Do You Muse????…. 9/11 and Today
September 11, 2001.
For anyone who lived in New York during that time, it’s definitely a day that you can’t forget. I remember boarding the Q train to head to work that morning. The train would cross over the Brooklyn Bridge and I could see the southernmost parts of Manhattan, including the World Trade Center towers. Nothing felt unusual that day. It was the same trip I made for the past two years since moving to an apartment on Flatbush and Lefferts. After the train passed over the bridge, it burrowed underground, travelling beneath the city as part of the expansive subway system that is the envy of all transit systems.
When I arrived at the Rockefeller station, I headed to the Time-Life building with breakfast in hand. As the elevator door opened on the 12th floor, things were eerily quiet. I notice a group of my coworkers in my colleague’s office with very disturbed looks on their faces as they watched the TV screen. At first, there was a belief that a bomb went off in the building so there was some belief that terrorism was at play. Then the update was that an airplane flying from Boston just plowed into the World Trade Center building. Shortly afterwards, the next plane hit the other tower and NY as we knew it would never be the same.
We were all sent reeling from the crazy reality that airplanes that were being used for morning commutes were now being used as weapons in an act of terror against the US.
The aftermath was surreal. From 47th Street, all you saw was buildings smoking in the distance. Midtown, which is world renown for attracting tourists from many different countries, looked like a ghost town recovering from a brutal battle. Family and friends spent the entire day trying to get in touch with loved ones, hoping and praying that they answer office lines or their mobile phones. When I finally reached my family, you could hear the collective sighs of relief. Not knowing where I worked in the city, only the sound of my voice alleviated their fears. Calls from my family in Trinidad and Tobago came in to make sure I was safe.
9/11 was the greatest horror film that wasn’t fake. That day and the weeks that follow were very unsettling. Many New Yorkers avoided Ground Zero, trying to block out the memories of that day. While most of my friends were very lucky not to lose anyone, so many people were not so fortunate. That night I stayed with a college friend who welcomed me (and others) into his home with open arms. My old roommate, who would travel every morning into WTC to catch the bus to Jersey City, had the terrifying experience of hearing the plane explode into the 2nd building, but would escape the area unharmed by walking up north and over the 59th Street Bridge. People covered with dust and ash marched over the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges to escape the terror that gripped the city.
Also in these hours of chaos, New Yorkers showed a deep, unrelenting level of humanity, empathy and unity that brought the city together. People tried to help others find the lost loved ones. Fire departments and police squads from all across the Tri-State area were dispatched to work with their fellow man. Makeshift hospitals and triage centers were created to service all the injured people who made it out of the World Trade towers and the surrounding areas. The Mayor of New York City rose to the challenge and showed up as the leader that the city needed in its darkest hour (not sure where this person went or how they lost their way but I digress). Across the country, citizens lent their support any way they could, which truly embodied the United States. Our nation came together, unified and ready to combat anything that threatens our democracy.
That’s what makes our today so troubling. Today, police violence against black and brown people has escalated significantly, in cities large and small. White supremacy has infiltrated all our institutions and is being promoted as the desired norm. Political grandstanding in Portland, where this administration is misusing federal officers to quell the cries of a diverse group for racial justice. Black Lives Matters being identified as a hate group by the small-handed president. Instead of supporting unity, people are booing overt showings of togetherness at football games. Lies and deceit wrapped up in political packaging are adding to the chasm that is growing in this country. Things are happening in this country that are unfair to certain populations (see LGBTQ, women, BiPOC, immigrants, etc.) but the rhetoric of being separate and divided rules the airwaves.
This is not how we want to show up.
This is not who we are.
We have been championing for something better for decades. Many white people are now starting to yell at the top of their lungs that our country needs to be the same thing for ALL people, not just for our non-BiPOC citizens. In a time when our country is struggling from the effects of the pandemic, Main Street’s economy is struggling to keep doors open and all of us are struggling with various forms of trauma, we need to come together as one nation.
2001 laid a blueprint for how we can show up and stand for each other. How we can be compassionate and empathetic toward each other as we face many ills in this country. How we can start ignoring the political grandstanding that continues to promote division in our society and start being a collective with a clear moral compass. How we can take a clear stance against the racism and social injustice that has plagued this country for centuries.
Together.
United.
The United States.