Osama Bin Laden. Adolf Hitler. Muammar Gaddafi—three of the most infamous men in America for their crimes against humanity. And soon to join their ranks is the currently unknown Joseph Kony.

Well, he was unknown eight days ago.

But after the organization Invisible Children, Inc. posted “Kony 2012” on Youtube and Vimeo, the video reached almost 20 million views in a mere 48 hours.

The video is part of a campaign strategy to raise awareness—and thus bring Kony to justice for the atrocities he has been committing as the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The LRA, according to a Huffington Post article, is a military group that instills fear into the people of Uganda—through murder, abduction, sexual slavery and acts of rape—in efforts to overthrow the government.

Kony’s crimes are so horrific that he was the first person to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2005.

For 25 years he has been killing people and abducting over 30,000 children, according to the video, to join his army. Boys have been forced to become soldiers—killing their parents and mutilating and killing the LRA opposition—while the girls have become sex slaves.

And while this has been going on, almost no Americans have even heard his name. While Gaddafi instantly became a household name after the uprising in Libya—causing the ICC to indict him as the 24th international criminal in 2011—Kony has remained invisible.

Until now.

Seconds after the video was published, Facebook newsfeeds broke out with activity. “Kony 2012” was continuously posted on pages, and the name Joseph Kony became viral.

The movement—nine years in the making—exploded over night.

After posting the video on her Facebook page, sophomore Kerina Blue started spreading the word.

“I thought at first it was just some theatrical thing,” Blue said. “I never knew about (Kony) before.”

But after watching the video, Blue was horrified and quickly decided that she would participate in this movement.

“The horrible things he’s started are still going on,” she said. “Until more people know about him nothing is going to happen. You need the momentum.”

Posters depicting the Republican elephant and Democratic donkey joining under the headline “KONY 2012: One thing we can agree on” are scattered throughout the high school, a product of student efforts—from Blue, sophomore Sabrina Edelen and others—to foster awareness of the campaign.

The founder of Invisible Children, Jason Russell, started the campaign in 2003 after traveling to Africa in search of a story with two fellow filmmakers. What started as a small-time endeavor turned into a global phenomenon.

“Kony 2012” tells the story of Jacob, a Ugandan boy who was forced into the ranks of the LRA. Before eventually fleeing the army, he saw his brother killed in front of him by the same troops who conscripted them both.

In the video, Russell promises Jacob that he will do everything within his power to stop Kony.
And thus the campaign was born.

Russell and his crew created a documentary called “Invisible Children: Rough Cut” in 2005 and began showing it to their friends and family.

Russell then decided to take the movement to Congress, but no action was taken as Kony’s actions didn’t affect U.S. economy or foreign policy.

That was until, according to their website, millions of people saw the rough cut. The movement started growing, and in Oct. 2011 President Obama agreed to send an American military advisory to help the Ugandan forces find Kony.

While “Kony 2012” has attracted followers from around the world, some don’t believe the organization is as valid as it seems.

According to a Washington Post article, a blog called “Visible Children” questioned Invisible Children, Inc.’s financial allotments—saying that “only 32% (of its expenditures) went to direct services,” while most of the rest went to staff salaries, travel and transport and film production.

The blog went on to criticize the organization’s support of the Ugandan and Sudanese armies—who were “riddled with accusations of rape and looting.”

Based on the Facebook posts, however, public opinion on “Kony 2012” is mostly favorable.

The video asks viewers to contact 20 celebrities, such as Stephen Colbert or George Clooney, and 12 policymakers, such as John Kerry or George W. Bush.

And on the night of April 20, “Cover the Night,” committed supporters of raising Kony awareness will take to the streets, covering major cities all over the United States with “Kony 2012” posters.

“I’m going to go with (a friend) to do ‘Cover the Night,’” Blue said. “I’m hoping to get a few people to join.”