Right now, there are more people on facebook than there were on the planet 200 years ago.
Humanity's greatest desire is to belong and connect.
And now, we see each other. We hear each other.
"Grandpa I love you!"
"I love you!"
"Why.. why won't it take a picture?"
We share what we love and it reminds us what we all have in common.
"Dug out alive and well after seven and a half days.."
"If you believe in yourself, you'll know how to ride a bike! Watch and learn!"
"So now technically, your device is on. Can you tell?"
"Oh! It's exciting!"
And this connection is changing the way the world works.
Governments are trying to keep up.
Now we can test the freedom.
And older generations are concerned.
"Many people are very concerned about tomorrow. They could get worse next year.
The game has new rules.
The next 27 minutes are an experiment.
But in order for it to work, you have to pay attention.
I can hear him!
Ever single person in the world started this way.
He didn't chose where or when he was born.
But because he's here, he matters.
Yeah! We've been waiting for you! You made it!
My name is Jason Russell and this is my son, Gavin.
He loves jumping on the trampoline, being a ninja, and dancing.
What are you doing?
Making a snow angel.
How do you do that?
You do this!
And just like his dad, he likes being in movies
Action!
Look out! Look out people! Run! It's a bomb!
And making movies.
Daddy watch this!
I think we got the video
But he was born into a pretty complicated world.
And as a dad, I want him to grow up in a better world than I did.
And because of the course of events in my life, I see a way to get there.
It has become my job.
Who are you to end a war?
I'm here to tell you who are you not to.
Hey Gavin, what's up?
Years before Gavin was born, the course of my life was changed entirely by another boy.
And who is this right here?
Jacob
Who's Jacob?
Jacob is our friend in Africa.
It's been almost ten years since Jacob and I became friends.
It's okay, they're nice. They're different from sharks.
But when my friends and I first met him in Uganda in Central Africa, it was in very different circumstances.
He was running for his life.
Uh, you go to school here
Yes
That's how you know English so well?
I know.
How many nights have you stayed here?
Hello
You are making our work very difficult
You stop that thing now
The night I first met Jacob, he told me what he and other children in Northern Uganda were living through.
We worry the rebels when they arrest us again then they will kill us
My brother tried to escape then they kill him using Panga
They cut his neck
Did you see it?
I saw
We fear that if we sleep at our home that we can be abducted by the rebels
Because our home is far away from town
They will catch us then they will take us there in the bush
We come here to save our life
I cannot believe that
You cannot believe it?
This has been going on for years?
If that happened one night in America, it would be on the cover of Newsweek.
What is it that you want to be when you grow up?
For me I wanted to be lawyer but I don't have money to pay my school fees
So that I learn and then become a lawyer
Hmm.
Yes
After spending a few weeks with Jacob, he told me something I would never forget.
So if is better when you kill us and if possible, you can kill us you kill us
For us we don't want now to stay
You don't want to stay on Earth?
We are only two, no one is taking care of us
We are not doing to school, so
You would rather die than stay on Earth?
Yes
Now, even now?
Even now.
How are we going to stay in our future?
He told me more about his brother and what he would say to him if he were still alive.
I love you but now I miss you
So it is better when we meet
Wa are not going to meet but we may meet in heaven
You see?
So it is better
I will not talk much
I will start something
Because if I saw my brother once again I don't
Hmm?
It's okay.
Jacob, it's okay
Everything in my heart told me to do something
And so I made him a promise
We are also going to do everything that we can to stop them
Do you hear my words?
Yes
Do you know what I mean?
Yes
Hmm?
Yes
We are. We're going to stop them.
We're going to stop them
I made that promise to Jacob not knowing what it would mean but now I do.
Over the past nine years, I have fought to fulfill it.
And the fight has led me here.
To this movie you're watching.
Because that promise is not just about Jacob or me
It's also about you
And this year, 2012, is the year that we can finally fulfill it
And if we succeed, we change the course of human history
But time is running out.
To level with you, this movie expires on December 31, 2012
And its only purpose is to stop the rebel group, the LRA
And their leader, Joseph Kony
And I'm about to tell you exactly how we're going to do it.
So the thing is that my son Gavin has never
I've never really explained to him what I do
He knows I work in Africa
But he doesn't know what the war's about
Or who Joseph Kony is
And I'm gonna explain it to him for the first time today
That's what we're going
So, Gav, are you ready?
Yeah
I'm gonna ask you some questions
Okay
And you can just look at me and answer the questions
I'm kinda nervous
What do I do for a job?
Ah! You stop the bad guys from being mean
Who are the bad guys?
Um
Do you know
Star Wars people
Star Wars people? Those are the bad guys?
Yeah
Can I tell you the bad guy's name?
Yeah
This is the guy, Joseph Kony
He's the bad guy?
Yeah
Who is this?
Jacob
Joseph Kony, he has an army, okay?
And what he does is he takes children from their parents
And he gives them a gun to shoot
And he makes them shoot and kill other people.
But they're not gonna do what he says because they're nice guys, right?
Yeah they don't want to do what he says
But he forces them to do bad things
What do you think about that?
