FORUM
9-11, a year later
Nigel Alston
Motivational
Moments
" You can only get people to
J change their behavior tj you
talk their language."
? Anthony Robbins
%
?
' I paid tribute to the
' anniversary of 9/11 by joining
| hands with people I work with
; as we bowed our heads and
observed a moment of silence
! at 8:46 a.m. We shared our
J thoughts and perspectives
| about the events of 9/11/01,
'? their impact on our lives then
I and now, and joined hands for
j a second time in a final
moment of reflection before
! returning to the work at hand.
With the exceptioh of
watching a few minutes of the
nightly - local and national -
' news, 1 didn't watch any of the
* commemorations during the
day. I have seen sufficient
! images of the World Trade
Z Center Towers collapsing, as
people ran for their lives. 1
have also discontinued reading
the numerous stories in news
papers and every magazine, it
seems. I have compassion for
those who lost loved ones, the
children born since 9/11 with
out a parent and clearly under
stand that there is a "war on
terrorism."
That said, just what have
we learned, one year later ?
On Monday, Sept. 10.
2001, it was business as usual
for millions of people around
the world. Terrorism - the
magnitude of which happened
on 9/11/01 - didn't happen
here - not in our back yard! It
was something reported on in
nightly news briefs, happening
t& someone else, at a distance.
No more.
On Tuesday, Sept. 11,
2001, around 8:46 a.m., that
changed. There is now a clear
and present danger. And it con
tinues to change, and change
some more and then again after
we think it can't change any
more. Why would someone do
this to us? 1 know we don't
agree with what happened, but
surely we have some idea why
it happened.
A single event provided a
common thread that connected
the world, instantly.
Within 24 hours, our world
changed and so did the lives
and behaviors of millions of
people, all linked by that
event.
I updated my calendar the
night before and talked to a
group of college students about
life beyond college and the
preparation needed to navigate
the corporate world successful
ly. 1 facilitated a Dale Carnegie
class on the evening of Sept.
10, listening to class members
share their expectations and
visions of success after accom
plishing their goals. A year
later, a different group is shar
ing similar goals and expecta
tions. Not much has changed.
On Sept. 11, 2001,1 attend
ed an early morning meeting,
going about my day as
planned, when everything
changed. What a difference a
year makes. As our office
clpsed for business on the
afternoon of 9/11, 1 sat at my
computer, numb, stunned and
shell-shocked. I canceled an
evening meeting and attended
a prayer service instead, where
I cried.
I didn't cry on the anniver
sary of 9/11. Instead. 1 thought
about the difference 24 hours
made from Monday to Tuesday
last year, and now, one year
later. On 9/10, there was oppo
sition to prayer in schools. The
day after, no one asked for per
mission. One year later, people
are challenging "Under God"
in the Pledge of Allegiance
being recited in schools.
Racial profiling was an
issue on Monday, 9/10. On
Tuesday we were all holding
hands, united as one. One year
later, racial profiling has taken
on a different meaning. Add
inappropriate comments to that
profile and you have another
"terror scare." Ask the medical
students detained for 17 hours
in Florida.
On Monday, 9/11, politi
cians argued about budgetary
surpluses. On Tuesday, grief
stricken, they sang "God Bless L
America." One year later, they
are still singing, but we have a
budgetary crisis.
On Monday President Bush
was reading to children in a
classroom in Florida. He was
shocked too. On Tuesday he
returned to Washington to pro
tect the future of America for
the children of today. Now, he
is set on going to war against
Iraq, alone if necessary. I won
der what the children think.
We will continue to
remember the tragic events of
9/11/01, the lives lost and
honor the day and their memo
ries appropriately. We must.
We will continue to fight ter
rorism wherever it exists and
we should. We know nqyv,
more than ever, that 24 hours
makes a difference, as our
world, as we see it, changed
from Monday (9/10) to Tues
day (9/11).
It's also a different worlij,
one year later. What have we
learned to make it a better
world for tomorrow?
Nigel Alston is a radio talk
show host, columnist and moti-.
vational speaker. Visit his Web
site at www.motivationalmo
ments.com.
