It sucks that I have to write this because I’m essentially going back on a lot of things that I’ve said, but at the same time, I don’t feel 100% guilty for trying to be forward to help support a cause. We all dive into things that at first seem like good ideas, but after time, we just…slowly…start to get the picture clear. I’m not going to lie, this is a tough pill to swallow, but you have to swallow your pride and admit to your wrong doings (even though nothing was exactly done wrong in this situation).

Prior to this whole Joseph Kony stuff, I was aware that there were a lot of issues related to this going on in the world, but as I’ve stated before, I’m not exactly a global socially aware person, because I feel like, if I get myself caught up in every single issue in the world outside of my own, then the problems directly affecting me wouldn’t get any attention. There are the people that devote their lives to ending oppression, violence, poverty, famine, and other world issues; I’m not exactly one of those people, I’m not going to lie, I’m not a perfect human being, but at the same time, I donate here and there to charity, I helped donate after the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, the earthquake in Haiti, the Earthquakes in Japan, and I even thought about building houses in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina (money issues).

I get that there’s always a sneaky loophole through most of these organizations, and that’s why a lot of people are skeptical about giving to charities, but for me, it’s more about just doing something right to help some people out. This is no different at all. I just wanted to feel as if I would be helping support a cause, but the truth of the matter is, I didn’t even know what this company was about, their whole background, and there I was, literally about to give them $100 blindly. Good thing I have this thing called a “gut feeling” that really stopped me, and said “SELF…maybe….you should just wait.”

We’re all global citizens, and we’ve been taught from when we were young, to look out for our brothers and sisters when they’re in need. The thing is, there are so many problems in the world, and so many battles happening, even in our own countries, that sometimes it’s just hard to really go the extra mile to be much help to another country. It sucks that not enough of us are aware about Genocides, sweatshops,  and other child soldiers in the world aside from the ones in the LRA. It sucks that it takes a 30 minute video to really shed light on an issue that’s been going on for the longest time, and it’s funny because this is where Hollywood really paints a picture in putting world issues into perspective:

Shooter – in this movie directed by Antoine Fuqua, Mark Wahlberg plays a retired U.S Marine that is framed for assassinating an Archbishop of Ethiopia. In the midst of trying to clear his name, he uncovers a bigger story around the people that framed him; they’ve been murdering massive amounts of people (including women & children) in villages to make way for an oil transport tube through parts of the country. It’s a genocide, and it’s just one example of how the government feels that they’re doing something good, but at the same time, there’s that little thing that just makes you think. A lot.

Hotel Rwanda – A lot of people know about this movie about how the U.N was brought into Rwanda to try and help control the genocides happening in that movie. Don Cheadle was one man trying to protect his people, and of course things got out of hand. The scene when they’re driving on a foggy road, and they discover that it’s bumpy, only to get out of the car and discover that they’ve been driving over hundreds of bodies still to this day will always get me emotional.

Blood Diamond – Leonardo DiCaprio & Djimon Hounsou played opposite people in one common issue. Kanye West had his song ‘Diamonds’ that was very popular, but a lot of people didn’t see the message behind it, because they just thought it was song about a black man talking about jewellery. People have died (in reality) over diamond mining. This is a real issue that a lot of people have taken into consideration and have become more aware about. Me personally, I won’t buy anything diamond unless I know if they’re conflict diamonds or not. Back to the movie, this one deals with not only the Diamond mining, but also touches on child soldiers, as Hounsou’s son was taken from him to be brainwashed to being a soldier and almost kills his own father. That was really my first glimpse as to what was really going on. Kony’s story is pretty much reflective of this movie.

City of God – I, personally haven’t watched this movie yet, so I can’t really give a full detailed example, but of what I know from people who’ve discussed it, it’s more geared towards showing the issues of organized crime in a local region, but at the same time, children are depicted as being soldiers as well, so that issue is related to the topic at hand, even though it’s not even based in Africa.

I could really go on and on with the examples, but those were the ones that really stood out to me at the moment. There are a lot of issues aside from just these in the Kony 2012 movement that were being depicted, and don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to show my support towards it in whichever way that I can, because I feel like, this is one thing that the people can do to raise awareness and hopefully lend a helping hand to those in need to all countries, not just one continent that has been known to being in a state of panic & hostility for decades.

I’m one man. One man can’t change the….actually, that’s not true. One man can change the world, but he needs the help of millions of people to help make that change. This is the same case for movements in the past, for example, the Civil Rights Movement. You need a lot of people to really have to stand up to racism and oppression of one race. Martin Luther King did that. He had a voice, he had a dream, he made it heard. Malcolm X had other views about it, but at the same time, they met and discussed their views as men. Today, we have no leaders doing that. Where are the leaders going after all of the other greater world issues? There’s a lot that I don’t know, because I don’t look into them, there’s a lot that I don’t know and could be very wrong about there not being leaders that have made it their life missions to ending their issues in their respective regions. I’m pretty sure that there are, I’m just saying that, a lot of people don’t know these people and what they stand for.

The fact that this movie (real or not) caused such a stir for people to actually start talking about this issue revolving Kony is ingenious on its own, because it gets people who weren’t previously educated, to either educate themselves on an issue in which they can help, or at least it captures their attention to provoke some change. The media works in mysterious ways, that’s why they call it magic, because you can’t explain having thousands of people want to help out with something if a powerful message isn’t being delivered.

As I’ve said before, I’m all with this movement, and helping to inspire others to become aware of not only the evil leaders that live among us, but at the same time, there’s more that meets the eye (ya, I really just bit that from Transformers), and we should be not only aware about their issues, but also to be SELF-AWARE to what we’re actually getting ourselves into. I’m not exactly going to rush into giving my money to an organization where I don’t know where it’s going, but, I’ll continue to support the movement to capture and bring justice to Joseph Kony, because it could be the first step to something bigger. Ya, there are more people LIKE HIM that are around, and there won’t ever be a day where we’ll catch every major corrupt leader, but you’ll never know once you start to get involved.

There’s always sides to the story that we won’t understand, but the most we can do is be aware of what we can, and try to be of help to those who are in need. That’s all I’m saying.

That’s My Word & It STiXX