KONY 2012 - Articles both for and against the KONY2012 Video. Danah Boyd: "the rise of attention philanthropy... a new type of attention colonialism?"

An article speaking in favor of the KONY 2012 video "

The Kony 2012 "Controversy

by

DAN PALLOTTA

Dan Pallotta is an expert in nonprofit sector innovation and a pioneering social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multiday AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. He is the president of Advertising for Humanity and the author of Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential.

An Article speaking against the KONY 2012 video. "How Invisible Children's Kony 2012 Will Hurt - And How You Can Help - Central Africa"

Michael Deibert

Author, Democratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope and Despair

KONY 2012 Social Media Analysis

"KONY2012: See How Invisible Networks Helped a Campaign Capture the World’s" Attention

The Power of Youth: How Invisible Children Orchestrated Kony 2012 - by Danah Boyd - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danah_boyd

Danah boyd also known as Danah Michele Boyd, is an American social media researcher known for her public commentary on the use of social networking sites by youth. A 2009 article in Fast Company named boyd one of the most influential women in technology.^[3]

danah boyd
At the Web 2.0 Conference in 2005 Born November 24, 1977

Excerpt:

"I'm really bothered by how Kony 2012 is all about white people -- and primarily white Americans -- talking about what should be done in a foreign country to help "poor black people." I'm glad that NPR and a few other news organizations have sought out Ugandan perspectives, but none of those perspectives have broken through the tornado of chaos that has followed this event. So I can't help but wonder... with the rise of attention philanthropy, are we going to see a new type of attention colonialism?"

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'Stop Kony' screening tour cancelled after Ugandans react with outrage

GEOFFREY YORK

Globe and Mail Update

Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2012 11:13AM EDT

it was planned as a tour of Uganda’s poorest towns and villages: the first chance for Joseph Kony’s victims to see the viral video sensation that has excited so many millions of people in North America.

But after a furious reaction, the tour has been cancelled. Too many Ugandans were outraged by the “Stop Kony” video when they saw it. Some even threw stones and shouted abuse, forcing the organizers to flee.

The video by a California-based activist group had already been strongly criticized by many African writers and Western aid experts, who called it simplistic, patronizing and inaccurate. They are worried that the publicity will distract attention from more deserving African needs.

But the video, calling for the arrest of the indicted war criminal who leads the Lord’s Resistance Army militia, has been viewed by more than 100 million people worldwide since its release last week. And it has stirred up a huge amount of curiosity in northern Uganda, where the LRA was born in the late 1980s – even though the vast majority of people could not see the video because they lack electricity, television, and Internet access.

So a Ugandan group, the African Youth Initiative Network, decided to organize a community tour for the video, bringing it to towns across northern Uganda for the rest of this month, so that impoverished people could see the 30-minute video for the first time.

The first screening was held this week in the northern Uganda town of Lira, once an epicentre of the battles between the LRA and the Ugandan military. The video was projected onto a white sheet, held up by crude metal rods, in a dusty town park. An estimated 5,000 people flocked to the show.

Curiosity soon turned to bafflement, and then to anger. The screening was hastily abandoned when people jeered and threw stones, forcing the crowd to scatter.

Many Ugandans at the screening were upset that the video focused on the U.S. filmmaker, Jason Russell, and his young blond son. Some were offended by its call to “make Kony famous” by putting his image on T-shirts and posters, since they saw this as giving celebrity status to a killer. Some said the video was reviving their painful memories of a war that had ended in Uganda in 2006 when the LRA was chased out of the country.

“There was chaos, we had to run away,” tweeted Rosebell Kagumire, a Ugandan blogger who attended the screening this week.

Most people were peaceful, but many were disappointed and angry, she said. “They have had enough of money makers!”

After the screening, Ugandans called local radio stations in Lira to demand that no T-shirts of Joseph Kony should be allowed into the region.

Victor Ochen, director of the youth network that organized the screening of the Kony video this week, says he is worried that the video will waste money that could be better spent on helping the victims of the LRA.

“Why spent millions on Kony alone while thousands of survivors are dying of repairable physical and psychosocial pain?” he asked in a message on his website.

Mr. Ochen is worried that the video will promote a military assault on the LRA, perhaps leading to the death of innocent children who were kidnapped by the LRA – including his own brother and cousin.

“Raising potentially false expectations such as arresting Kony in 2012 will not rebuild the lives of the people in northern Uganda,” he said. “Restoration of communities devastated by Kony is a greater priority than catching or killing him.”

For Your Consideration: Women Directors Missing From the Oscars

S.U.R.G.E.! Film Festival is so much more than a Film Festival.

SURGE in Berkeley, CA! Project Happiness with Randy Taran and crew! March 2012

Last night, We SURGE was pleased and honored to welcome Randy Taran from the non-profit project happiness group screening the Project Happiness Film during SURGE in Berkeley!

