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When the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place, terrorism was not an occurrence that was familiar to most of us, and nothing like this had ever happened before, so there was this overwhelming sense of fear and dread. There was so much uncertainty, and no one knew what would happen next.
In the days that followed, the cleanup process began, along with the search for answers. And then came the response. President Bush and other political leaders quickly vowed revenge against the perpetrators of the attack. But not everyone found his words comforting. Around this time, a small but vocal group of people got together to speak out. They were the parents, spouses, siblings, and children of people who were killed in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and they said they didn’t want the deaths of their loved ones to be used to justify military attacks that could harm innocent civilians on the other side of the world.
They called themselves September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, and in late November of 2001, they took part in a walk for peace from the Pentagon to the World Trade Center site. I was a young reporter at the time, and I tagged along and interviewed several members of the group, later producing an hour-long documentary featuring their stories.
Now, on this 20th anniversary of the attacks, I’m re-releasing that documentary, along with an interview I conducted a few weeks ago with David Potorti, whose brother James worked on the 96th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center.
You can listen here:
David has also just co-edited an anthology of poetry from over 100 poets who’ve written about September 11th. In case you’re interested, it’s called Crossing the Rift: North Carolina Poets on 9/11 and its Aftermath.
Until next time, thanks for listening.
photos courtesy of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows