Tomorrow is 9/11/2011, the tenth anniversary of 9/11/2001. Everyone knows that the American people have never been the same since that day. Almost everyone knows exactly where they were and maybe what they were doing when the planes hit. It was my second day of ninth grade at Friends’ Central School when we were all called into the auditorium for an emergency assembly and subsequent early dismissal.
What I remember most about the fallout was the instant spike of patriotism in America. The flags, the lapels, it seemed like national pride was much more visible after that day to me. Maybe it was my own coming of age and awareness, but nonetheless, I noticed it. I also remembered the immediate declaration of “War” on Afghanistan. I remember going to New York City in December; I didn’t go there to see Ground Zero (I went with folks from my mom’s job and most remember visiting 30 Rock, which piqued my interest in Saturday Night Live) but it was still chilly to take the bus up to the city a few months after the event.
9/11 was a scary day. It was the most significant transformation of people I had yet to witness in my first 15 years of life. People acknowledge that transformation, but I’m not sure if we value it as much. The Cross Movement is a Christian hip hop group from Philadelphia; I first heard of them when their first album Heaven’s Mentality was one of my Christmas presents in 8th grade. When I saw in summer 2007 they were releasing their last album (HIStory: Our Place in His Story), I decided to grab it. The seventh track on there is called “9-10”. You can probably guess what it’s about. We always talk about September 11th, but what about the day before September 11th? How were we living on September 10th, 2001? We say all the time that 9/11 changed us forever. But when looking at our ways of “9-10”, have we really changed all that much, aside from more verbal acknowledgment of patriotism and terrorism?
As we commemorate the anniversary of this vicious act of terrorism, and honor those who have fallen and who have survived and who continue to fight for our freedom and peace of mind, we should also look into ourselves and remember the way we used to perceive life. Remember our old ways, recognize how we’ve changed, why we’ve changed, and to continue to come together as a people – regardless of race, religion, nationality, or philosophy.
-1SKILLZ