Thursday, March 8th, 2012. 7:30pm-8:30pm - Project Happiness Workshop with Randy Taran

Project Happiness: Skills for a Meaningful Life
Is happiness a habit that can be developed? Learn to identify, cultivate, and practice personal happiness in all aspects of your life in this one hour workshop. Deepening your happiness is not a selfish act – it enriches our lives and the lives of others. Engage in a stimulating group discussion with other people wanting more happiness in their own lives and in the lives of people they care about. Empower yourself by recognizing patterns that can increase your happiness and gain a renewed awareness of your own strengths.

Led by: Randy Taran
Randy Taran is an author, motivational speaker, and the creator, narrator and producer of the award-winning documentary, Project Happiness. Inspired by the making of the documentary, Randy went on to create Project Happiness, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, California. Project Happiness creates educational programs to teach young people how to find their authentic happiness no matter their external situation. Her programs are currently being used by hundreds of schools and organizations throughout 42 states and in 29 countries.

Thursday, March 8th, 2012.Project Happiness Film. Randy Taran answered questions about the film when it finished.


Here is a summary of the Project Happiness recent achievements from Randy Taran:

As I look back on 2011, I am so grateful for the profound impact Project Happiness has been able to make in the lives of so many young people throughout the world. This has been a huge year for us and it has been made possible thanks to the support of people like you.
This year, the Project Happiness team has worked passionately to amplify your generosity and we are well positioned to make an even bigger impact in 2012! To date, Project Happiness programs are being used in schools in 40 states and 27 countries.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2011

* Project Happiness educational curriculum was initiated in more than 230 schools and organizations spanning nearly every U.S. state and in countries throughout the world!
* The Project Happiness online curriculum was incorporated into the Science of Happiness class at the University of Southern California and into programs and conferences at Stanford University. Project Happiness Town Halls have been hosted at USC, Rollins College, Clark University, Creighton University and Emory University.
* I have had the honor to speak about Project Happiness at Google, TEDx GoldenGateED, the Wisdom 2.0 Youth conference, Stanford University, Tibet House, the University of Southern California, the New York Open Center and for the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
* The Project Happiness film premiered in May and has been chosen as an official selection at 17 film festivals where it has won three awards for excellence in documentary film making.
* Our first schoolwide Project Happiness program was implemented at the Saklan School with all students, kindergarten through eighth grade participating.
* Project Happiness continues with its global expansion! In 2011, we brought on Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba as director of African programming. With his guidance, Project Happiness is affecting social change with more than 1000 children in Nigeria. African programming is now being expanded into Kenya, Ethiopia, Liberia and Egypt.
* In India, we have launched a year-long program to teach Project Happiness to children from the urban slums of Delhi. This program is being headed by Vibha, founder of the NGO Muskaan.
* Proyecto Felicidad! We have just finalized the Spanish language version of the Project Happiness film and will be premiering it next month in Mexico. In addition to the film, all of our other resources will be available in early 2012 for the Spanish speaking communities here in the U.S. and abroad.

SURGE in Austin, Texas! World Premiere of Debt to Society with Director, Lead Actor and the Amazing Cast and Several Crew Members! Feb 2012

Bradd Hopkins is an award-winning screenwriter, author and publisher of award-wining fiction and non-fiction books. Bradd's Debt to Society screenplay is based on his award-winning original short story by the same name.


On February 21st, 2012 in Austin, Texas the SURGE Film festival was happy to present the World Premiere of "Debt to Society " followed by a Q+A afterwards with Director Bradd Hopkins, Lead Actor Rene Reyes and several members of the amazing cast and cre



Long Synopsis
An imprisoned felon in a dystopian future pays his Debt to Society in sinister lottery when his number is drawn the day after a poignant visit from his wife and children.

Xavier, prisoner 1031, is doing hard time for manslaughter, soon to be paroled, when his number comes up as an involuntary organ donor in the corporate correctional system’s legal lottery.

Co-opted by their own economic necessities in a jobless economy, prison administrators, parole board members, and guards, as well as the prisoners and their families, are insulted, desensitized, and dehumanized in a macabre process that is designed only to assure fiscal viability at the expense of human dignity.

At every contact with the dysfunctional system, Xavier’s family is violated and degraded incidentally, but in the broader view, it becomes hard to determine who the victims really are. As the viewer absorbs the impact of Xavier’s losses, awareness emerges that the losses to the victimizers are even greater.

This work touches on the psychological horror of a powerful institutional system-gone-mad that compromises human values and ethics in the name of profits while maintaining a hypocritical façade of callous political correctness and superficial legality.

For more information about this award winning film, please see the profile for this film on the Love to SURGE Directory found at www.LoveToSurge.org or visit the profile page found here.