On April 16th, while America was cooing over the latest famous person to carry a life inside of her (Chelsea Clinton), over 200 girls in Nigeria were having their lives threatened by extremists. These girls’ perceived infraction? Getting an education. Several dozen of the girls were able to jump off of the truck that was carting them like animals into the forest near Cameroon, but the remaining 200 or so still remain stolen girls.
The Nigerian government’s response has been slow and inept, and the social media response has been slow and inept as well. But these girls don’t have time for a slowly building international response. Their lives are at risk, and they matter. They are daughters, sisters, friends. They are brave soldiers in the fight to create equality for girls in terms of education and opportunity. Do we leave behind our soldiers? No, we put all of our efforts into bringing these girls home safe.
So what can you do? Contact your government representatives and sign social media campaigns to put pressure on elected officials. You can do so here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
On Twitter and other social media, use the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Can you imagine if this was your friend or sister or daughter? This matters – these girls matter – not only to their families and friends, but to the world. Not only are they precious children, but they personify strength in the face of adversity. We must find them. We cannot let them down. We must bring back these stolen girls.