Work to be done
Marian
Wright
Edelman
Guest
Columnist
We black folks have come a
long way and have much to cele
brate. Colin Powell is secretary of
state. Condoleezza Rice heads the
National Security Council. Ken
Chenault is at the helm of Ameri
can Express, and Richard Parsons
heads AOL Time Warner. Tiger
Woods has broken almost every
golf record. Michael Jordan is
unmatched on the basketball
court. And the Williams sisters
have taken tennis by storm. Oprah
! is queen of talk, Ruth Simmons is
the fust black woman president of
a top Ivy League university
(Brown), and David Levering
I Lewis has won two Pulitzer prizes
' for his stellar biography of Dr.
; W.E.B. DuBois.
In 1965 - the year the Voting
Rights Act was passed - there
were an estimated 300 black elect
ed officials in the United States.
* The Joint Center for Political and
Economic Studies recently report
ed there are about 9,000 black
elected officials.
I I became the fourth lawyer in
Mississippi to take civil rights
cases in 1964 and the first black
woman admitted to that state's
bar. Today there are hundreds of
black lawyers in Mississippi, and
two of my former law clerks have
served on the Mississippi
Supreme Court.
Those who say the Civil
Rights Movement didn't make a
difference did not live under the
rigid system of racial apartheid as
my generation did.
But the Civil Rights Move
ment has much unfinished busi
ness. And you and I must finish it,
and we cannot stand idly by as
more and more black children are
tracked for failure rather than a
future of success, and for prison
rather than for Princeton.
It was clear to me in 1964 and
1965 that the crucial snuggle of
black citizens to tear down the
walls of legal apartheid in Missis
sippi and across the South, and to
get the right to vote, would leave
millions of poor blacks behind
unless the social and economic
underpinnings were put beneath
the hard-won political and civil
rights. Children must have food to
eat, a place to sleep and health
care when they are sick. Parents
need jobs for dignity, and wages
sufficient to support their families.
Their children need quality Head
Start, sound early childhood expe
riences. and education and train
ing to build and sustain strong
black families, black communi
ties, self-sufficiency and wealth.
And I knew then, as now, that
those able to walk through the
doors of opportunity opened by
the Civil Rights Movement had to
look back and share their talents
and resources with those left
behind.
That's why I joined Dr. King's
Poor People's Campaign and
began the Children's Defense
? ?"""?I* ??
Fund's parent organization after
his death to help lay the founda
tion for the next movement: the
Movement to Leave No Child
Behind?. The mission of the
Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is
to Leave No Child Behind? and
to ensure every child a Healthy
Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a
Safe Start and a Moral Start in life
and successful passage to adult
hood with the help of caring fam
ilies and communities.
For nearly 30 years, CDF has
provided a strong, effective voice
for all the children of America
who cannot vote, lobby or speak
for themselves. Although we pay
particular attention to the needs of
poor, black and other minority
children, and those with disabili
ties. our research shows how chil
dren of every race, income group,
faith and place need help.
CDF encourages preventive
investment in children before they
get sick, into trouble, drop out of
school or suffer family break
down. We challenge the values
and priorities of a nation that
would rather invest $30,000 to
lock our children up in jail but
refuses to provide them a Head
I?* ??
Start to get ready for
school. We challenge states that
invest three times more on aver
age per prisoner than per public
school pupil. And it is a disgrace
that a majority of our current polit
ical leaders voted for a $1.3 tril
lion tax cut that primarily benefits
the truly non-needy people with
average incomes over a million
dollars. The top 1 percent of
wealthiest Americans will get 52
percent of the total tax cut when it
is fully phased in.
We don't have a money prob
lem in America. We have a values
and priorities problem. The black
community must lift its voice not
only to get our nation to ensure the
justice the prophets and the
Gospels tell us God demands, but
also to do what is economically
sensible for its children and all of
us. Only we can save our families
and reweave the fabric of commu
nity all our children need.
In my .next column I'll share
the staggering odds black children
face and we must address.
Marian Wright Edelman is
president and founder of the Chil
dren Is Defense Fund.
File Photo
National Security
Adviser Condoleexxa
Rice made history
when President Bush
appointed her to the
post in 2001. She is
the first African
American to hold the
post.
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