Blogging For Archival Purposes

In an attempt to archive some academic papers I've written over the past few years (relying on the hard drives of sometimes faulty PCs has left me tired and frustrated), I will be uploading some of my old work to this blog over the next few weeks. Here is one I wrote for a class on Media Education in the Spring of 2012.

 

In his canonical text, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” the highly influential, late Brazilian author Paulo Freire wrote, “when an illiterate person participates in this sort of educational experience, he or she comes to a new awareness of self, has a new sense of dignity, and is stirred by a new hope. Time and again, peasants have expressed these discoveries in striking ways after a few hours of class: 'I realize I am a person and an educated person.' 'We were blind, now our eyes have been opened.'...When this happens in the process of learning to read, men and women discover that they are creators of culture, and that all their work can be creative. 'I work, and working I transform the world.'” (33) Published in 1968, this statement possibly takes on a new polemical meaning today, relevant in its detailed description and educated use of human psychology. In regards to the striking declaration “I work, and working I transform the world” – a liberatingly optimistic outlook if there ever was one – Freire indicates man's desire to contribute to the world that has helped form his view of it. A sense of productivity is necessary in any person's life, as too is the feeling we are working hard to craft a better tomorrow not only for ourselves but for the next generation of workers. Our selflessness, it is believed, will lead to the improvement of others.

      KONY 2012, the popular media blip that went viral by Invisible Children and hired director Jason Russell, became an overnight sensation, inspiring as many to activism as it did to intense investigation of the organization which funded and distributed it. Loved, hated, disputed, and offended, KONY 2012's twenty-nine minute run time focused on getting the worldwide public to call for the capture and arrest of Joseph Kony, the LRA's (Lord Resistance Army) leader and public enemy number one. It claimed that the appropriate way to go about doing this was to get out and spread the word, not on how to find Joseph Kony but to make his crimes known to others who would then gain the attention of today's millionaire culture makers (Bill Clinton, George Clooney, etc.). If more people would continue talking about this man, then eventually the all mighty US government would have to do something (the video states that Obama had sent troops in to work side-by-side with the Ugandan army, but the length of their stay was highly dependent on how much coverage the media continued to give it) leading to the end of the multi-decade long reign of terror.

     To measure this success, KONY 2012 saddled itself with a quickly approaching deadline: April 20th, 2012. The reasoning behind the selected date was unclear: April 20th is Hitler's birthday, a man whom much of KONY 2012's marketing revolves around for comparative purposes, and also the unofficial national holiday for marijuana use. Nevertheless, Friday 4/20 at sundown was chosen as the evening for new would-be activists to use their recently purchased KONY 2012 Action Kits to get the word out and “make Kony famous.” The red, white, and blue kit contained KONY 2012 posters (designed to bring to mind political campaign ads), bumper stickers, bracelets, and a beautifully designed, sleek and slim manual to explain what followers had already known thanks to the viral video that inspired them to buy the kit. They were told to hang these KONY 2012 posters and signs all across their hometowns on 4/20, remembering of course to be respectful to others by keeping things safe and clean – imagine the PR disaster Invisible Children would've faced if Cover The Night had turned chaotic. If attempting to create a Joseph Kony wall mural, for example, tell the owners of that wall that you would return to take it down in one week's time. The goal was to spread the word by spreading the word.

      A fun social event as well as an overtly political occupation, Cover The Night was touted as an evening for friends to join together and work for the greater good. The turn out was less than spectacular. Even so, a dent may have been made – in a video posted after April 20th, Invisible Children announced that their mission was not yet completed and that they planned on going to the United Nations in June to deliver supporters' pledges, pledges which note that they “want peace.” 

      If a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, did it really fall? Take two: KONY 2012, the campaign well as the original video, feels designed to work whether the public wants it to or not. Since its success is graded less on viewer participation than viewers' views (or hits), KONY 2012's vague message will be self-reviewed as an altruistic success no matter the outcome. If Joseph Kony is captured by the completion of 2012 (a bold point the film makes is that he must be found by year's end), then Invisible Children, with all of their shoddy facts and lack of a universal voice and context, will be seen as responsible for taking down the murderer. If he is not found, Invisible Children can then cite the American government's lack of support and seriousness for the issue: KONY 2012 smartly plays defense for about a third of the video stating, not incorrectly, that our politicians cannot be concerned with an issue which doesn't cause personal or economic harm to themselves. Calling them out may help, but if KONY 2012 fails to fulfill the ultimate goal, it can also be used as a rather convenient crutch, a way to say that a valiant fight which doesn't reach its goal is more noble than no fight at all.

