The Insanity of KONY 2012

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Dipo Faloyin’s Article: www.theguardian.com/commentis...
TIMESTAMPS
Intro 00:00
Let's Make a Documentary 01:38
The History 06:26
Invisible Children 08:42
The Video 14:47
The Criticisms 20:16
Jason Russell 27:06
After Kony 2012 31:54
Conclusion 37:02
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Today we are talking about Kony 2012 and the internet firestorm that followed. The 2012 video released by non-profit Invisible Children introduced a new era of online activism and started a much needed conversation about nuance, misinformation, and accountability. And yet KONY 2012 is largely remembered as a much sillier moment in internet history. Today we’re going through how we got to KONY 2012, the reactions, and how we view this wild time today.

[@nosferatuwarrens]

They came to my school with a Ugandan girl and I made the "Uganda be kidding me" joke to her. It's been ten years and I'm still so fucking embarrassed about it

[@sir9integra9jr]

ooooooooooooooooooof

[@GSFL1]

LMFAOOOOOO

[@amazinglaughs]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Smush_art]

That’s lowkey evil bahah 😭

[@runa_7022]

godly comedic timing honestly

[@lotusthemermaid]

My friend and I drove 4 hours to go to a free Mumford & Sons concert and the band generously, yet disappointingly, played maybe 3 songs before promptly leaving. Then, the Invisible Children guys came out and had a young man who claimed to be victimized by Joseph Kony relive his trauma on stage in front of us while we all awkwardly pretended we weren't just there to see Mumford & Sons.

[@Dusberk]

Wait did the band let them come onstage? Or did they just hop on up and trauma dump on everyone unprompted?

[@phabiorules]

@@DusberkI’m guessing it was planned from the start. Either they were paid to do it or the band supported the cause so much they wanted to spread their message in the guise of a free concert.

[@aimeekatz]

Respectfully that's on you for driving 4 hours to see Mumford & Sons

[@xxxstellarxxx]

@@aimeekatzThere’s no way to respectfully say this. How dare you

[@clownvictim]

This is the most 2012 thing ever

[@jello4835]

I'm a gay person from San Diego and "Is he gay or just from San Diego?" straight up took me out

[@burymeinjhenny918]

LMAOOO

[@guppy2816]

Saaaame

[@goldpearjam]

as a sudanese person myself seeing the way these men talked about and filmed sudan/darfur is sooo frustrating 💀 it’s so clear they never ACTUALLY cared about the horrific violence that was taking place and just wanted to play white saviour … so disrespectful

[@bekemehairewele8278]

I’m Nigerian but I totally feel your pain it’s hard for me to have sympathy for these guys because their white savior nonsense always creates trouble for everyone else especially when your from the African content

[@acatwithaids5398]

Totally agree. Ive been saying for years we should leave Africa to its own devices. Nothing we ever do is good enough for them, best to let them sort their own problems out.

[@naeshelle]

@@acatwithaids5398LMAO “They don’t want to play according to my rules so I’ll take my ball and go home” Wild.

[@An0xymoron127]

@@acatwithaids5398🤡👈

[@fossilfightersfanforever7243]

sorry this is off topic but i love your username and pfp 😭😭 yugyeom is my ult

[@lindsey4620]

All my life I was too embarrassed to ask wtf Kony 2012 was. I always thought it was a joke Presidential run a la “let’s go brandon”. Imagine my shock and awe when you started talking about war crimes in Uganda

[@skye3799]

Advice for life. Never be embarrassed or afraid to ask questions. 😊

[@magicivy]

Literally same. I knew Kony was a dictator, but I thought “stop Kony 2012” was insensitive/misinformed kids and teens taking a serious topic and making it a meme. I had ZERO idea until seeing this video that is was there was a whole ass documentary/white savior subplot that came about as a result of said dictator.

[@HopeGardner3amed]

​@magicivy I had less information and thought the same thing. I asked a friend about it in high school on Facebook and I didn't see the word stop Just Kony 2012 and thought "why are we supporting this guy we know is bad."

