Have you seen this yet?

It’s taking over the internet. I’ve seen it posted by so many people. It’s a pretty powerful summary of the evolution of Gay Rights. Thoughts?

Boston Globe’s “The Big Picture” presents 2011: A year in pictures

The Boston Globe’s blog “The Big Picture” is dedicated to telling the story of global events through pictures. This is a three-part compilation series they did covering the events of 2011:

The Year in Pictures Part I

The Year in Pictures Part II

The Year in Pictures Part III

In these pictures you see the strength and comfort that people are finding in the unity of standing together. It’s pretty powerful stuff. Take some time to check out these amazing photos.

(Photo credit: Ben Curtis)

History of Lyrics, That Aren’t Really Lyrics…

Simple, reminiscent entertainment for tonight…

Currently reading: King Leopold’s Ghost

For the last 7 years, since Invisible Children’s founding, we have focused on northern Uganda—the terror wreaked by the LRA and now the recovery of the region. But Joseph Kony and the LRA have not quit. They are still active in the Central African Republic, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. As an organization we’ve decided to expand our work to the DR Congo in addition to maintaining our programs in Uganda. This is a first for us, and Mission Director Adam Finck recommended reading King Leopold’s Ghost to understand the Congo’s modern context. You should, too.

Adam Hochschild’s history of the Congo starts around 1870 when a white man “discovered” the Congo. At the same time, King Leopold of Belgium had his royal heart set on owning a colony that would make him rich. “…About 80% of the entire land area of Africa was still under indigenous rulers. It was ripe for the conquest—or, as Leopold was now learning to say, for protection.”

Brilliant, cunning, and evil, King Leopold masked his Congolese slave state as a humanitarian aid mission. What was really happening in the Congo has unnerving similarities to the LRA’s strategies today.

If people resisted slavery or refused to gather rubber, the state officials would punish them by cutting off hands, noses, and ears.

A man named Tswambe who lived through Leopold’s regime recalled, “…From all the bodies killed in the field, you had to cut off the hands. [The State official] wanted to see the number of hands cut off by each soldier, who had to bring them in baskets….A village which refused to provide rubber would be completely swept clean….Soldiers made young men kill or rape their own mothers and sisters.”

The book chronicles the evil men do to one another, but also the heroes who see and speak the truth. This is a must read. Though it is a history book, it is not boring. Distressing? Yes. Boring? No.

Last year we posted an interview with the author. You should probably check it out and read Adam Hochschild’s other work.

-Azy

Paste Magazine features IC’s history and supporters

Check out Paste Magazine’s blog post, which features Invisible Children and recounts the efforts that have gone into passing the LRA bill. Their summary highlights the help of several celebrity supporters as well as weaves the timeline of events leading to the passing of the bill.  Kind of like a panoramic view of it all…but it’s not over yet, people.   -Rebekah K.

From Paste Magazine:

The cause of documentary filmmakers Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole was first portrayed in 2004 with the release of their 52-minute film, Invisible Children: Rough Cut. Six years later, the trio (who have since established the non-profit Invisible Children Inc.) is now basking in the disbelief of having a bill directly related to that cause signed into law by President Obama.

The bill, formally titled the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, requires the U.S. to seek a means to end the atrocities that have been taking place in Uganda and surrounding African countries over the past 23 years. According to the Invisible Children website, a rebel movement led by Joseph Kony, the Lord’s Resistance Army, has been at war with the Government of Uganda since 1987. In order to continue fighting in what has become Africa’s longest-running war, the LRA has slaughtered thousands of innocent civilians and kidnapped children, forcing them to become soldiers for their cause.

Through various campaigns and screenings of the documentary, Invisible Children has managed to raise millions of dollars and team up with thousands across the country who have demanded an end to what has been called “the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today.” Pete Wentz, Kristen Bell, Rachel Bilson, Ryan Gosling, Paramore, Frightened Rabbit, Aaron Gillespie, Oprah, Guess CEO Maurice Marciano and Switchfoot are just a few of the actors, artists and prominent cultural figures who have stood alongside members of the organization to help raise the awareness and funding necessary to gain U.S. Congressional support. They have released promotional videos, slept outdoors, donated money, advocated on national television and lobbied the government so that Invisible Children can help bring peace and restoration to a nation devastated by what the U.S. Patriot Act of 2001 deemed acts of terrorism.

Go here to read the entire post as well as to watch a few of IC’s videos throughout the years.

Obama said yes! We got a signing ceremony in the Oval Office!

After a five year quest to get the attention of the United States government, we have done it.

President Obama agreed to a signing ceremony in the Oval Office for the signing of the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act! After the unbelievable rallying we all did to see this bill pass unanimously through Congress, and the props they gave us on the House floor (I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life), we have seen impossible dreams come true.

After the bill’s unanimous passage, we asked the White House for a signing ceremony with the President so that we could hold him accountable to this mandate and see Joseph Kony arrested.

