Michelle Obama Talks Nigeria Schoolgirl Crisis In Mother’s Day Address
Latest
This weekend, the first lady took over the president’s weekly address to give a Mother’s Day message and more importantly to discuss the plight of the Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents, expressing the heartbreak and exasperation we all feel regarding the situation.
In the roughly six-minute video, Obama discussed the bravery of the schoolgirls, who continued to attend school in face of Boko Haram threats, calling the terrorist group “grown men attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls.” She also likened the situation to that of Malala Yousafzai, who recently penned a piece for TIME magazine expressing solidarity with the girls and their community and calling on the international community to “Bring Back Our Girls.” Obama then ended on a sort of odd motherly note, asking American students including those who might be “slacking off or thinking about dropping out” not to take education for granted.