Nothing is more powerful than an idea
whose time has come now
Right now, there are more people on facebook than there were on the planet 200 years ago.
Humanity's greatest desire is to belong and connect.
And now, we see each other. We hear each other.
"Grandpa I love you!"
"I love you!"
"Why.. why won't it take a picture?"
We share what we love and it reminds us what we all have in common.
"Dug out alive and well after seven and a half days.."
"If you believe in yourself, you'll know how to ride a bike! Watch and learn!"
"So now technically, your device is on. Can you tell?"
"Oh! It's exciting!"
And this connection is changing the way the world works.
Governments are trying to keep up.
Now we can test the freedom.
And older generations are concerned.
"Many people are very concerned about tomorrow. They could get worse next year.
The game has new rules.
The next 27 minutes are an experiment.
But in order for it to work, you have to pay attention.
I can hear him!
Every single person in the world started this way.
He didn't chose where or when he was born.
But because he's here, he matters.
Yeah! We've been waiting for you! You made it!
My name is Jason Russell and this is my son, Gavin.
He loves jumping on the trampoline, being a ninja, and dancing.
What are you doing?
Making a snow angel.
How do you do that?
You do this!
And just like his dad, he likes being in movies
Action!
Look out! Look out people! Run! It's a bomb!
And making movies.
Daddy watch this!
I think we got the video
But he was born into a pretty complicated world.
And as a dad, I want him to grow up in a better world than I did.
And because of the course of events in my life, I see a way to get there.
It has become my job.
Who are you to end a war?
I'm here to tell you who are you not to.
Hey Gavin, what's up?
Years before Gavin was born, the course of my life was changed entirely by another boy.
And who is this right here?
Jacob
Who's Jacob?
Jacob is our friend in Africa.
It's been almost ten years since Jacob and I became friends.
It's okay, they're nice. They're different from sharks.
But when my friends and I first met him in Uganda in Central Africa, it was in very different circumstances.
He was running for his life.
Uh, you go to school here
Yes
That's how you know English so well?
I know.
How many nights have you stayed here?
Hello
You are making our work very difficult
You stop that thing now
The night I first met Jacob, he told me what he and other children in Northern Uganda were living through.
We worry the rebels when they arrest us again then they will kill us
My brother tried to escape then they kill him using Panga
They cut his neck
Did you see it?
I saw
We fear that if we sleep at our home that we can be abducted by the rebels
Because our home is far away from town
They will catch us then they will take us there in the bush
We come here to save our life
I cannot believe that
You cannot believe it?
This has been going on for years?
If that happened one night in America, it would be on the cover of Newsweek.
What is it that you want to be when you grow up?
For me I wanted to be lawyer but I don't have money to pay my school fees
So that I learn and then become a lawyer
Hmm.
Yes
After spending a few weeks with Jacob, he told me something I would never forget.
So if is better when you kill us and if possible, you can kill us you kill us
For us we don't want now to stay
You don't want to stay on Earth?
We are only two, no one is taking care of us
We are not doing to school, so
You would rather die than stay on Earth?
Yes
Now, even now?
Even now.
How are we going to stay in our future?
He told me more about his brother and what he would say to him if he were still alive.
I love you but now I miss you
So it is better when we meet
Wa are not going to meet but we may meet in heaven
You see?
So it is better
I will not talk much
I will start something
Because if I saw my brother once again I don't
Hmm?
It's okay.
Jacob, it's okay
Everything in my heart told me to do something
And so I made him a promise
We are also going to do everything that we can to stop them
Do you hear my words?
Yes
Do you know what I mean?
Yes
Hmm?
Yes
We are. We're going to stop them.
We're going to stop them
I made that promise to Jacob not knowing what it would mean but now I do.
Over the past nine years, I have fought to fulfill it.
And the fight has led me here.
To this movie you're watching.
Because that promise is not just about Jacob or me
It's also about you
And this year, 2012, is the year that we can finally fulfill it
And if we succeed, we change the course of human history
But time is running out.
