Causecast

By JONATHAN HARRIS, Managing Editor

Invisible Children and Creative Visions Foundation visited the Causecast headquarters in Santa Monica om March 31 for a screening of Invisible Children’s film The Rescue of Joseph Kony’s Child Soldiers.

We’ve previously written about this powerful film on Causecast, but the issue’s importance and urgency bears repeating. The 36-minute film contains stunning footage of the crimes against humanity being committed in northern Uganda, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rebel leader and spiritual warlord Joseph Kony has kidnapped over 30,000 children since he began waging war against the government of Uganda in the 1980s. He has several times committed to peace agreements, only to back out at the moment of truth. History and this film make it perfectly clear that Kony has no plans to end his brutal campaign of terror anytime soon, and his organization, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) continues to thrive, despite international pressure to disband the group.

Before the screening, the crowd of close to 100 people heard from Kathy Eldon, who founded Creative Visions Foundation after her son, photojournalist Dan Eldon, was killed in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993, by a mob enraged that the United States and United Nations had bombed erroneous targets. Eldon spoke vibrantly about the need for individuals to use their creativity for positive change. She praised Invisible Children for their tireless efforts to bring the Ugandan crisis to the front page of the world’s newspapers.

Eldon then introduced filmmaker and Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell, who spoke about his most recent trip to Uganda, and then introduced the film.

Post-screening, the crowd stayed to ask Russell and fellow co-founder Bobby Bailey how the United States government should get involved and how the masses can participate on April 25.

If you didn’t watch the live stream, I’ll condense the information:

*Go to the Invisible Children website and sign up on their list. Write down your country, state or region, and city.
*Follow the link in the top right of your new page to get specific instructions on the event being held in your city. Here’s the one for Los Angeles. This will tell you precisely where to meet on April 25.
*Once you’re committed, get the media involved. Post a YouTube video calling for news coverage or for notable figures to attend the event. Tweet it or mark it on your Facebook profile. Get the word out and let your friends and family know that this event can raise the public consciousness and make a difference.

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” It’s time to prove her words are true. Watch The Rescue if you haven’t already and lets make this event one that cannot be ignored.