      Its success or lack therof notwithstanding, KONY 2012's call to public activism has lead to the newly coined term slacktivism, implying that many people concerned about a certain issue will go to no greater lengths than Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube to voice their concerns. Once it comes to pushing the cause forward, slacktivists can't be bothered to go outside of the home and vocalize the issues. For a project in this current class, I have chosen to use a common slacktivist tool, the online blog (located here), to draw attention to a dividing gap forming between the call to work and the actual work being done. The material on the blog was to feature content, none original, that was being either written or filmed about both KONY 2012 (the blog's inspiration) and general public activism – the African female circumcision cake being one of the more popularized videos featured on the blog.

      Recommended by fellow peers and classmates, I looked at WITNESS.org, a Human Rights advocacy group co-founded by singer Peter Gabriel in 1992. WITNESS.org's mantra, “see it, film it, change it,” serves to provide the needed tools to those who inquire for help. The organization is highly media-centered, giving video equipment – as well as demonstrations and instrumental classes on how to use them – to those who wish to “create change.” Unlike Invisible Children's cries, WITNESS.org's activists ironically do not set a deadline for their intended achievements. They instead send updates for WITNESS.org to post on their website, often proving that the length of time required in getting the work done is greater than one year. In their By The Numbers section on WITNESS.org, it reads as follows, “WITNESS has partnered with more than 300 human rights defenders, developed widely-used training materials and tools, created the first dedicated online platform for human rights media (the HUB)...” By being simple but precise, WITNESS.org encourages video activists to make their own goals and approach the website with a campaign worthy of consideration. If approved, the training can begin solving very specific problems on both the home turf and abroad. 

      WITNESS.org's contributor campaigns vary in description and cause, ranging from “gender-based violence,” “forced evictions in the name of development,” “protecting sexually-exploited children,” and yes, even “bringing a warlord to justice.” When you click on each individual campaign page, you are brought to a lengthy explanation of both the problem and what is trying to be done to solve it. It is not asking for more help (a case could be made that it isn't discouraging it either), having already been given what they feel to be the necessary tools for improvement. For a fearfully humorous comparison between WITNESS.org's advocacy tool kits and KONY 2012's Action Kits, please see two videos posted on my blog within the entry “In your opinion, which activism plan is more effective?” The contrast in material is startling.

      Wishing to play devil's advocate, a person could ask what good does WITNESS.org do if it attempts to solve problems not addressing the larger issues such as the Joseph Konys of the world. Their work is often more location-specific, working to start the progression towards change from the ground-up. How will that stop someone that no one can seem to capture? Understanding this claim, my personal response would be that activism works best when it is highly detailed, well planned out, and working with members who truly express interest in the cause. A palpable effort must be made to declare one's self a legitimate activist. KONY 2012 serves to remove the effort involved in change. It asks people to purchase posters and t-shirts and put them up and wear them proudly. At best, you are being asked to incorporate a little piece of KONY 2012 into your lifestyle rather incorporating your lifestyle into the issue of KONY 2012. Awareness is not a bad thing by any means – KONY 2012 has brought life to the issue, but that's where it stops – but it is not the same thing which WITNESS.org promotes on a consistent basis. In trying to appeal to the young and hip, Invisible Children feels more inclined to be about itself than to be about the issues which have made their organization such a cultural phenomenon.

      As I am not content with someone just using Google to find out the latest information, I have used my blog as a way to archive what progress is currently being made as well as the downfalls that come with it. I am not specifically trying to use the blog to attack one group and promote another; I am attempting to promote alternative ways deemed effective in getting messages and goals reserved and accomplished. Why bother striving for activism? I guess because deep down we feel that the subconscious belief, “I work, and working I transform the world,” is still worth pursuing.