There is no telling what the power of social media can do...
Unbeknownst to some
advocates and caring activist, critics sprinkled ridicule in the media
regarding the effectiveness a growing social campaign called
#BringBackOurGirls.
I learned about the 279
Nigerian girls who were forcefully kidnapped from a school in the remote
North-East of Nigeria by Islamist insurgency group known as Boko Haram on
Instagram. Most readers were naive to earlier incidents of attacks and violence
which left a number of civilians dead. Like for many, if it had not been for a
social media postings, the issues Nigeria is facing may never have caught the public's attention.
In comparison to countless well
documented social media revolutions, #BringBackOurGirls is not much different. Social
media has been known to air out the dirty laundry of leaders, regimes,
political officials, and pop stars. This may be one of the reasons that social
media has been an intricate force infused in awareness and monopolizing the
average “Joe’s” power to harness change in the social culture today.
Historically, the
timeline has shown there is power in people connecting and sharing content.
-In June 2009, the
Tehran protest in Iran when the people protested an election in Iran, the
Iranian government cracked down on media reports, but demonstrators used Twitter
to further a “Twitter Revolution.” At one point it was mandated that Twitter
postpone scheduled maintenance to provide people with a communication channel,
sort of a life line to share information.
-January 2011 the
uprising in Tunisa, Egypt, Syria, Libya, and other countries used Facebook and
Twitter to organize protests.
-2011 Occupy Wall
Street gains momentum and supporters through social media which leads to
nationwide protests latter in the year.
-November 2012 Obama
and Michelle tweeted a picture of themselves. The public retweeted it almost
800,000 times. Also in 2012, Israel Defense forces live tweeted a military
conflict against Hamas in Gaza.
There are many more
examples from disaster relief in from the earthquake in Haiti, hurricane Sandy
in the North, tornado's in the Midwest to political revolutions, protests, and
organized awareness campaigns throughout the world. To date high profile celebrities
and public officials have also chimed in with signs that promote the
#BringOurGirlsBack campaign. People like Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mary
J. Blige and President Barrack Obama are just a few to name.
The point of this
historical reference is to correlate social media and other digital 2.0 effectiveness
in organizing real action. From the White House to Monday May 12th’s Rallyin front of City Hall in New York City. It is through social media that women
in Nigeria were able to catch the world’s attention.
People all over the country are standing up to
put pressure on Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to be proactive in the
matter. It is believed with out the strong presence of the outside world, nothing much
would have been done to return the young girls safely back home.
With a crucial
election for Goodluck Jonathan around the corner, he has no choice but to hear
the world’s dismay about the lack of adequate laws, resources, and concern to
protect young girls and women in Nigeria.
People gathered with
public advocate Letitia "Tish" James, City Council member
Mattieu Eugene, speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Brooklyn College Political
Science Professor Mojubaolu Okome, Bishop Dr. Jonathan Owhe, and a host of
additional concerned leaders and citizens to discuss #BringBackOurGirls and
what the public can do to support.
Social media has been
instrumental in bringing awareness to #BringBackOurGirls campaign. As pictures
and video was taken, people shared their point of view, conversed, and
creatively poured out a message that announced “Our Nigerian Girls Matter”. These girls are mine and yours, our sisters, aunts,
and daughters.
KEEP SHARING
LOVE WILL PREVAIL AND BRING THEM HOME