As 9/11 of 2013 near its’ end in the next 40 minutes, allow me to share an email I received today from a distant colleague in counseling with hopes of impressing upon “our” attitude towards one another as citizens of the United States of America. Thank you Dr. Sawyer for your words of accountability.
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To My Brothers and Sisters in the Struggle Against Social Injustice:
Every year, I reflect on the impact of September 11, 2001. I think about the terrible tragedy, what happened during the aftermath, and what happened to our country and the world in the years after this horrible, horrible day. In the first few days after the disaster, I wrote a poem that went global. Every year, I get notes from people thanking me for sharing the poem. I’m glad the words were printed because they seemed to help heal so many in such an awful time. Many still seem to lean on them on 9/11 every year and I share it with you today:
One
As the soot and dirt and ash rained down
We became one color.
As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning building
We became one class.
As we lit candles of waiting and hope
We became one generation.
As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the inferno
We became one gender.
As we fell to our knees in prayer for strength
We became one faith.
As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement
We spoke one language.
As we gave our blood in lines a mile long
We became one body.
As we mourned together the great loss
We became one family.
As we cried tears of grief and loss
We became one soul.
As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes
We become one people.
We are
One color One soul
One class One people
One family
One gender
One body
One faith
One language
One generation
We are The Power of One. We are United. We are America.
But every year, I also reflect on the irony of the poem. It took such a horrible tragedy to bring our country together on all those levels. And within a few months of such a terrible loss of life, of safety, and also of the resulting unity in our collaborative healing efforts, our country was again divided, with various factions again attacking each other. If we found strength in our unity, our similarities, aren’t the same strengths still here today? If we spoke words of encouragement then, why can’t we do it now? If the color of our skin didn’t matter on that day, why do we have such racial hatred in our country today? If the language we spoke didn’t matter on 9/11/01, why do we have so many rules and laws against other languages in this country? We mixed our blood on 9/11 but so many attack others-including the President of this country—because their blood is not the same as ours. Both rich and poor died together on that day but it seems that the classes have even less in common than we did before prior to 9/11.
For all those who see the poem and see hope–thank you. We must continue to fight discrimination and hate, not each other. We must learn to accept diversity, including fall religions, colors, languages, genders, political parties (yes, politicans—you must learn to work together). Otherwise, the lessons learned through the tragedy of 9/11 might be learned again someday in our future as the enemies of our country will exploit our biggest weakness–our own hate for ourselves as a diverse nation. There is much beauty and love in diversity: there is a place for all who love. And every year, I hope and pray the thoughts encompassed within this poem can once again live for all of us without the accompanying tragedy.
Peace,
Cheryl
Dr. Cheryl Sawyer, Associate Professor of Counseling
Coordinator of Counseling Program
University of Houston Clear Lake
2700 Bay Area Blvd.
Houston, TX 77058
Email: Sawyer@uhcl.edu
Written by: Dr. Fuller
