Remarks of First Lady Michelle Obama
Weekly Address
May 10, 2014
Hello everyone, I’m Michelle Obama, and on this Mother’s
Day weekend, I want to take a moment to honor all the mothers out there
and wish you a Happy Mother’s Day.
I also want to speak to you about an issue of great
significance to me as a First Lady, and more importantly, as the mother
of two young daughters.
Like millions of people across the globe, my husband and I
are outraged and heartbroken over the kidnapping of more than 200
Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the night.
This unconscionable act was committed by a terrorist group
determined to keep these girls from getting an education – grown men
attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls.
And I want you to know that Barack has directed our
government to do everything possible to support the Nigerian
government’s efforts to find these girls and bring them home.
In these girls, Barack and I see our own daughters. We see
their hopes, their dreams – and we can only imagine the anguish their
parents are feeling right now.
Many of them may have been hesitant to send their daughters off to school, fearing that harm might come their way.
But they took that risk because they believed in their daughters’ promise and wanted to give them every opportunity to succeed.
The girls themselves also knew full well the dangers they might encounter.
Their school had recently been closed due to terrorist threats…but these girls still insisted on returning to take their exams.
They were so determined to
move to the next level of their education…so determined to one day build
careers of their own and make their families and communities proud.
And what happened in
Nigeria was not an isolated incident…it’s a story we see every day as
girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions.
It’s the story of girls like Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan.
Malala spoke out for girls’ education in her community…and
as a result, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman while on a
school bus with her classmates.
But fortunately Malala
survived…and when I met her last year, I could feel her passion and
determination as she told me that girls’ education is still her life’s
mission.
As Malala said in her address to the United Nations, she
said “The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop
our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear
and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.”
The courage and hope embodied by Malala and girls like her around the world should serve as a call to action.
Because right now, more than 65 million girls worldwide are not in school.
Yet, we know that girls who are educated make higher wages, lead healthier lives, and have healthier families.
And when more girls attend secondary school, that boosts their country’s entire economy.
So education is truly a girl’s best chance for a bright future, not just for herself, but for her family and her nation.
And that’s true right here in the U.S. as well…so I hope
the story of these Nigerian girls will serve as an inspiration for every
girl – and boy – in this country.
I hope that any young people in America who take school
for granted – any young people who are slacking off or thinking of
dropping out – I hope they will learn the story of these girls and
recommit themselves to their education.
These girls embody the best hope for the future of our
world…and we are committed to standing up for them not just in times of
tragedy or crisis, but for the long haul.
We are committed to giving them the opportunities they deserve to fulfill every last bit of their God-given potential.
So today, let us all pray for their safe return... let us
hold their families in our hearts during this very difficult time…and
let us show just a fraction of their courage in fighting to give every
girl on this planet the education that is her birthright. Thank you.
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