[@lindsey4620]

@@HopeGardner3amed I never saw the word stop either!!! Or maybe I did and I thought it was just part of the campaign of whoever this upstanding political candidate obviously was

[@macgirl1234]

Lonely planet describing Uganda as the number one place to visit just before this video was released is so stunning. Crazy how much this situation set back a country that was having a tourism resurgence

[@afra3044]

its actually not even funny how combining all three of these guys would make a perfect dollar store zac efron

[@Milkandcoffee]

No

[@zigguratjones6458]

No

[@Anotherbrokenegg910]

I remember being called heartless and a monster etc in middle school because I was like “guys this is so absurd and silly we’re not helping them by going to school barefoot we live in the suburbs, your mom dropped you off in a Range Rover” and everyone was like BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN 😭

[@LevGreen-Wells]

You weren’t wrong lmao

[@TheBiggestGame]

god, you said "invisible children" and it was like a sleeper agent awoke in me. i remember everything now

[@claudianaen2505]

My bf mentioned it the other week and I was like ‘omg that happened!’ - I’m so happy there’s a video essay about it cause it definitely got buried for a while

[@tessapal]

Kony 2012 feels like a fever dream to me. No one would explain what it was, and frankly I wasn’t curious enough to do my own research. The stickers popped up everywhere seemingly overnight, and I just pretended I totally knew what was going on, as one does.

[@HueyRocks23]

Don't worry. I just barely found out about the "Hawk Tuah" girl after seeing people getting tattoos and shirts before I even knew it was just some weird interview.

[@BoadieBroadus3211]

That’s how I felt with “Dicks Out for Harambe” 😢

[@rampion1228]

"The most depressing shot ever" [Films someones actual house].

[@autumnlaudato]

I was in high school when this happened. My teacher actually KNEW the guy who created Kony 2012. I made a comment in class about how the guy "went crazy" after the video blew up. My teacher screamed at me in front of the entire class, saying, "THAT IS HORRIBLE TO SAY ABOUT SOMEONE." I thought it was wrong to yell at me over it. I was just a kid. The guy really looked like he went crazy. Now we know a lot more about mental health. But, man, was Kony 2012 a wild time.

[@HollhouseVanHouten]

Unrelated but also slightly related, when I was around 8 years old were given the task of “making a magazine” using collage when I was in school, my friend and I made a magazine (that in hindsight was heavily inspired by the tabloids & media we would see at the time) and our front page story was about Britney Spears not being able to stop having babies. The teacher made us stay back at lunch and gave us a really nasty lecture about how we were disgusting and Britney Spears is a human and deserves basic human decency which is true. But, we were two 8 year old girls that had both only recently started actually using the internet for stuff other than playing Barbie games, we didn’t know about mental health being a thing, didn’t know how babies were made, didn’t know what tabloids even were. Similarly to you calling the Kony 2012 guy crazy, we were just replicating and repeating what we were witnessing the media say and do.

[@Fernpoolflow]

Jeez, few things compare to being publicly screamed at by a teacher when you're young

[@fgjhham89]

To be fair, screaming at a kid is still really not an appropriate response.

[@haleyzwaal4183]

I was lucky. I had a teacher who was INSTANTLY skeptical and pointed out the appeals to emotion, the way they brought in kids, etc. she must have felt SO vindicated.

[@iMajoraGaming]

A lot of people have the ethos that anyone they know is beyond reproach. People will defend "their" people in some disgusting ways, no matter what. Someone committed a crime-against-humanity? "Well they were good to me one time so I know they're a good person." etc. Say "Well, he did have a breakdown, but maybe "crazy" is an insensitive word to use to describe it."? No, only scream at child :) Must defend MY people against this evil child :)

[@vickisigh2674]

oh my GOD i've been waiting literal YEARS for someone to make a deep dive on this wild topic and thank god it's you who's doing it!! i was in high school when this whole thing went down and it felt like the whole school was talking about it, sort of the first big viral internet moment to crossover into irl.

[@vickisigh2674]

"they were born a few years too early to make a podcast" 💀

[@anastaciyaknoll]

binchtopia podcast also made an episode on kony 2012 would recommend

[@erinkinsella91]

Theres plenty of deep dives on Kony 2012?

[@Raya-fb8df]

im in high school RIGHT NOW and my world literature class literally analyzed this film for examples of white savior complex FOR A SUMMATIVE GRADE and i couldn't believe that this was like fr a thing that happened

[@lexismith8325]

Internet Historian did a Kony video 5 or 6 years ago! It’s really good.

