IVISM AND ONE LLION DOLLARS


Social Activism through the Internet by Angela Wallace


I


REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY INVISIBLE CHILDREN, A FILM BY THREE UNKNOWN AMERICAN KIDS WHO SET OFF TO THE SUDAN WITH LITTLE MORE THAN A


CAMCORDER IN SEARCH OF A STORY. A friend at university recommended I watch it shortly after it was released. I was amazed. These kids recorded shocking first-hand accounts about the war in Northern Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army and the ruthless forced recruitment of child soldiers. While far from being professional filmmakers, they turned out to be skilled storytellers, with a rough cut movie that became a grassroots phenomenon. They went on to develop a charity to focus their efforts, build momentum and raise money to develop initiatives in the place it all began. How did three kids no one had ever heard of reach thousands of people in America, end up on Oprah and secure a million dollars on Facebook from Chase Bank in the middle of a financial meltdown?


iAM March 2011 5


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