Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has penned an open letter to the music industry asking for assistance in getting a group of Afghani musicians out of Afghanistan. Morello's letter, published by Billboard and obtained by guitar teacher Lanny Cordola, seeks help in removing the Kabul-based school Girl With a Guitar out of the city.
"I'm writing on behalf of some very special girls in Afghanistan who are in grave danger," said Morello. "[Girl With a Guitar] takes in street orphans and other girls that have endured significant trauma and uses music as a rehabilitation tool and means of working through their problems, their histories, and their hopes.
"I've had the honor of collaborating with these wonderful kids. Since the Taliban takeover their school has been destroyed and the girls are in hiding. They are at extreme risk because they are widely known to have performed Western music and have been educated by a male American teacher. Anything you could do to help save their lives would be much appreciated."
Cordola is currently in Kabul working to get 12 students of Girl With a Guitar, as well as their families, out of the now Taliban-led country.
"We're trying to investigate if getting them to the Pakistan border is a possibility," he said. "We've been talking to a lot of different people, rescue organizations. We need to get them out of Afghanistan to start a new life somewhere."
