Today we mark the anniversary of events that live in infamy and whose repercussions continue to reverberate over two decades later. I think it can serve us well to look back at those horrific events of September 11 and how we reacted to them and how their meaning was interpreted, directing a response. When I say “how we reacted to them” the “we” I have in mind is ordinary people like you and me. I put out a request to others to send me things they wrote at the time – essays, diary entries, letters to loved ones, poems – things that expressed their thoughts and feelings at that time. I wanted to capture snapshots of how people responded emotionally, how they grappled to understand these incomprehensible events. I’ve combined what I received with similar statements from fellow Marylanders, which was where I lived at the time. These were published in a book titled September Eleven: Maryland Voices. I have also asked people how they assess the implications of 9/11 today.
We surely live in interesting times--from the deepening of U.S.-led militarism to existential ecological and economic crises to shifts in the world order ranging from a significant decline of the Global North along with the rise of the East and Global South. Vijay Prashad, executive director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social... Read more