On Saturday, President Obama accepted our request and invited us to the Oval Office on Monday.

Today, Monday, May 24th at 5pm est, Senator Inhofe, Congressmen McGovern and Royce, Jason, Laren, Ben Keesey, Resolve Uganda’s Michael Poffenberger and Lisa Dougan, and the Enough Project’s John Prendergast stood in the Oval Office, circled around President Barack Obama as he signed into law the bill we have carried so far.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) commented on the signing of the bill, saying, “This bill’s success is due to the grassroots effort of young people across the U.S. committed to ending the atrocities of Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army.” It has been your rallying, your phone calls, letters, emails, activism, and voices that have won this victory. The war is not over, but the stage has been set for justice.

“Our mission now is to make sure that the President uses the mandate it provides from Congress and the American people to do everything he can to see LRA violence ended once and for all.”  - Lisa Dougan, Resolve.

Be proud.  We’ll post pictures and details as soon as we have them!

Video of the LRA Disarmament bill passing Congress

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, by voice vote without a single objection.

Over the course of 30 minutes, seven Congress members spoke on behalf of the bill, calling on President Obama, in response to the atrocities being committed in central east Africa, to form a plan to remove Joseph Kony from the battlefield. Eight additional Members of Congress submitted written statements expressing their support for the bill.

Can you believe it? The leaders of our nation, for 30 MINUTES, stated and restated the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony and the urgent need for a strong response from the United States.

As if that weren’t enough, America’s young activists got their recognition too.

This 2-minute highlight reel cuts together some of the most spine-tingling portions of the speeches. Be proud. They are talking about you.

We can still only marvel that the youth of America made so much noise that their Congressmen and women felt compelled to mention their efforts on the floor of the House of Representatives.

We celebrate this victory with our partners Resolve: Uganda and Enough Project. You can be sure that at 3:30 PDT yesterday, the entire Invisible Children office was gathered in the conference room, breathlessly watching history be made. (The picture below was taken right after Invisible Children was mentioned by name, hence Jason’s ninja kick)

We celebrate this victory wholeheartedly, but we know that our work is not yet finished. Now we must pressure the Obama Administration to follow through on this important mandate, to set a precedent for justice, and to protect these children who have too long been trapped in a war against their will. We will see them come home.

This victory is yours, and we want you to know everything that there is to know.

This Q&A was put together by Resolve Uganda will answer every question you have about the significance of the bill and what will happen next.

You can watch all of yesterday’s speeches about the LRA/Uganda bill here (28 minutes).

This video express our thanks to you, our supporters, and illustrates just how much has been accomplished since The Rescue.

Another Victory: House Foreign Affairs Committee passes LRA Bill

From RESOLVE Uganda in Washington, D.C.

By Lisa Dougan:

We are thrilled to bring you news that this morning, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously passed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

Debates between some Committee members over details in the bill had initially threatened to stall its consideration for months, until robust efforts from activists and the bill’s champions in Congress succeeded in convincing leaders of the Foreign Affairs Committee to swiftly pass the Senate version of the bill. In a very rare move, the Committee added the bill to today’s agenda just yesterday afternoon—less than 24 hours before the hearing was to take place.

Consequently, during today’s meeting the Committee members agreed unanimously to support the passage of the Senate version of the bill without amendment. From here, the bill will go to the floor of the House for a full vote, most likely in the next week or two.

Once the bill passes in the House, it will go straight to the President’s desk to be signed into law and implemented. At that point, it will be up to activists to convince President Obama to fully utilize this public mandate for action.

“I’m very pleased that this important, bipartisan legislation will be moving to the House floor,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), an original cosponsor of the bill, said. “It is crucial that the United States commit to a proactive strategy to help bring this conflict to an end and to strengthen humanitarian assistance.”

The unanimous decision by the Foreign Affairs Committee to pass the the bill was a major victory and another step toward an end to LRA atrocities and toward lasting peace in northern Uganda.  As emphasized by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), former Africa subcommittee chairman and an original cosponsor of the bill, “LRA leader Joseph Kony is driving this crisis.  Ensuring United States leadership in ending his reign of terror is the goal of this legislation, and the many Americans who have backed it. Kony must be stopped.”

Today’s victory reflects a consensus within Congress and amongst hundreds of thousands of Americans that forging a more effective response to LRA violence necessitates increased US engagement and leadership. As we look forward to the bill’s passage in the House and it’s movement to the President’s desk, we will continue to strongly reiterated that message and amplify the voices of those whose lives have been devastated by Joseph Kony’s campaign of violence.

Our deepest thanks to the thousands of you who have called, written, and met with your Representatives over the past few months and to the 5,500 people who signed the petition to Foreign Affairs Committee leaders over the course of just four days.

Today is further evidence of what our committed voices can accomplish together—and there is certainly much more to accomplish!

Well done, everyone.