naiga girls

my heart stopped when i first learned of the 234 young girls kidnapped on april 14, 2014 by boko haram, a militant Islamist group in Nigeria whose name literally means “western education is forbidden.” i felt helpless. i felt--i could not even imagine. i find myself using that saying all too often when i hear of atrocities in the world, especially those that involve children. when a gunman kills innocent children on our city streets, i automatically think, i could not even imagine. when beautiful black boys are stolen from their homes in the darkness of night to become soldiers in wars they cannot even understand, i have thought,  i could not even imagine. after 234 girls were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria and now more than 20 days later the only ones reported found are those who escaped, i think to myself, i could not even imagine.  

could i really not imagine? this saying  has caused me pause since hearing of the young girls abducted by boko haram in Nigeria. i realized there are parts of these things i can imagine. i am a human being. i am a mother. i have witnessed fear. as my daughter sat crying amidst shatters glass on the roof of our overturned car after a near fatal car accident, i saw fear in her eyes. as i lay on the side of the road. my blood all around us. the scent undoubtedly picked up by the wild animals in the gaming park, i heard my son’s fear. “will someone come and get us?” he asked. when the Beninios doctor saw my file days later and asked, very nonchalantly i must add, "combien de morts?" how many died? i felt fear and imagined far worse. i cried as i imagined what could have been on the side of that dirt road in august of 2011. 

not wanting to imagine and not being able to imagine are two very different things.  so, i can imagine. and i believe that others can too. even if only for a moment, we can imagine fear. we have all experienced it on some level. recall your own or that of a loved one at some moment in time. multiply that fear by all the stars in the universe and we may each get just a few heartbeats closer to what just one girl may have felt as armed men came to steal her away from what she only seconds before considered a safe place. take a moment to simply recall your humanity and you will be able to imagine, even if just for one thousandth of a second, the fear and anguish of just one parent of just one abducted girl.

what is unimaginable is that it's been over 20 days and the only girls reported found were those who escaped. what is unimaginable is that in a world with the technology to witness my every keystroke remotely and locate me right now on this city block in harlem from outer space we have not rescued one girl. what is unimaginable is that until a few days ago we could not find space in the mass media next to the racist rants of a billionaire basketball team owner to report regularly and consistently about these girls literally stolen from their school. what is unimaginable is that in 2014 we have to use grassroots measures to allow the world to be informed and bear witness to this disregard for human life. what is unimaginable is to dwell in helplessness when the truth will always remain that our mere existence, each and everyone of ours, is an opportunity to act. to act with love and to act loudly if we must.

on may 2, 2014, shahara jackson, led one of the first #bringbackourgirls rallies in new york city. when we talked about it she told me, “i don't want to be just existing. i wanted to do something. if i can share my passion and outrage for what has happened with just ten people that's enough.” i decided if there were to be only ten people at her rally, i would be one of them.

i went armed with my camera. i have come to know and embrace that capturing stories is one of the ways i take action.  when i arrived, the energy was warm but tentative, almost reserved. slowly, more women and men arrived. the energy shifted, more purpose filled the air. at 1:30 a young activist spoke. her father was nigerian. her name is africa yoon. she held a people magazine with lupita nyongo on the cover in one hand; a bring back our girls sign in the other. she thanked us for coming. she spoke of naiga girls. naiga, a term of endearment in Nigeria. we used naiga to lovingly represent each of the 234 kidnapped girls who had yet to return. whose names we did not know. we used naiga because we wanted each girl to know that she was more than just a number.  when africa yoon called naiga girl out, we all responded “present!” just as the roll call at school may have gone that april 14, 2014 morning for each of our still captive naiga girls. it is my hope that each time i chanted “present!” the universe let each girl now that my heart was with her. that she felt a glimmer of inexplicable hope during an incomprehensible time. it is my hope that my actions, however small, will do something to bring each one of these girls home. 

i despise empty gestures and lack of action even more so here are some things you can do:

1. learn more. this is not the first brutal or atrocious act of boko haram. they must be stopped. 

2. sign this petition to bring voice to this story.

3. tell 10 people you know about this atrocity. ask them to tell 10 people they know.  here are some other things you can do.

4. read about the president for Nigeria that Chimamanda Adichie wants in response to this atrocity.

5. listen to Shahara (4:17) discuss why she decided to organize a #bringbackourgirls rally and be inspired by what one person can do.

6. act. not just for these naiga girls. act whenever and wherever you bear witness to injustice. act in any way you can and know how.

on may 2, 2014, in honor of each abducted girl still to be brought back, we chanted …

naiga girl 1 ... present!

naiga girl 2 ... present! 

naiga girl 3 … present!

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may 8, 2014