[@sir9integra9jr]

I have such vivid memories of girls in my high school coming to school barefoot to “raise awareness” for invisible children. It started a whole thing about the legality of being barefoot in a public building. A bunch of bored parents with law degrees got involved and had a whole debate about the laws regarding being barefoot at school. it was a wild time

[@GabyGeorge1996]

What was the ultimate verdict?

[@iMajoraGaming]

​​@@GabyGeorge1996 probably something like "yeah barefoot whatever, let's ban tamagotchis or furbies"

[@bec7704]

the stories in this comment section are so insane, what a time in history

[@WitchOracle]

Meanwhile, my Catholic high school (around this time) had students come to school barefoot because... Something about homelessness and somehow also abortion?

[@tonichan89]

​@iMajoraGaming I'm sorry, I'm just so strongly compelled to tell you there is no t in tamagochi 💀 ... anyway bye!!

[@themousoleum]

god I remember talking about Kony 2012 in my social studies class, where none of us fully knew anything about the situation other than "Kony is a bad guy and we should stop him...somehow". This gave me flashbacks LMAO

[@mahaliad.8601]

In 8th grade, my school showed us the documentary and brought in ppl who had “experienced” Kony to talk to us, in rural MA. I came home in tears desperate to help, feeling like I let down the children because I couldn’t go to a rally in NYC

[@ryanr5139]

That’s awful I’m sorry you were manipulated like that

[@meghansullivan6812]

Bro omg I was in 8th grade at the time too and watched the video online. When I tell u I was GRIPPED

[@Nexter1]

As someone from NYC, I’ll just tell you…I literally don’t know what state MA is. I initially thought Maine, but I went to summer camp there and know that’s ME.

[@mahaliad.8601]

@@ryanr5139 thank you

[@mahaliad.8601]

@@meghansullivan6812 literally!! Our little undeveloped brains weren’t built for that

[@raviolialamode]

I was a senior in high school when this all went down and I vividly remember some dude at a party getting "KNOY 2012" (yes they spelled it wrong lol) stick-n-poke tattooed onto his leg. Absolutely wild times.

[@lexismith8325]

Same! Class of 2013.

[@iCarlyBitch]

I kind of want this tattoo

[@CMatt29]

‘I’m like a lawyer’ is my favorite FOB song so I saw the music video but I had no idea that they had partnered with invisible children. That is a very unexpected overlap

[@towelie1313]

Same! the mention of FOB was like being suddenly punched in the face lol

[@guppy2816]

Not to be that guy but it says in the music video (at the end I think) that it was made along side Invisible Children with information on how to help. (At least the original version did. I haven’t watched it in KZbin recently.) Haha I only know this because it was my first introduction to Invisible Children and Kony. I’m Like a Lawyer is my fave FOB song too!

[@CMatt29]

@@guppy2816 yeah i know. I never made the connection between both of them

[@rook6972]

My family called my Eeyore as a kid. Game recognize game. Also, looking back on it as someone who experienced and recovered from psychosis last year -- everyone making fun of Jason (including me as a kid!) was peak stigmatization of mental illness. I definitely don't support his organization's tactics or white saviorism, but no one deserves to have one of the most terrifying, ruinous experiences a person can have memed / lied about ad infinitum on the internet. If there were famous videos of me during my episode, I don't know if I would have recovered at all.

[@bethanyb66]

Same…on the eeyore part 😂😂

[@AyshaAnaleise]

My family also called me Eeyore, I even had a little Eeyore stuffed animal I carried around

[@EasterMegs]

Mine called me "Dark Stormcloud" 😅

[@hoennfanboy]

Same & agreed... Im glad you're recovered now, its a long process. When i see peoples psychosis blasted and memed on the internet, no matter who they are i have to put myself in their shoes too bc even people having memories of my delusions in psychosis is enough to make me not wanna leave the house ever again sometimes 😅

[@QWERTYCommander]

​@@hoennfanboyPeople really need to recognize that psychosis only gets this bad if it's not being managed well beforehand. And the reason why psychosis is difficult to manage is because of the stigma behind it leaving many with it to stay silent, alongside the fact that the only medication available for it has severe side effects for many people,

[@mrooneyfox]

I'm from a colonised country. In 2012 I had just finished college and I remember watching the video and just being in awe of the white saviorism of it all. Also I was living in Buenos Aires during this and we too had the single KONY 2012 tag up somewhere to remind us of this wild time.

[@goldensloth7]

most Americans would absolutely not pick up that. of course.

