Musicians light up social media in support of Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign

By Laura Ferreiro

A name that was unfamiliar to many Americans just a few days ago is now on the tips of millions of tongues thanks to a wide-reaching social media and awareness campaign launched by non-profit organization Invisible Children. Millions of people are learning more about Joseph Kony, the Ugandan guerilla group leader who has been accused of crimes against humanity.

Invisible Children has urged musicians and celebrities to get the word out about its campaign, Kony 2012, and the atrocities committed by Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army, which has forcibly recruited thousands of children as soldiers. They reportedly force children to kill their own parents and physically mutilate and rape their victims.

Rihanna, Roots band leader Questlove, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, Zooey Deschanel and Russell Brand are among the thousands of people who have been Tweeting about it and promoting the powerful Kony 2012 video, which has gotten millions of views in the past two days.

Invisible Children is also calling on people it dubs “culture makers” including Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, Jay-Z, George Clooney and Bono to help spread the word about the campaign. Its goal is to facilitate the arrest of Kony “so that he can be tried by the International Criminal Court as a precedent for future war criminals…and for the world to unite to see him arrested and prosecuted for his crimes against humanity.”

Here are some of the Tweets that have been flying fast and furiously the past few hours:

Questlove: “normally im all jokes n spaghetti like the next guy on twitter. but THIS is NO joke:http://t.co/ATjFPqih #StopKony#MakeKonyFamous WATCH!”

Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz: “RT to help #stopkony http://t.co/7lE1ehvV#kony2012 INVISIBLE CHILDREN”

Ryan Seacrest: “Was going to sleep last night and saw ur tweets about #StopKony…watched in bed, was blown away. If u haven’t seen yet http://t.co/oQvl8ys9

P Diddy: “You must all see this!!!! NOW if u dont know what #StopKONY2012 is about watch this (cont) http://tl.gd/gaabmk rt to da world!”

Deadmau5: “Back from not being online for 10 seconds to create awareness towards the arrest of Joseph Kony and swift justice to all those affected.”

Click here to learn more about Invisible Children and how to get involved.

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