7 before 9/11

As many around the world know, tomorrow is September Eleventh, 2011: the tenth anniversary of what was indeed a tragic event for the city of New York and its families. Many writers, thinkers and other people with sensitive hearts are going to take the opportunity to grapple with the real hurt caused that day. Too few will grapple with what caused that extremist group's desperate act or the hurt that drove those men to join it. As my co-workers at Wi'am know, despair makes young people vulnerable to joining radical factions.

Remembering 9/11 as a special-event bothers me because I believe that the United States continued the cycle of brokenness~ that terrorism, itself, won when someone hung a euphamistic name like "Enduring Freedom" on a foreign invasion. Forget justification: something so ugly should be called by an ugly name. Healing can be ugly, true, but I notice that Afghanistan was not 'fixed' by this invasion. Guns were not built for healing.

Because I want to shed my skin, I am not going to encourage anyone to forget 9/11 and rant about how disappointed I am in the United States or, indeed, start comparing that singular tragedy with the on-going injustices that get far too little recognition--that's too easy. Instead, I want to give you seven dates to remember before 9/11. Just some events that sprung to my mind...

7. April 19th, 1995 -- The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is destroyed by a domestic terrorist act in Oklahoma City. The loss of life was less but the impact on the city and families there is unmistakable.

6. August 29th, 2005 -- Hurricane Katrina makes second land-fall along the gulf coast. The New Orleans levy system fails, resulting in the costliest natural disaster in United States History to that point. Over a thousand people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods.

5. September 19, 1931 -- The Empire of Japan invades Manchuria. I bring this up to make a point. I will allow you to decide what that point is.

4. January 30, 1933 -- In the wake of economic downturn, Germany finds a new leading party: the Nazi party; Hitler becomes chancellor. (Bonus: 05/15/48 ~ sad day?)

3. May 28, 1830 -- The Indian Removal act is passed, just as President Jackson called for in a previous speech (why is he on our money?). Tens of thousands of people were forced to relocate from their homes while others appropriated their land, permanently. If you think this is a 19th Century phenomena, come visit the West Bank...

2. August 9th, 1945 -- Nagasaki. 3 days? That's all? Ruin an entire city and then wreck another one with only three days between? It makes me sick...

1. August 6th, 1945 -- On this day, a U.S. manufactured nuclear weapon was detonated on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Thousands died instantly and many more suffered from radiation fall-out in the months following. To this day, people from near that area are known to suffer from more frequent genetic defects. The United States of American redefined the way that the world measures destruction on this day.

Weigh Hiroshima (and Nagasaki, for God's sake) against 9/11 for just a moment~ initial impact, residual impact, the amount of power exerted and the lingering ramifications for life on this planet. Just do it.