Following the popularity of the Kony 2012 video, groups were set up on Facebook advertising a real-world convergence on April 20th to ‘cover the night’ with posters, raising further awareness of J. Kony. In the UK groups suggested ‘flash mobs’ meet up in Trafalgar Sq., central London at around 9pm. Over 27,000 said they would be attending.
I arrived just before
10pm after a few pints down the boozer. On the walk across the river and up
Whitehall I hadn’t seen one Kony poster. When I arrived at Trafalgar there were
no mobs around other than the standard teams of Friday night jolly boys. I
asked a bloke in fluorescent orange overhauls if he knew anything about the
Kony meet-up.
“A group of girls
asked me the same question a minute ago. I don’t know anything about it. What
exactly is it supposed to be?”
“There was meant to be
some sort of demonstration to raise awareness of an African warlord. I’m here
to cover the night as a journalist.” I tell him.
“Well I’ve been here
for the past hour and haven’t seen anything. They are setting up for St.
Georges day in there.” He waves his hand to the fenced off area of the square.
I take a long drag on
my cigarette and ask, “So what are you doing?”
“I’m working on the
underground putting backup generators in every station in case something goes
wrong - terrorism or anything like that - during the Olympics.”
He goes on to tell me
more about the back-up cables and assures me that everything, including
Blackfriars station will be finished by July. Phew. Back to Kony.
I start walking home through
Charing Cross station when I catch a glimpse of some kids with writing on their
faces. KO on the right cheek, NY on the left. They are asking a busker to play stand by me. The busker is refusing. I
go and talk to them.
“So you came out for
cover the night. You’re the only people I’ve seen.”
“We haven’t seen many
people either.” Says a girl with short ginger hair and freckles. “Where are
your posters?” her friend who is carrying some cello-tape asks me.
“I’m just here as a
journalist” I reply.
“You’re not from the Guardian
are you?” says the ginger girl with disgust and accusation in her voice.
“No, freelance.” *cough* blog *cough*
“Ok well you can come
with us if you want the perspectives of some 14 year-olds.”
“Alright”
Why not? I go along
with them for a short while. Then a girl runs up saying she’s lost her wallet.
I am frantically asked to hold a wad of their homemade posters and a green
Crayola felt tip pen. High drama ensues as the girls search for the wallet and
the boys of the group demand that they go to Dalston (because another faction
of their group are heading that way). They disappear down the stairs to the
tube.
When I get home I realise
the wad of posters is actually just a couple of crude sprawls, the rest of the
stack is just blank A4 sheets. I look at the drawings and have to question what was really going though their minds.
One reason I went was
to poke a bit of fun at the Kony mob and witness the mobilisation of the Facebook
generation. This generation make it all too easy to have fun poked at them – See
scanned posters.
I had no fun. All I
felt was a kind of sadness.
The call to action of
the most viral video of 2012 (with over 88 million views) had translated to a
mere 30 or so teenagers actually taking action outside the virtual sphere.
…Still, there are a select
few willing to take to the streets.
…Still, there are
blank pages on my table.
…Still, there is a
green Crayola felt tip pen in my hand.
