By Carolyn K. Long
How can be best cope with the anniversary of this tragedy?
Columbia, MD_September 11, 2009__ Each year on the anniversary of September 11, the nation pauses to remember the tragedy that befell our nation on that day in 2001, when four planes took the lives of thousands of citizens, and shattered the lives and sense of security of millions more. Each year the media covers tributes honoring those lost at Ground Zero where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood, at the temporary memorial in the farmer’s field at Shanksville, PA, and at the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
There are songs and moving speeches by political leaders and heartbreaking accounts by survivors and loved ones. There are news reports on our progress on everything from rebuilding lives to rebuilding structures. And there are assurances and debates about our increased security.
But how does the individual hold such a huge event? How does the mind grasp it? How does the heart hold such pain and devastation and still go on? There are those who think the American people will want to forget and “get over” this horrific event. They compare it to Oklahoma City. But the impact of 9/11 is more on the magnitude of Pearl Harbor, and will be part of the American consciousness forever. Just how it is held there will shape our future, as individuals and as a nation.
Historians record events, from inevitably varying perspectives. It is left to the poets to translate those events and help people to heal and go on. It is through the poet’s eyes that future generations experience and understand historical events, and with new perspective, can create a better world. So it is to the arts that one might turn to celebrate 9/11, whether seeking comfort or understanding.
The 9/11 Memorial poem and 8-minute video “Angels Over America” celebrates the courage and resilience that are hallmarks of the American Spirit, while providing perspective, healing, and hope. The work’s unique metaphor is dramatically grounded in reality and spiritually uplifting. It speaks to a nation torn by grief and anger, frustration and fear. And it speaks to an underlying humanity and restraint which are the backbone of this powerful nation.
The four segments of “Angels Over America” trace the evolution of awareness, emotion and understanding that lead to transcendence. This beautiful tribute brings a new perspective to a pivotal moment in our nation’s history, while preserving and renewing the indomitable American Spirit.
Award-winning New York arranger and composer Mark Freeh co-produced the video from Carolyn Long’s poem, “Angels Over America,” against the backdrop of powerful 9/11 images and his stirring arrangement of “America the Beautiful” and moving renditions of “Amazing Grace” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”
The “Angels Over America,” poem and video can be viewed or downloaded from the website www.AngelsOverAmerica.org. A YouTube version is also linked to the site. A copy of the video on DVD and a laminated poster of the poem, “Angels Over America,” are available from the website or by email from Carolyn@AngelsOverAmerica.com.
Carolyn K. Long , author of “Angels Over America” and co-producer of the 9/11 memorial video of that name, is a professional speaker, consultant, writer and photographer, based in Columbia, MD.
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The events of 911 will be a part of the American consciousness forever.
How they are held there will shape our future.
by Carolyn K. Long
Columbia, MD_September 1, 2009__ Regardless of faith or lack thereof, 9/11 had the world on its knees, praying, promising, and realigning priorities. With scenes of horror emblazoned on our minds, and raw pain rending our hearts, we vowed almost in unison to love one another, to keep our faith, to embrace a new perspective, to cherish life and make more time for those we love—and for a time, we did. But eight years later, have we? Or has the impact of 9/11 faded?
“We must never forget this fateful day” resounded throughout the land. But have we just stored it safely in a quiet corner of our minds and resumed our old patterns? Or does the memory of September 11, 2001, still evoke the promises, prayers, priorities, and new perspective we held dear in the shadow of the worst event on our soil since the Civil War?
It is human nature to release the intensity of pain. It is healthy to heal. To heal, we must grow. To grow, we must open our minds and hearts. We must turn the mad kaleidoscope of life so the little beads create a new pattern, shedding light on a reality we had never seen before; giving us an altogether new perspective.
The memorial poem and video “Angels Over America” offers just such a new perspective. This moving tribute to 9/11 victims and heroes is designed to preserve and renew the indomitable American Spirit, while providing perspective, healing, and hope.
The work’s unique metaphor is powerfully grounded in the reality of the event and spiritually uplifting. The four segments of “Angels Over America” trace the evolution of shock and awareness, emotion and understanding that lead to transcendence.
The events of 9/11 will be a part of the American consciousness forever. The lens through which we continue to view those events will shape our future. “Angels Over America” is dedicated to an America that lost its innocence on September 11—but never its hope.
Award-winning New York arranger and producer Mark Freeh co-produced the video from Carolyn K. Long’s poem, “Angels Over America,” with never-before-seen clips and photos of the event against the backdrop of his stirring arrangement of “America the Beautiful,” and moving renditions of “Amazing Grace,” both performed by the New York Staff Band of the Salvation Army, and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” played by Imperial Brass.
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The “Angels Over America,” poem and video can be viewed or downloaded from the website www.AngelsOverAmerica.org. A YouTube version is also linked to the site. The final version of the video on DVD with poem, a laminated poster or printed copy of “Angels Over America” can be ordered online from the website or by email from Carolyn@AngelsOverAmerica.com. Carolyn K. Long , author of “Angels Over America” and co-producer of the 9/11 memorial video of that name, is a professional speaker, consultant, writer and photographer, based in Columbia, MD.
The events of 911 will be a part of the American consciousness forever. How they are held there will shape our future. |
by John DiJoseph, Ph.D.*
Columbia, MD_August 28, 2007__ Had George W. Bush asked himself that question following the horrific events of September 11, 2001, might he have acted differently? Lincoln left wise counsel for future presidents.
The crisis facing Lincoln as he entered office has parallels to that facing President George W. Bush following 9/11. The United States was facing a great war over which the country was strongly divided—a war that would result in death and destruction on a massive scale and tear asunder the very fabric of this nation. Two weeks before Lincoln strode to the podium on March 4, 1861, to address the nation, Jefferson Davis had been inaugurated President of the Confederate States of America. Such was the climate of discord in the nation that Lincoln had to travel to Washington by a secret route under guard of the U.S. Army, but refusing advice of security forces, he rode in an open carriage with President James Buchanan to the Capitol to make his enduring Inaugural address.
In this moment of crisis, Lincoln urged:
“My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject [of impending war]. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it . . . . Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty”
Lincoln closed by reminding Americans of their compassionate heritage:
“The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature”
The speech represents the depth of Lincoln’s moral perspective. What might be our situation today, on the anniversary of 9/11, if Lincoln had been president? Would he have once again called on the “better angels of our nature” to guide our actions? Would that have led us down a different path?
In “Angels Over America,” the 9/11 memorial poem and DVD commemorating heroes and victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Carolyn Long reaffirms Lincoln’s appeal to our “better angels” . . .
“Help the angels of our better natures rise to freedom’s song/And lead the charge of justice on her path,
So our own avenging angels do not strike in blind revenge/And wreak unbridled ruin with their wrath”
© Carolyn K. Long, 2001
“Angels Over America” reminds us that a horrific crisis can be an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to cherished values, and that as Americans, we have the power of choice.
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* John DiJoseph, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Loyola University in Maryland; author of Jacques Maritain and the Moral Foundation of Democracy, Rowman & Littlefield Pub., Inc., 1996.
The “Angels Over America,” poem and video can be viewed or downloaded from the website www.AngelsOverAmerica.org. The video on DVD, a laminated poster or printed copy of “Angels Over America” are available online from the website or by email from Carolyn@AngelsOverAmerica.com. Carolyn K. Long , author of “Angels Over America” and co-producer of the 9/11 memorial video of that name, is a professional speaker, consultant, writer and photographer, based in Columbia, MD.
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