Invisible Children

Billabong’s Design for Humanity event will benefit Invisible Children!

Invisible Children — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:23:19 -0700

June 10. Ask your boss for the night off. Right now. Buy your ticket while you’re at it, and then find a ride to SoCal. This is going to be the most epic benefit party. Ever.

Straight from Billabong:

“We’re bringing The City That Never Sleeps to The City of Angels, join Billabong as we take over the NY Street Backlot at Paramount Studios in Hollywood for a massive block party with:

- two concert stages

- Invisible Children sensory exhibit

- League of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD)

- warehouse art show curated by the prestigious Carmichael Gallery

- Hit+Run live t-shirt screenprinting

- DethKills live art installation

- Masters of Maple limited edition snare drums auctions

- food trucks

- VIP street party

and much more…all in celebration of this year’s very worthy beneficiary: Invisible Children.”

Details (like time and place):

DESIGN FOR HUMANITY: June 10th
Doors open at 7pm
Paramount Studios, 5555 Melrose Ave., Hollywood CA 90038

Tickets are ON SALE NOW! The first 1000 tickets will be $30, the next 1000 tickets will be $40, the last 1000 tickets will be $50 (a very limited amount of VIP tickets will be available for $150).

This is an 18 and over event, valid ID required.
Tickets are also available at Billabong retailers:
ZJ BOARDING HOUSE 2619 Main Street, Santa Monica CA
SPYDER 65 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach CA

What you’re in for:

“Legendary electroclash duo FISCHERSPOONER are headlining this year’s event for an unforgettable festival of light and sound performance, which makes them a perfect collaborator for this year’s event. Chi-town rapper KID SISTER who seamlessly fuses elements of electro pop, Hip-Hop and ghetto house will be kicking off the night. DJ MARK MORENO, PASE ROCK, THEM JEANS, and CLASSIXX will be mixing beats throughout the night. Come ready to buy art, buy a custom t-shirt, buy a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, or just party with a purpose – 100% of ticket sales, art show proceeds donated to Invisible Children.”

Obama said yes! We got a signing ceremony in the Oval Office!

Invisible Children — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:15:24 -0700

After a five year quest to get the attention of the United States government, we have done it.

President Obama agreed to a signing ceremony in the Oval Office for the signing of the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act! After the unbelievable rallying we all did to see this bill pass unanimously through Congress, and the props they gave us on the House floor (I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life), we have seen impossible dreams come true.

After the bill’s unanimous passage, we asked the White House for a signing ceremony with the President so that we could hold him accountable to this mandate and see Joseph Kony arrested.

On Saturday, President Obama accepted our request and invited us to the Oval Office on Monday.

Today, Monday, May 24th at 5pm est, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Members of Congress, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, Jason, Laren, Ben Keesey and Resolve’s Michael Poffenberger stood in the Oval Office, circled around President Barack Obama as he signed into law the bill we have carried so far.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) commented on the signing of the bill, saying, “This bill’s success is due to the grassroots effort of young people across the U.S. committed to ending the atrocities of Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army.” It has been your rallying, your phone calls, letters, emails, activism, and voices that have won this victory. The war is not over, but the stage has been set for justice.

“Our mission now is to make sure that the President uses the mandate it provides from Congress and the American people to do everything he can to see LRA violence ended once and for all.” - Lisa Dougan, Resolve.

We did it!! The LRA Bill passes through CONGRESS!

Invisible Children — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:15:28 -0700

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, by voice vote without a single objection.

Over the course of 30 minutes, seven Congress members spoke on behalf of the bill, calling on President Obama, in response to the atrocities being committed in central east Africa, to form a plan to remove Joseph Kony from the battlefield. Eight additional Members of Congress submitted written statements expressing their support for the bill.

Can you believe it? The leaders of our nation, for 30 MINUTES, stated and restated the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony and the urgent need for a strong response from the United States.

As if that weren’t enough, America’s young activists got their recognition too.

We can still only marvel that the youth of America made so much noise that their Congressmen and women felt compelled to mention their efforts on the floor of the House of Representatives.

We celebrate this victory with our partners Resolve: Uganda and Enough Project. You can be sure that at 3:30 PDT yesterday, the entire Invisible Children office was gathered in the conference room, breathlessly watching history be made. (The picture below was taken right after Invisible Children was mentioned by name, hence Jason’s ninja kick)

We celebrate this victory wholeheartedly, but we know that our work is not yet finished. Now we must pressure the Obama Administration to follow through on this important mandate, to set a precedent for justice, and to protect these children who have too long been trapped in a war against their will. We will see them come home.

This victory is yours, and we want you to know everything that there is to know.

This Q&A was put together by Resolve Uganda will answer every question you have about the significance of the bill and what will happen next.

This 2-minute highlight reel cuts together some of the most spine-tingling portions of the speeches. Be proud. They are talking about you

This video express our thanks to you, our supporters, and illustrates just how much has been accomplished since The Rescue.

LOVE,

Alex and the ENTIRE IC Team.

Senator Coburn said YES! The holdout is over...

Invisible Children — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:02:57 -0800

The Hold Out is over! After spending 262 hours in front of Senator Coburn’s office, we have received word that Senator Coburn has released his hold on the bill.

