FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF NINE ELEVEN

NINE ELEVEN
Wednesday, September 11, 2002

THIS MORNING THIS COUNTRY REMEMBERS 9/11 AND VOWS NEVER TO FORGET. AS A NATIVE NEW YORKER I FEEL ANGRY AND HURT AT THE ATTACK ON THE TWIN TOWERS I ADMIRED AS A SYMBOL OF NEW YORK’S GREATNESS. AS A HUMAN BEING I ALSO FEEL THE PAIN OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO LOST LOVED ONES ON THAT DAY. I WILL NEVER FORGET, AS WE ALL SHOULD NOT.
BUT AS A AFRICAN AMERICAN I FEEL A SENSE OF SHAME THAT THIS COUNTRY CHOOSES TO FORGET THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MY ANCESTORS AND BRETHREN THAT DIED, PACKED LIKE SARDINES, ON SLAVE SHIPS. THE THOUSANDS THAT DIED WHILE SLAVING IN THE COTTON AND SUGAR CANE FIELDS OF THE SOUTH AND THE CARIBBEAN. THE HUNDREDS THAT WERE MURDERED BY HANGING, WHIPPING AND TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF SLAVERS.
WHY DON’T WE REMEMBER THEM?
THE PAIN I FEEL FOR THOSE WHO DIED ON 9/11 DOES NOT EQUAL THE PAIN I FEEL EVERYDAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED AND CONTINUE TO DIE FROM THE CHEMICAL WARFARE THAT HAS BEEN WAGED AGAINST THIS COUNTRY FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY. A WAR THAT HAS KILLED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS: BLACKS, CAUCASIANS, HISPANICS AND OTHERS.
THIS WAR THAT WE KNOW WHICH COUNTRIES ARE WAGING IT: AFGHANISTAN, TURKEY, FRANCE, ITALY, COLOMBIA, PERU AND MEXICO. AND THE CHEMICALS THAT THEY ARE USING: HEROIN, COCAINE AND HANNIBIS. BUT THIS COUNTRY CHOOSES NOT TO ATTACK THESE COUNTRIES THAT ARE WAGING CHEMICAL WARFARE BUT CHOOSES INSTEAD TO TALK TO THEM AND GIVE THEM AID.
THIS COUNTRY IS WORRIED THAT SADDAM HUSSIEN WILL ATTACK HIS NEIGHBORS, OUR “FRIENDS AND ALLIES”, WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS. YET WE HAVE BEEN UNDER ATTACK FOR DECADES FROM CHEMICALS JUST AS DEADLY AS ANTHRAX OR SMALLPOX.
I WISH THIS COUNTRY COULD FEE THE PAIN THAT I FEEL FOR THOSE DYING EVERY DAY FROM THE CHEMICALS OF HEROIN, COCAINE AND OTHER EXOTIC DRUGS AND FOR THE LOVED ONES THAT WATCH THEM SLOWLY DIE.
JOSEPH D. BOONE, CITIZEN

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS