Trayvon Martin and Joseph Kony

This particular article on Trayvon Martin deserved its own post:

Trayvon Martin and Joseph Kony blow up my social media in ironic juxtaposition. (Mostly) black people have posted their outrage over the shooting death of 17-year-old Martin by a neighborhood watch captain who thought he looked “suspicious” (while carrying a bag of Skittles and some iced tea), while (mostly) white people have created a social media phenomenon in sharing a 30-minute video from filmmaker and former missionary Jason Russell to bring down Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, over 100 million times. 

Trayvon Martin and Joseph Kony are two sides of a coin in a cultural currency that must go bankrupt, if not in this country, then at least in the community of faith. 

In Trayvon Martin’s case, the 17-year-old was issued a death sentence because he was black and perceived to be in the wrong neighborhood. The man who killed him, George Zimmerman, is free. Never charged. Never even arrested. Right here, right now in 2012, he can ostensibly go home and kiss his wife and teach Sunday School.

Joseph Kony’s reputation is indefensible; he is evil, and doing his part to slaughter young boys just like Trayvon very single day, for years. He should be brought down. 

What nauseates and scares me is the deafening silence from the masses concerning Trayvon Martin, our neighbor. It’s curious to me how easily 100 million people could see the Kony video, buying t-shirts and forwarding videos, and yet remain silent about the neighborhood watchman in their own backyard who shot an unarmed boy for carrying Skittles.

I couldn't help but quote so much. (The emphasis is mine.)

Sigh. I haven't yet figured out why the Kony social media phenomenon makes me so immediately angry. Maybe this is why?

[http://blogs.bible.org/tapestry/sharifa_stevens/why_i_fear_good_people_trayvon_martin_and_kony_2012]