The long nights in freezing weather, the excess of pizza, and the shortage of showers have paid off.

This means the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act is going to the Senate Floor where it already has 62 co-sponsors. We don’t foresee any more obstacles to its passing.

We could not be more ecstatic. Thank you to our friends at Resolve Uganda who made this happen. And thank you to everyone who has supported the demonstration in person, in spirit, or in $$.

We did it!!!!

From Resolve Uganda: IN THEIR WORDS....

BREAKING NEWS: Invisible Children in OKLAHOMA CITY!

Invisible Children — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:49:39 -0800

This is an open call to Senator Coburn (R-OK) asking him to meet with Invisible Children in Oklahoma City RIGHT NOW to re-consider his hold on the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (This bill has the largest potential to FINALLY putting an end to this war). As of right now, 217 Members of Congress have decided to co-sponsor the bill, and Senator Coburn is the only man standing in the way of its passage. Without his help, the U.S. will miss a huge opportunity to stop Joseph Kony and his use of child soldiers.

There are 90 people out in the cold in front of Sen. Coburn's offices RIGHT NOW! It's cold. Very cold. They've been there for 90+ hours, awaiting his decision and will wait for however long it takes for him to remove his hold on the BILL. If you live in Oklahoma, go join the party!

YOU can watch it LIVE as it goes down right here...

YEASAYER is coming with us to UGANDA!

Invisible Children — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:35:24 -0800

For any of you who have been following this project with La Blogotheque and the Polyphonic Spree, we've got some BIG NEWS!

YEASAYER is coming with us to UGANDA. That is, if we get funding in time. We just got word from the band that they are totally in. They have been a huge supporters of Invisible Children for a while, and a few years ago requested that if there's ever a chance to go to Uganda, they'd love to get out there. We're glad that the dream is finally coming true!

Become a part of this documentary by helping fund the project, in exchange for digital downloads, signed records, personalized videos to YOU from the bands, etc. CLICK HERE TO DONATE.

PS. We're still waiting to confirm a 3rd and final band....we'll keep you posted. And PITCHFORK just debuted the news too!

A Very Sincere THANK YOU.

Invisible Children — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:46:51 -0800

I'm so completely appreciative at how willing everyone was to help us out in that $1 Million campaign - I'm still in shock that we won it! But it wouldn't have been possible without your help. Seriously. It came down to 1200 votes - and if there was another 10 minutes in the competition, we wouldn't have made it.

Time and time again, I am encountered with the impossible becoming a reality at Invisible Children. And you're as much apart of making that happen as anyone else. So again, I wanted to extend a huge thank you for lending your time and resources in helping us win that $1 MILLION grant!

Knowing how much I appreciate it - well, I can't imagine how thankful the people that will feel the impact of this money will be.

And I wanted to show you how insane we all were at the office during the last night of voting. It's a pretty epic 4 minute video:

:: Help Invisible Children win $1,000,000 from CHASE BANK ::

Invisible Children — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:43:11 -0800

Invisible Children needs your help right now. It'll only takes 30 seconds, and you can help win us $1 MILLION dollars.

Invisible Children seeks to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony's rebel war and help restore Northern Uganda to peace. You can help us reach these goals right now!

Chase Bank has been doing a MAJOR donation campaign via Facebook. Based on the number of votes received, certain organizations are awarded substantial donations from Chase. Invisible Children has already won and received $25,000 from the 1st Round of voting last month.

There are now 100 charities left in the 2nd Round, in which the winner will receive $1 MILLION dollars - 5 runners-up receiving $100,000 each! THIS IS HUGE. Especially right now. And it is such a simple thing for people to do.

Could you help us promote this? i.e. Twitter about it on friday maybe? Voting starts on JANUARY 15th (voting runs for 7 days), and we could have a real chance at winning a million bucks. Tweet about it, blog it, make a MySpace bulletin, post a Facebook update, write a song, call your mom, etc. (see below for examples).

Use this link to vote right now, and copy it anywhere and everywhere (twitter, facebook status) to spread the news.

http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/598099

Segment on BBC World News...

Invisible Children — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:10:38 -0700

Invisible Children was profiled on a special segment of BBC World News yesterday, and if you missed it, here is a link to the web version of the piece. Watch it and tell the world to watch it....youtube it, blog it, re-blog it, facebook it and "like it".

It briefly covers the history of IC as well as provides information for a lobbying event we held on Capitol Hill this past June. We are so grateful and excited about the potential this story has!

NEW Fall Invisible Children Band Tour...

Invisible Children — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:48:39 -0700

We are all extremely excited to announce that Invisible Children will be jumping on Brand New's headlining tour with Thrice at the end of October for a month. Both bands have recently released acclaimed albums, and these tours will be the first to promote them. So not only are big things happening for these artists, but we get to pair the energy with our own initiatives by setting out on our most ambitious quest yet - calling on Obama to address the war in northern Uganda and put the United States' name behind international efforts to arrest Joseph Kony. Try saying that three times....and fast.

I don't even know if the music industry is ready for such a takeover of young activists. Or are they? It has happened before you know...