Adongo Quinto, an Invisible Children “roadie” from Uganda, remembers hiding in the jungle and seeing the Lord’s Resistance Army chase another boy, he said to Boston University students Wednesday night.
“We strongly believe that what Joseph Kony is doing is absolutely wrong,” Quinto said. “We have to do something to ensure that this war comes to end.”
About 30 students attended a “Kony 2012” screening designed to raise awareness of the political strife in Unganda and to continue IC’s mission of galvanizing public outcry against Kony, a Ugandan war lord made famous in recent weeks by IC’s campaign.
Quinto said he joined IC in 2006. He recently left his family and job behind in Uganda to begin a 10-week tour with IC.
“Kony 2012” received an “overwhelming” response, said Caleb Riddle, an IC “roadie” from Virginia. The nonprofit organization’s goal for number of views by the end of 2012 was crushed in the first 10 hours of the “Kony 2012” premiere.
Riddle said he hopes more people reach out to their representatives.
“The resolution is for the [U.S.] to see the conflict to the end,” Riddle said. “We know by capturing Joseph Kony, it necessarily won’t end the war. He’s got a lot of top commanders that still need to be captured after him.”
Though a resolution is in the works, 90 co-sponsors are not enough to pass the resolution, he said. U.S. Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, is among politicians “unofficially” supportive of the IC’s cause.
Amanda Crawford-Staub, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, is the president of BU IC,
“I think the impact [of “Kony 2012”] so far has really accomplished what it initially set out to do,” Crawford-Staub said.
Though “Kony 2012” has had some negative impact, College of Engineering freshman and BU IC executive board member Garrett Moore said it has caused more conversation and questions about Kony.
“I feel anytime you have something that gets attention very quickly from mass media, or just a lot of the population, especially a population of youth, there is going to be backlash,” Moore said.
Moore said some of the backlash was coming from people who had not done all of their research.
CAS freshman Bridget Larkin said the video continues to receive mixed reviews.
“A lot of people have been hearing about it, and a lot of people are negative about the response it’s getting because people aren’t as sincere,” Larkin said. “It’s getting the information out there, which is what [IC] wants.”
Jennifer Owens, a CAS freshman, said she became interested in the cause after she watched it, and students’ loss of interest became “very hipster.”
“[People said], ‘Oh, I can’t like it anymore because a bunch of people like it,’” Owens said.