To level with you, this movie expires on December 31, 2012
And its only purpose is to stop the rebel group, the LRA
And their leader, Joseph Kony
And I'm about to tell you exactly how we're going to do it.
So the thing is that my son Gavin has never
I've never really explained to him what I do
He knows I work in Africa
But he doesn't know what the war's about
Or who Joseph Kony is
So I'm gonna explain it to him for the first time today
That's what we're doing
So, Gav, are you ready?
Yeah
I'm gonna ask you some questions
Okay
And you can just look at me and answer the questions
I'm kinda nervous
What do I do for a job?
Ah! You stop the bad guys from being mean
Who are the bad guys?
Um
Do you know
Star Wars people
Star Wars people? Those are the bad guys?
Yeah
Can I tell you the bad guy's name?
Yeah
This is the guy, Joseph Kony
He's the bad guy?
Yeah
Who is this?
Jacob
Joseph Kony, he has an army, okay?
And what he does is he takes children from their parents
And he gives them a gun to shoot
And he makes them shoot and kill other people.
But they're not gonna do what he says because they're nice guys, right?
Yeah they don't want to do what he says
But he forces them to do bad things
What do you think about that?
It's sad
I couldn't explain to Gavin the details of what Joseph Kony really does
Because the truth is, Kony abducts kids just like Gavin.
For 26 years, Kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group, the LRA
Turning the girls into sex slaves
And the boys into child soldiers
He makes them mutilate people's faces
And he forces them to kill their own parents
And this is not just a few children
It's been over 30,000 of them
And Jacob was one of those children
As if Kony's crimes aren't bad enough
He's not fighting for any cause, but only to maintain his power
He is not supported by anyone
And he has repeatedly used peace talks to rearm and murder again and again
Kony, different times, proposed peace and then just regain strength and attack
This is the head prosecutor for the International Criminal Court
In 2002 when the court was started, their job was
To find and demand the arrest of the world's worst criminals
Although there are a lot of war lords, murderers, and dictators in the world
The perversity of Kony's crimes made him first on the court's list
Kony's the first guy indicted by the ICC
The crimes are basically crimes against humanity
And war crimes committed against the civillian population
Including murder, sexual slavery, rapes, abductions
We need to plan how to arrest Kony
Start to plan
And it has to be serious
In fact, the only way to stop Kony is to show him
Hey, we're going to arrest you
What do you think we should do about it?
We should stop him
The criminal here is Kony.
Stop him and then solve all the problems
We should stop who?
Him.
It's obvious that Kony should be stopped
The problem is 99% of the planet doesn't know who he is
If they knew, Kony would have been stopped long ago
Let the world, let the international community
Take justice to him there
Follow him wherever he is
First to rescue our children
And secondly, to deliver the justice
We are determined to cooperate with any friend of Uganda
To ensure that this mindless killing and slaughter is ended
When my friends and I came home from Uganda
We thought that if the government knew, they would do something to stop him
But everyone in Washington we talked to said
There is no way the United States will ever get involved
In a conflict where our national security or financial interests aren't at stake
No administration, republican, democrat, Obama, Bush, Clinton, doesn't matter
Would do enough because it's simply not an important enough issue
On the radar screen of American Foreign Policy
Since the government said it was impossible
We didn't know what else to do
But tell everyone we could about Jacob and the Invisible Children
We're going to show this movie to as many people as possible
In such a way that we can't be ignored
And when we did, people were shocked
And their awareness turned into action
We started something
A community
I have friends that have been living in this conflict their entire life
Fight for that, because that is what is going to change this world
And that is what defines us
We got creative and we got loud
It's not over! It's not over! It's not over!