[@VonVikoGoat]

i just know that buenos aires kony 2012 tag was made in a rich part of caba i just know it

[@ana_d_73]

I was eating breakfast before school in my colonised home country watching that thing in awe as it played on VH1 in their music video block. It was a huge meme back home because so many people couldn't believe the audacity of these white people.

[@acatwithaids5398]

Sorry you had to grow up in a colonized country lmfao. Think of the bright side, you at least got to benefit from the education, sanitation, infrastructure, security, and overall general increase in quality of life that is associated with "colonization". Sure hope you can someday recover.

[@mrooneyfox]

@@acatwithaids5398 lmao, why, do I sound butthurt about my upbringing? I am a bit pissed about how to this day, people who grew up here are being displaced by cryptobros and CEOs looking for taxbreaks (that has less to do with all the super cool stuff you've mentioned above that I'm sure only ever came from your so called first world) but you wouldn't happen to know anything about that by the way you're responding to my comment, now do you, gringo?

[@themaddiecommittee]

I went to a conference that the Kony 2012 guy spoke about. His parents founded a theater organization I participated in as a kid. He talked about mental breakdowns he had while in jail and using his time to preach the gospel. Truly one of the weirdest moments of my life.

[@themaddiecommittee]

Okay, I think it was the hospital actually!

[@bokavordur]

Heyo CYT survivor. Hope you stay safe out there 😂

[@HauntedandStunning]

I was 12 when this happened and all I remember was the feeling of confusion. Thank you professor!

[@sydsky8815]

That Susan Boyle comment is so random because I was literally just thinking about her and wondering how she's doing now

[@coyoteartist]

i actually just had her video suggested to me the other night.

[@bloodyfloorboards]

we need the kony 2012 guy on the bachelor so we can get the best of both ashley videos

[@floriduhgeorgia]

I went to a strict catholic school in 2012 and the way the adults went from talking about Kony 2012 everyday to pretending it never existed was so weird! Then some kid in my dance class told me what happened and my kid mind was blown

[@OATMEALMAN147]

Dude I thought Kony was actually dead, to find out he was spotted this year blows my mind the most.

[@standard-ang3l]

at the public high school I work at, someone wrote "Kany 2024" on the side of the brick with chalk, but because it's under an awning, the rain hasn't washed it away. It's just been there since January, making me relive this (I'm so glad it's summer)

[@judithforever9494]

Im pretty confident that’s referring to Kanye 😂

[@standard-ang3l]

@@judithforever9494 I mean, I wouldn't be surprised that some of these kids can't spell Kanye

[@linnhuman]

When I was a senior in highschool, they showed the 30 minute doc to the entire school at an assembly. Feels like a fever dream now, but thank you for talking about this

[@kellyschikowski5976]

I would love to mention that the Invisible Children music video is a direct parody of the climax of Captain EO, a musical film starring Michael Jackson that played in Epcot in Disney World and Disneyland Park

[@mewtwomartinez]

Had to scroll to see if anyone else caught this lol

[@leahsence8779]

And the song they’re parodying is titled “We Are Here To Change The World” 😬

[@kellyschikowski5976]

@@mewtwomartinez so glad this comment found the right people haha

[@Jabadamazo]

I gotta say, Jedidiah Jenkins did not look how I expected him to look.

[@alittlebitgone]

Look at him now, he looks EXACTLY how you think.

[@Wanderlenz]

I’ve followed Jedidiah on instagram for years because he’s a beautiful writer (he’s got several books now). Genuinely had no idea this was his backstory 😒

[@Jabadamazo]

@@Wanderlenz oh really? Wow, people are multifaceted I guess haha.

[@Faves124]

ok yes thank you i literally have NEVER known what kony 2012 meant and every time i would look it up i’d only get more confused and i fully resigned in never understanding

[@seventhunder6470]

I remember this being the first truly viral thing in HS. This is where I learned the terms “armchair activism” and “slacktivism” . By changing their profile picture to Kony 2012 they felt like they did something. It was honestly heartbreaking because everyone only “cared” because others could perceive them as “caring” because clout/girls/sympathy/superiority. It was a trend, No one cared after a couple weeks.

