Its all kind of been a blur. Like the past few weeks have been a dream, like I’m constantly rubbing my eyes and pinching my skin. We shook the world, and people started to wake up. We watched in shock as people’s eyes widened and hearts broke for the victims of the LRA. For the sudden realization that this is actually happening. That Joseph Kony is real. We watched with hearts full and passion boiling.
And then the critics started to shout. Their voices were loud, their critiques were potent, and their hatred was thick. People started to doubt the potential they had woken up to. People started to question their power. People started to let themselves be consumed by the apathy, by the hatred.
We stood in shock while people claimed that Kony was dead,
that this wasn’t an issue we needed to worry about.
That this was all a scam.
We stood in shock, not because we didn’t see it coming, but because we were hit with a tremor, because we’ve been fighting so hard for so long. Because we’ve seen these kids and heard their cries and we were being vilified.
People laughed when Jason fell,
and when they couldn’t make fun of him anymore,
they turned to something new.
They vilified Jedidiah,
scoffed at his human qualities.
We’ve all felt it,
the way it hurts to watch people you love get ripped apart,
and the way it hurts to be ripped apart personally.
For a while, I was frozen. I was scared and confused and didn’t know how to go on. I was overwhelmed by the darkness and I forgot to keep my finger on the lighter. But then I got it. It hit me as hard as the hatred hit me the first time, but it didn’t take my breath away or leave me doubled over. This time I was hit by inspiration, by realization and strength. Of course they’re going to scoff, of course they’re going to try and tear us down. This isn’t just about the LRA or its victims. This is about changing the way the world works.
This is about changing the system, turning upside down everything our world is comfortable with. Of course they’re fighting us, attempting to knock us down so they can stay on top. We’re stirring up a revolution, awakening a world to the power and potential of the one, and the way we can work together to change the world when empathy and love are at our core. We’re flipping upside down the way the system has always worked.
Haters gon’ hate. But they’re not gonna change the world.
I am proud, I am thrilled, I am humbled to be a part of this movement. To be a part the Invisible Children movement. I will keep my head up, I will sink my feet into the mire and I will enter the arena time and time again, because this is right. What we’re fighting for… its right. You can scoff, you can laugh, you can throw your insults into my chest, but they’ll bounce off. And I’ll keep going, with my family by my side.
My name is Caity, and I am the Fourth Estate.
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