And as the LRA began to move into other countries
Jacob and other Ugandans came to the US
To speak on behalf of all people suffering because of Kony
Even though Uganda was relatively safe
They felt compelled to tell the world that Kony was still out there
And had to be stopped
I'm here so proud advocating for the people who are back at home
And this change we are going to make is going to last forever
We built a community around the idea that where you live
Shouldn't determine whether you live
We were committed to stop Kony and rebuild what he had destroyed
And because we couldn't wait for and institutions or governments to step in
We did it ourselves
With our time, talent, and money
So we rebuilt schools
The best you can offer a child is by letting them be independent
And that was providing education
We created jobs
I have seen the lives of those who have been hopeless
Now they have hope
And we built and early warning radio network on the front line of the war
To protect villages from rebel attacks
So you update real-time what's happening in a war zone 8,000 miles away
All of this was funded by an army of young people
Who put their money toward their belief in the value of all human life
They gave a few dollars a month of what little they had
To a program called Tri
And proved that a bunch of littles could make a big difference
And as a result the unseen became visible
We've seen these kids
We've heard their cries
This war must end
We will not stop
We will not fear
We will fight war
I've talked to people from Mexico, from Canada
From every other state that I can think of
We're all doing this for the exact same reason
And we're all coming from completely different places
This is what the world should be like
So with hundreds of thousands of people with us
We went back to Washington DC and we met with Congressmen and Senators
One by one
On both sides, republicans, democrats, and they all agreed with us
Joseph Kony's crimes had to be stopped
Of all the problems that are out there, none is more severe than one that
Mutilates the lives of little kids
These young members of the Invisible Children organization
Know that no child should live in fear of being abducted or killed
So they were determined to become their voice
They realized that these African children and families
Were invisible to Washington policy makers
So they decided to make them visible
And what I was told would never happen
Suddenly became possible
In furtherance of the Congress' stated policy, I have authorized
A small number of US forces to deploy to Central Africa
To provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward
The removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield
Sincerely, Barack Obama
The surprise announcement came in a letter from the White House
The US president's decision commits US troops to help
Through advice and assistance
Not putting Americans into combat, to help the countries of the region
End this threat once and for all
And that was a worthwhile investment
We used to think that we could not do it
And now when I see we can do it I am overwhelmed
After 8 years of work, the government finally heard us
And in October of 2011, 100 American advisors were sent into Central Africa
To assist the Ugandan army in arresting Kony and stopping the LRA
It was the first time in history that the United States took that kind of action
Because the people demanded it
Not for self defense, but because it was right
We have come some far
But Kony is still out there
He recently changed his tactics
Making it more difficult to capture him
And international support could be removed at anytime
If we take the pressure off
If we are not successful
He is going to be growing his numbers
People forget and you got remind them
And it takes numbers to remind them
And if interest wanes, then
It will just, it will go away
And I'd end up standing out there alone
Trying to do something to
Support completing the mission
It got be 2012
It is not bad for the youth
It is bad for the world if we fail
It is not important just for Ugandan people
It is important for everyone
It is hard to look back at some parts of human history
Because when we heard about injustice
We cared
But we didn’t know what to do
Too often
We did nothing
But if we're going to change that
We have to start somewhere
So we starting here
With Joseph Kony
Because now, we know what to do
Here it is
Ready?
In order for Kony to be arrested this year
The Ugandan military has to find him
In order to find him
They need the technology and training to track him in the vast jungle
That's where the Americans advisors come in
But in order for the Americans advisors to be there
The US government has to deploy them
They have done that
But it the government doesn't believe the people care about arresting Kony
The mission will be cancelled
In order for the people they care, they have to know. And they will only know , if Kony's name is everywhere
This is the dream
Kony arrested for all the world to see
And for the abducted children returned home
Here is the biggest problem
Want to know what it is?