It's sad
I couldn't explain to Gavin the details of what Joseph Kony really does
Because the truth is, Kony abducts kids just like Gavin.
For 26 years, Kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group, the LRA
Turning the girls into sex slaves
And the boys into child soldiers
He makes them mutilate people's faces
And he forces them to kill their own parents
And this is not just a few children
It's been over 30,000 of them
And Jacob was one of those children
As if Kony's crimes aren't bad enough
He's not fighting for any cause, but only to maintain his power
He is not supported by anyone
And he has repeatedly used peace talks to rearm and murder again and again
Kony, different times, proposed peace and then just regain strength and attack
This is the head prosecutor for the International Criminal Court
In 2002 when the court was started, their job was
To find and demand the arrest of the world's worst criminals
Although there are a lot of war lords, murderers, and dictators in the world
The perversity of Kony's crimes made him first on the court's list
Kony's the first guy indicted by the ICC
The crimes are basically crimes against humanity
And war crimes committed against the civillian population
Including murder, sexual slavery, rapes, abductions
We need to plan how to arrest Kony
Start to plan
And it has to be serious
In fact, the only way to stop Kony is to show him
Hey, we're going to arrest you
What do you think we should do about it?
You should stop him
The criminal here is Kony.
Stop him and then solve all the problems
We should stop who?
Him.
It's obvious that Kony should be stopped
The problem is 99% of the planet doesn't know who he is
If they knew, Kony would have been stopped long ago
Let the world, let the international community
Take justice to him there
Follow him wherever he is
First to rescue our children
And secondly, to deliver the justice
We are determined to cooperate with any friend of Uganda
To ensure that this mindless killing and slaughter is ended
When my friends and I came home from Uganda
We thought that if the government knew, they would do something to stop him
But everyone in Washington we talked to said
There is no way the United States will ever get involved
In a conflict where our national security or financial interests aren't at stake
No administration, republican, democrat, Obama, Bush, Clinton, doesn't matter
Would do enough because it's simply not an important enough issue
On the radar screen of American Foreign Policy
Since the government said it was impossible
We didn't know what else to do
But tell everyone we could about Jacob and the Invisible Children
We're going to show this movie to as many people as possible
In such a way that we can't be ignored
And when we did, people were shocked
And their awareness turned into action
We started something
A community
I have friends that have been living in this conflict their entire life
Fight for that, because that is what is going to change this world
And that is what defines us
We got creative and we got loud
It's not over! It's not over! It's not over!
And as the LRA began to move into other countries
Jacob and other Ugandans came to the US
To speak on behalf of all people suffering because of Kony
Even though Uganda was relatively safe
They felt compelled to tell the world that Kony was still out there
And had to be stopped
I'm here so proud advocating for the people who are back at home
And this change we are going to make is going to last forever
We built a community around the idea that where you live
Shouldn't determine whether you live
We were committed to stop Kony and rebuild what he had destroyed
And because we couldn't wait for and institutions or governments to step in
We did it ourselves
With our time, talent, and money
So we rebuilt schools
The best you can offer a child is by letting them be independent
And that was providing education
We created jobs
I have seen the lives of those who have been hopeless
Now they have hope
And we built and early warning radio network on the front line of the war
To protect villages from rebel attacks
So you update real-time what's happening in a war zone 8,000 miles away
All of this was funded by an army of young people
Who put their money toward their belief in the value of all human life
They gave a few dollars a month of what little they had
To a program called Tri
And proved that a bunch of littles could make a big difference
And as a result the unseen became visible
We've seen these kids
We've heard their cries
This war must end
We will not stop
We will not fear
We will fight war
Deliver your voice
I've talked to people from Mexico, from Canada
From every other state that I can think of
We're all doing this for the exact same reason
And we're all coming from completely different places
This is what the world should be like
So with hundreds of thousands of people with us
We went back to Washington DC and we met with Congressmen and Senators
One by one
On both sides, republicans, democrats, and they all agreed with us
Joseph Kony's crimes had to be stopped
Of all the problems that are out there, none is more severe than one that
Mutilates the lives of little kids
These young members of the Invisible Children organization
Know that no child should live in fear of being abducted or killed
So they were determined to become their voice
They realized that these African children and families
Were invisible to Washington policy makers
So they decided to make them visible
And what I was told would never happen
Suddenly became possible
In furtherance of the Congress' stated policy, I have authorized
A small number of US forces to deploy to Central Africa
To provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward
The removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield
Sincerely, Barack Obama
The surprise announcement came in a letter from the White House
The US president's decision commits US troops to help
Through advice and assistance
Not putting Americans into combat, to help the countries of the region
End this threat once and for all
And that was a worthwhile investment
We used to think that we could not do it
And now when I see we can do it I am overwhelmed
After 8 years of work, the government finally heard us
And in October of 2011, 100 American advisors were sent into Central Africa
To assist the Ugandan army in arresting Kony and stopping the LRA
It was the first time in history that the United States took that kind of action
Because the people demanded it
Not for self defense, but because it was right