[@magicalgirllaurie]

In 2012 I was probably the only 11 year old who didn’t have social media so I genuinely didn’t know this happened till now 💀 I swear I was living under a rock till like 2016/17

[@bekemehairewele8278]

It’s ok I was 15 and not allowed any social media except for Tumblr which I only got because my mom thought I meant a glass cup 😂😂😂

[@anonymous-rq2lh]

i thought i was familiar with this story, but apparently i forgot some details (or the first video i watched covering it left this part out) because the part about jason’s mental breakdown being set off *by the 2012 lorax movie* hit me like a truck

[@BkD3T]

I remember my social studies teacher showed us this. Just for clarity predominately black school. So we all felt a little off when we first saw it. Mainly because of the whole let’s go to Africa cause we know we’ll get a go and find a documentary. It felt icky in a poverty tourism way. I was mainly waiting to see if the whole poster night thing was gonna happen. But I had no clue it would end the way it did.

[@C.V317]

“And then we set up our camera, thinking that if we didn’t get back from Sudan alive, this is how we’d be remembered. We never thought anyone would actually see the footage.” Ummm what? If you didn’t think anyone would see it, why did you set up the camera thinking that’s how you’d be remembered? Either no one sees the footage and you’re forgotten, or everyone sees it and people remember you. You know, unlike the people of Sudan, whom you all completely forgot about before you actually got there.

[@MadiganinPeach]

I appreciate someone finally digging in to this and shedding some light on it. It's worth noting these areas such as Sudan, Congo, not to mention Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and of course Palestine are still experiencing a lot of these issues to this day with homelessness even in children, poverty, hunger, life threatening danger. Including the US. All of these problems in all these areas have more it common than some might think.

[@lefteyereport6354]

Also "remnants" of Western colonialism is more like "active occupation of many countries by their former colonial overlords, with the threat of invasion and heavy handed coups and debt diplomacy to continually deplete the most resource rich continent on the planet."

[@rin-eri]

I remember printing out the kony 2012 signs and putting them all over my dorm room door like yes we will make change... in my exact hallway of this student dormitory lol. that was also around the same time the term 'slacktivism' came into common use

[@madisonemily4083]

I have no idea where I was while all of this was happening

[@sophie427]

right ??? and then i remember… i was like 7

[@felicia7302]

@@sophie427yes, i wondered why i didnt know any of this then remembered that i was 9 and in Europe

[@sophie427]

@@felicia7302 right ! the only thing i was concerned with was the olympics 😭

[@cutiepieray01]

this was really big when i was in middle/high school and i can remember how invested everyone was and then suddenly nothing. memory unlocked

[@Vanessa-uo6lt]

watching this as someone who was very much online in 2012 and absolutely NEVER heard of kony is insane lmao truly made no noise in the brazilian side of the internet. crickets, tumbleweed, etc. (and I was definitely hearing about the other examples of vitality like rebecca black)

[@Lollinno5569]

Ah yes, I was wondering when the internet would stop collectively suppressing this memory

[@merlesstorys]

I don’t have a clue what this story is about but every topic Ashley has on her to-do list, it’s amazing anyway.

[@gerrymandering6669]

i was 9 in 2012 and these vids are so great because they unlock things i forgot about. it’s like learning family lore/ drama and having things click into place.

[@geeba3353]

Thanks for this vid. last time i heard about this was from internet historian, and i heard he died in a 'hbomb' incident

[@delphinidin]

THANK you for explaining this. I was in grad school in 2012, and I remembering seeing "KONY 2012" graffiti and having NO idea what that meant. ...Though weirdly, I do kind of remember that guy's public mental breakdown. Sadly.

[@robertholston4708]

In my senior year of High School they made us go to the auditurium to watch an Invisible Children documentary. I don't quite remember why but I couldn't even look at the screen. So I sat through a documentary without watching it.

[@Sofia-zb6fp]

I love your niche, informational video essays. Witty, intelligent, comical!

[@K.Angelina]

That documentary traumatized me at 12 years old and made me scared to sleep with my shoulders out of a blanket. Because they showed a clip of a soldier grabbing a kid out of bed and he grabs his shoulder first. I also remember some kids putting kony 2012 posters up around the middle school and thinking to myself “what the hell do they expect a bunch of 13 year olds to do about this?”

