April 28th, 2007; Chicago, Soldier Field

[tinasleep]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pap1MEfSOGI

Try and go. I think the website is invisiblechildren.org. Chicago already has about 700 people signed up. LA has about 1000. There are other locations too.

Comments

[ifwehadwalked]

wow lookit that. I have very mixed feeling about this video. On one hand, it is great to see people who care about a cause be active and try to change things. On the other hand, I kinda wonder about what it actually does. This fancy video with a Killers song, fancy posters, and cool camera angles makes it seem a little...trendy? cool? I don't know if I should criticise it or praise it on those grounds. But it does make me wonder how many of those people really know what is going on in Uganda and how many of them just want the exhiliration of being in a protest. I dunno, I hope I don't sound too judgemental. I have more thoughts on this but I dont want to blather on. I'm gonna go to that website and learn more though.

[tinasleep]

Yeah, I know just what you mean. Definitely trendy. But I also feel like something has to be done. You can't just sit down and take crap. While it may not be the most constructive thing, it's something. It is a show of solidarity. I also feel like as long as someone knows what they are there, it is worth it. If I went, I would look into the issues, and think about what impact I would really have, what I would really want done, and so on. I think the main point of things like this is to express unhappiness with the government. Matt Thomman wrote a really interesting paper that I read about protests in France and how they can actually change legislation. We can only hope one day to have that same power, I think. But it's definitely a sticky issue.