story850.xml

story850.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-07-02

I woke up with a migraine headache...called into my office
to tell them I would stay at home, I turned on the Today
show with the sound down....laying in an otherwise dark and
quite room...I was watching Katic Couric and suddenly she
grabbed at the mic in her ear and they showed tower one
smoking...I thought...Oh no! not another lets blow up NYC
movie clip!...but her face looked different..and bit pale
with alarm...her body language changed....this was my first
indication of the horror...I turned up the sound and in
about 10 minutes I was instantly terrified that I was alone
I started calling everyone, my kids were in class...so I
called my office and did play by play over the phone for
them as things unfolded and the situation got worse and
worse...I started praying for all the people who were in the
towers, then tower one went down. At that very moment I
felt so terrible my heart went through the floor and I
think I cried for about a week after, I felt so very
helpless, powerless and oh so angry. Not in My NYC, in My
USA...this home that Black Americans like myself and so many
others had to struggle and rage against just so that we
could call this land our own, and the many who have died to
protect freedom in this land....I cried for all of that,
and then I marveled at the sacrifice and the spirit that
lies just below the surface of all human beings to do
whatever we can to help each other when it is needed the
most. A nation of different people with different
everythings...but we really are awesome beings, us Americans
just below the surface...