Yeah
Nobody knows who he is
But I know who he is
Because I see him on this picture right now
He is not famous
He is invisible, joseph Kony is invisible
Here is how we going to make him visible
We are going to make joseph Kony a household name
Not to celebrate him
But to bring his crime to the light
And we are starting this year
2012
We are targeting 20 culture makers and 12 policy makers
To use their power for good
Let's start with the 20 culture makers
Celebrities, athletes, and billionaires Have a loud voice
And what they talk about spreads instantly
I want. I'd like indicted war criminals to enjoy the same level of celebrity as me
That seems fair
That is our objective. Is to just shine a light on it
If our goal is to get Kony's name known
The known should join us
We are targeting twenty of the most divers and influential culture makers
To speak out about Kony
And make him famous
Then we are going after policy makers
The one that has the authority to see Kony captured
They decide if the advisors stay or leave
So we need to remind them that in this election year
of fighting and the name calling
No matter what side that you are on
This is something that we could all agree on
If a senator and congressmen get twenty five phone calls
On any issue
On any given day
It is noted
When citizens by the hundreds of thousands start demanding that our government do something
Suddenly it becomes in the national interest of the United States government to respond to this problem
We have identified the twelve policy makers
That could change the game regarding Kony
So we targeting them
On our website we have made it easy to write them directly
Call them
Meet with them
And get their attention
If my son were kidnapped and forced to kill
It would be all over the news
So we are making Kony world news
By redefining the propaganda we see all day, everyday
That dictates who and what we pay attention to
a lot of people feel powerless to communicate their ideas
they think that ok you know i'm not a corporation
I don't own my own magazine or news station
I just don't have any say
but seeing what I've done
I think it's empowered a lot of people to realize that one individual
can make an impact
and I actually want to demystify
and say here are these really simple tools :
go out and rock it.
And that's just what we intend to do.
our goal is to change the conversation of our culture
and get people to ask who is Joseph Kony
We've printed hundreds of thousands of posters , stickers, yard signs
and fliers
that are , right now ,
today,
being put up in major cities all over the world.
We have thousands of Kony 2012 bracelets
that we want everyone to wear
this year only.
Each bracelet has a unique ID number
Input that number and you enter the mission to make Kony famous
You can geo-tag your posters and track your impact in real time
Everything you need is in a box called the Action Kit
It has 2 bracelets, one for you and one to give away
And if you want to help fund our life saving programs
donate a few dollars a month through "Tri"
And you can have the action kit for free
Start making Kony famous today
But all of these efforts will culminate on one day
April 20th
when we cover the night
This is the day when we will meet at sundown
and blanket every street
in every city
till the sun comes up
we will be smart and we will be thorough
The rest of the world will go to bed friday night
and wake up to hundreds of thousands of posters
demanding justice on every corner
It's always been that the decisions made by the few
with the money and the power ,
dictated by the priorities of their government and the stories in the media
they determinate the lives and opportunities of their citizens
but now there's something bigger than that
the people of the world see each other
and can protect each other
it's turning the system upside down
and it changes everything
we are living in a new world , Facebook world
in which 750 million people share ideas ,
not thinking in borders
it's a global community bigger than the U.S.
Joseph Kony was committing crimes for 20 years
and no one cared
we care
we have reached a crucial time in history
where what we do or don't do
will affect every generation to come
arresting joseph Kony will prove
that the world we live in has new rules
that the technology that has brought our planet together
is allowing us to respond to the problems of our friends
When it ends finally by bringing Joseph Kony to justice
it should be celebrated like, worldwide
We are not just studying human history
We are shaping it.
At the end of my life
I want to say that the world we have left behind
is one that Gavin can be proud of
a place that doesn't allow Joseph Konys and child soldiers
A place where children no matter where they live
have a child hood
free from fear
I'm gonna be like you dad
when you grow up?
Yeah
I'm gonna come with you to Africa
The better world we want is coming
It's just waiting for us
to stop at nothing.
Nothing is more powerful than an idea
whose time has come
now
There are 3 things you can do right now
1. sign the pledge to show your support
2. get the bracelet and action kit
3. sign up for Tri to donate a few dollars a month
and join our army for peace
Above all , share this movie online
It's free
Find it all at
KONY2012.com