[@leahn9015]

I remember hearing about “Kony 2012” and vaguely remember my social studies teacher explaining who Kony was but that is the extent of my knowledge on the subject, I definitely didn’t watch the video and mostly had no idea what was going on. I love that you’re doing deep dives on these topics that many of us in your age range have some recollection of, it’s very satisfying to finally get the full story over a decade later

[@sophie427]

i was enough of a child in 2012 that i’ve actually never heard of this. wth was in the water you guys 😭

[@phabiorules]

It was the first time the internet and social media was used to really further a moral cause. It’s kind of like how during the BLM protest several years ago how everyone changed their profile picture to a black square. Now add in the fact that nothing else was ever done like that before, take away all political division that came from it, and add in that people were just less online and more social those days, and that’s how it got to be so huge.

[@eimz0146]

People on Facebook unfriended me because I said I didn't think a bunch of college kids in Ireland sending that doc back and forth between us all was actually doing anything 😂

[@themaddiecommittee]

I want to clarify, the music video isn't because of HSM. It's because Jason's parents founded Christian Youth Theater. He was a theater kid, and my recollection is the kids in the video were also CYT students who were probably roped into doing it for free because they were pitched it was an opportunity to perform.

[@mari.art1999]

I used to reblog stuff about kony on tumblr as a kid because I'd see so many aesthetic blogs doing it and I never even questioned it, I never even thought about googling any of it. Until now, I had no idea about what the hell kony 2012 was about and I couldn't've predicted any of this information

[@kokocrispies]

I'm glad you addressed this. I've thought about kony approx 2 times a year and said "gee I wonder what happened with him, it seemed so serious,"

[@bbeomryu]

i was 14 in 2012 and i only remember being soo confused about this 😭 excited to learn

[@SanDeygo]

I am always thinking about Kony 2012. I closely associate it with "Colby 2012" which was a fake reddit story about a dog, some peanut butter, and a hairbrush.

[@randomtinypotatocried]

I forgot about that fake reddit story

[@ConiWhiteStripes]

you didnt have to remind me of that..

[@lexismith8325]

I was a senior in high school in the 2012-2013 school year (I’m 29) and I remember having a big school assembly watching the doc and giving us stickers and stuff.. CRAZY! I haven’t thought about Kony since Internet Historian’s video came out 5 or 6 years ago. Thank you queen 🫡

[@elizabethvarda2707]

When I was in middle school the eighth graders posted kONY 2012 signs all over the school. Never bothered to google it all these years later thank you for telling me 😂

[@ryanpooley]

My step sister had "Cony 2012" nails 💅 And my sister and i were like what is her problem!

[@platonicdays]

This happened when I was a senior. Our valenvictorian said in his speech that we should not lead our lives in trends like KONY 2012 😂

[@kingxsketch]

I'M SCREAMING, I LITERALLY REQUESTED THIS ON PATREON THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

[@aidanfleming7229]

I remember watching the Kony 2012 video during a class I had in highschool. To be clear the teacher didn't play it, my friend showed it to me in the computer lab.

[@NiniNonsense]

I was 15 at the time and nobody at my school talked about KONY 2012. Part of me thought of it as “some white thing” cause the only time I heard about it was when I was visiting my friend who transferred to a predominately white school. She was wearing a KONY 2012 wristband. Anyway thanks for explaining!

[@Space-Holiday]

I remember everyone shared the video on Facebook, then the backlash started pretty much the next day. People started digging and found a lot of the stuff you’ve mentioned in this video. I also remember reading some conspiracy about how Invisible Children were in the pockets of big oil companies or something. Some people I knew started a local Kony 2012 Facebook event to meet up in our local town square on the date mentioned in the video. So many people I knew were in that group. I was at the pub in the town square that night the meet up was supposed to happen and not one person showed up.

[@DaisyMcCarthyTucker]

I’d be remiss to not point out the high school stadium music video is a direct reference to “We Are Here to Change the World” from Captain E.O.

[@Charwa]

Beautiful way to start my summer thank you Ashley

[@jongdaejpeg]

GIRL 😭 i was just binging your videos and i see that you just uploaded, Thank you!!

[@AnthyHimemiya1]

For many years, I thought kony 2012 was like some kind of like carnival that went super wrong, I’m glad this video finally cleared that up for me😭

[@kaemincha]

i NEEDED you to make this video, i feel so fulfilled

[@jasmynprevatte6574]

I literally finished watching the rest of your old videos today while wanting new Ashley Norton content and now I’m being rewarded

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

My experience of Kony 2012 (as a full-grown adult at the time) was that people saw the viral video and just made fun of it, then all the information about how Invisible Children only gave a small portion of donations to the cause they championed and people just went completely _feral_

[@FrostyPlayzYT]

i legit have no idea wtf the title means but i’m still gonna watch this anyways

[@chromiumcat]

omg i am so early to class!

