This runs true to the apparel, accessories, and films that we produce. Invisible Children products tell this story; products made by the people of the region, benefiting those affected most.
Enter the silver bracelet. The silver bracelet is crafted out of a stunning white brass with a silver-plating. Modeled after traditional reed bracelets made in Uganda, this bracelet is versatile. Its simplistic design can be dressed up or down by both men and women.
The silver bracelet is a perfect idea for any upcoming birthdays, anniversaries or graduations. In the DRC, Kony, now with just some fighters to his name, is old, if still brutal, news. The publicity the film generated did, however, provide an opportunity to influence how Africa is taught in American schools. The African Studies Center, which runs an outreach program for educational institutions and museums, launched a Kony teaching guide. The movie swirls us through a quickie history of the LRA, a rebel group that terrorized vulnerable civilian populations in northern Uganda for nearly twenty years before moving into the borderlands of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Central African Republic.
It's justifiably heavy on the vilification of Kony, but light on any account of the complex political dynamics that sparked the conflict or have contributed to the LRA's longevity. Instead, we are given a facile explanation for Kony's decades - long reign of terror : Not enough Americans care. Invisible Children has turned the myopic worldview of the adolescent -- "if I don't know about it, then it doesn't exist, but if I care about it, then it is the most important thing in the world" -- into a foreign policy prescription.
The "invisible children" of the group's name were the children of northern Uganda forcibly recruited by the LRA. In the group's narrative, these children were "invisible" until American students took notice of them. Awareness of their plight achieved, child soldiers are now visible to the naked American eye.
And in fact, several months ago, President Obama sent military advisors to Uganda to assist in the effort to track down Kony. But according to Invisible Children, these troops may be recalled unless the college students of America raise yet more awareness.
The new video instructs its audience to put up posters, slap on stickers, and court celebrities' favor until Kony is "as famous as George Clooney. This awareness-based approach to atrocity strikes many people as worthwhile. As Samantha Power laid out in brutal detail in her book A Problem From Hell : America in the Age of Genocide , the United States has repeatedly failed to intervene to stop genocide and crimes against humanity because of our leaders' belief that public opinion would not support such a decision.
In theory, awareness campaigns should remedy that problem. In reality, they have not -and may have even exacerbated it. The problem is that these campaigns mobilize generalized concern -- a demand to do something. That isn't enough to counterbalance the costs of interventions, because Americans' heartlessness or apathy was never the biggest problem. Taking tough action against groups, like the LRA, that are willing to commit mass atrocities will inevitably turn messy.
Soldiers will be killed, sometimes horribly. Think Somalia. Military advice and training to the local forces attempting to suppress atrocities can have terrible unforeseen consequences.
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