Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It’s time to #BringBackOurGirls. -Michelle Obama

On the night of April 14, a group of militants kidnapped more than 200 teenage girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria. Abubakar Shekau, who leads the terrorist organization Boko Haram based in northeast Nigeria, claimed that his group was behind the kidnappings. “I abducted your girls,” Shekau said, adding that Boko Haram was holding the girls and would “sell them in the market.” -via WhiteHouse.gov

 

Dear InstaDiary,

This week marks the 6 month anniversary of the kidnapping of the missing Nigerian school girls. Thank you to my sister Alicia Keys for being on the frontlines. (Alicia held a protest in New York City Tuesday, October 14th to raise awareness about the 200-plus Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in April.)

  • As I lazily lament my need for a pedicure, how many mothers wail for not hearing their daughters cries these last six months?
  • As I contemplate whether I should get a weave or braids so my hair won’t break this winter, how many daddys haven’t been called daddy because their daughters are still missing?
  •  While I can decide to skillfully avoid watching or reading the news because it “depresses” me, how many girls don’t have the luxury of contemplating sadness as they weigh their options of child slavery vs dangerous escape vs being murdered?
  •  Despite my annoyance that the kale in the market looks old, these girls are still missing.
  • While I consider whether to wear a dress or pantsuit to an upcoming author appearance, these girls don’t have the luxury of deciding whether to sit or stand.
  • Even though I am retweeting and tagging and posting the cause from the comfort of my plush, pillowed, Sacred Bombshell sofa, these girls are still missing.
  • And even as I wonder whether to upgrade my iPhone 5S or tough it out with a year and a half old model, these girls are still missing.

What now?

Go to GirlRising.com or Amnesty International for marching orders. 
 
#SacredAndTheCity #BringBackOurGirls #BringBackOurDaughters

From Alicia Keys Facebook:

“It’s my son’s birthday today which makes me feel even more in solidarity with the parents of the Chibok girls in Nigeria who were abducted 6 months ago today by Boko Haram. They are still missing!!!

At the moment of this rally those parents were marching on the Presidential Palace in Abuja to call on Goodluck Jonathan to pay attention to what can be done to free those girls from a situation too horrible to imagine. It’s difficult and it won’t be easy but we have to keep the pressure on because these girls represent all the girls being kept from an education, they represent all girls who are looked upon as property and they represent rape and violence against women as a weapon of war all over the world!

The We Are Here Movement is about direct action! Sign your name to join the movement and sign the petition to bring back our girls!! #BringBackOurGirlsNOW #weareheremovement

If you can’t see this video, click to watch on YouTube.

 

Michelle Obama - Bring Back Our Girls