Tag: #KONY

The Somali Rapper, Singer, and Activist Raises Questions About Do-Gooders Like Invisible Children

The most viral video in history is a 30-minute documentary called “Stop Kony.” The horrific clip about an African warlord with an army of child soldiers and underage prostitutes was viewed over 100 million times in a week, generating millions of dollars in donations to the organization Invisible Children. Soon thereafter Invisible Children’s founder, Jason Russell, went a little crazy in Cali—stripping butt naked and galavanting through the streets of San Diego. And that  was before a video emerged of one of his colleagues swigging vodka and “joking” about pocketing 90% of the donations. Suffice it to say that there are serious questions to be raised about do-gooders trying to “save Africa.” To get some perspective, we caught up with K’Naan, whose song “Coming To America,” off his latest EP More Beautiful Than Silence, tells the story of his upbringing in Somalia. “I’ve gotten hundreds of messages about the ‘stop Kony’ thing,” he said. “[They’re like] ‘Would you say something about the ‘Stop Kony.’ Stop Kony!’” Though K’Naan takes the well-being of African people very seriously, he refused to get caught up in the #StopKony hype. Here’s why… (more…)