KONY 2012 Discussion

[Bring4th_Austin]

I haven't watched the new video, though I'm seeing a lot of backlash. Invisible Children isn't new, and they haven't always been such a huge organization. 7 years ago I went to a showing of their first video (like Ruth's nephew), all of the members were there (just the few kids), and they were incredibly genuine and straightforward. They consistently said during the event that their main goal was to raise awareness. They had basically sold all of their belongings to buy the necessary equipment and cover travel costs for their first video, and they were taking donations to go back.

One thing that comes up a lot is that only 32% of Invisible Children's money goes to aid. This gets a lot of attention despite the fact they aren't an aid organization, and it is still comparable to organizations dedicated to providing aid for such causes. I don't know if the video states so, but they were very clear when I saw them that they were raising awareness and any donations would go towards that specifically, and not aid.

They've obviously changed by now. I think that their reported income from donations was somewhere around $8 million. I don't know anything about the direction they've went. But if anyone is questioning the origins of Invisible Children, they aren't that fishy...though things have changed this video specifically might have a broader agenda.