[@sarahkitty4729]

I was in first lol 😜

[@YankessLove13]

This is quite literally the third time I have heard "the wickedly talented Adele Dazeem" TODAY 😭

[@lupakajsalisa3652]

What were the other two times? Is it an inside joke in your inner circle?

[@elenagonzalez8463]

@@lupakajsalisa3652 second time for me since I was watching a video on glee LMAO

[@saturnash]

​@@elenagonzalez8463i was thinking wait did I hear this yesterday? IT WAS THE GLEEVIL VIDEO! Thank you!

[@elenagonzalez8463]

@@saturnash YESSSSS ITS SO GOOD I need the entire series

[@karleevalentine7748]

Thank you so much for this video I'm stuck at work for another hour but have decided I am done working. This will be a great way to end the day.

[@emacd520]

Oh my goodness this has evaded my memory until right now. Can’t wait to watch

[@mintjaan]

I was living in Berlin at the time and I remember someone had spray painted a Kony 2012 on a bridge near the main train station. It was gone by 2018.

[@goatman_jpeg115]

As someone who works for a non-profit organization, the fact that so much money was being kept is insane. That’s not how non-profits and charities work.

[@justletterm]

I somehow completely missed all of this as a child and only heard the Kony2012 tag and never the backstory. Thanks for this! I finally understand

[@emdawulf]

I have a vivid memory of clicking on a high school friend’s Facebook profile picture of the #Kony2012 logo to figure out what it was about and they had captioned it “We can do this. We can start a revolution.” which still makes me laugh and cringe in equal amounts

[@AnnaRenee]

This was just mentioned in a book I’m reading and it awoke so many memories, crazy timing to hear about it from you too!

[@turtleem4]

Oh my god I googled Kony last night cause that popped into my head and now I see this?! Thank you Ashley 🤯

[@michaelaamii]

Thank you Ashley, this was very interesting video! I haven't heard about any of this before.

[@meganlovesjonas7]

I needed this!! I feel like I think about kony more often than I care to admit. Thank you Ashley for doing Gods work

[@madisonsmith5154]

Girl this is so wild we must be on the same wavelength bc this popped in my head yesterday so I clicked on your video so fast

[@dasfowler]

These dudes were huge at my Christian university. They kept bringing them in to talk to the film school and we HATED them for being spoiled. Finding funding was a huge problem for most of our projects and these guys acted like we were silly for not just having the money to do it.

[@jennalw]

i am so glad you covered this

[@cilleelleboe]

this was so interesting to watch! it´s wild to see how much has and hasn´t changed in 12 years

[@karliesteadman9583]

I'm so glad that you made a video explaining this. I was 16 in 2012, and I remember seeing the posters, shirts, and merch of kony 2012. But I never knew what it was, like I never knew anything about it 🙃

[@luluthenudist]

Yay Ashley! Another great video!

[@Michaylah12]

Oh I am so excited for this

[@kalebutevil]

i remember my friend and i were so into kony 2012 in 7th grade and she accidentally donated a bunch of money to it via her parents’ phone bill

[@ghostofarose16]

You always put out videos on parts of my childhood that I NEEDED answers for, thank you

[@Laurenjoinsyoutube]

Thinking a 30 minute video is long really speaks for the times because I almost exclusively watch 2 hour plus videos

[@vikkipink1288]

I love that my intuition was right about that documentary. When I first saw it something just felt so off to me about it. The whole thing was just weird. It’s this supposedly serious topic but it got instantly treated like a viral meme and that was like their intention from the start with that campaign which made it even more weird. I felt like plastering the guy’s face everywhere in these cool styles kind of make it seem like we were praising him and making him a celebrity. I might have been a little off on just what was wrong about it but at least I did realize it was off. Then I saw the backlash stuff was flabbergasted. I completely forgot a lot of these details till now because it was so long ago. Excellent deep dive as always 💜

[@caydenclark-johnson7854]

mother uploads another banger 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@ellebarron7112]

Kony 2012 is my roman empire

[@kaitlynng7214]

I love the more serious format please do more !