and excerpting these pieces for you, and hope you will consider them in this debate.
- The RTNT Team
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hitrecord:
fatedrivesyou:
Sorry Florida RECorders!!!!!
It's...
Sorry Florida RECorders!!!!!
It's mine- get your own! But FLORIDA residents need not apply! The other 49 states may be up for grabs though.
Creative license, indeed! :oD
March 7, 2012
CALLING ALL VISUAL ARTISTS / ILLUSTRATORS / GRAPHIC...
CALLING ALL VISUAL ARTISTS / ILLUSTRATORS / GRAPHIC DESIGNERS!
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COME HELP US PUT TOGETHER A NEW BOOK!!!!!!!
hitRECord is bringing the world of "LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD" to print!
We are going to create a book together that will include cut-out puppets. Let's start by creating to-scale illustrations of the main characters and from there we will create cut-outs of the clothing, props, and scenery.
Contribute your illustrations and designs to the "LRRH Cutout Characters" collaboration here!
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Thanks Again!
J
March 6, 2012
WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER A NEW BOOK // COME BE A PART OF...
WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER A NEW BOOK // COME BE A PART OF IT!!!!!
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS & ILLUSTRATORS: We need your help illustrating the visual world of Little Red Riding Hood so we can publish a book together!
Check out the request video and contribute your visuals to the collaboration!
March 4, 2012
leftcoastjane:
Hoooorayyy! I found the little video of The...
Hoooorayyy! I found the little video of The Lorax that my kids watched when they were tiny critters. Loved it. Ain't technology grand? Yes, it's a bit outdated, doesn't have Disney's glitz and shine… but it does have Dr Seuss' words, and the brilliant lesson/story that he so sweetly told back then.
#Lorax
March 2, 2012
chimeramusic:
Sean curated four evenings at the Los Angeles...
March 1, 2012
CALLING ALL SINGERS / SONGWRITERS / VOCALISTS / LYRICISTS!
...
CALLING ALL SINGERS / SONGWRITERS / VOCALISTS / LYRICISTS!
The REGULARITY #61 (02/29/12)
Be a part of this track produced by the legendary DAN THE AUTOMATOR!
As you may or may not know - we are currently working with one of my favorite musicians/producers in music, Dan The Automator!
He took 30 to 40 pieces of hitRECord audio and made them into a seriously fantastic beat. Now that beat needs to be made into a song - it needs vocals, your vocals!
So, who wants to jump on a track with Dan The Automator?
Plus - hitRECord is expanding so that our production company can meet the growth that's knocking at our door — so, we hired a shiny new Team Member! Please welcome Mr. Matt Conley — hitRECord's first Community Director! :oD
Thanks Again!
J
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