plezWorld Remembers 9/11

It was a bright sunny Tuesday morning, I had taken the week off from work because we were bringing the newborn SugarPlum home for the first time. My wife had gone into the office in downtown Atlanta to grab a few things and then were going to get our daughter at noon.

plezWorld saw something on the television about about a plane flying into the World Trade Center in NYC and decided to turn to CNN and see what was going on.  I turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane slam into the tower... in disbelief!  The imagery of the moment, no, that entire day will forever be etched in my memory.


The most joyous day of my life - bringing home my baby girl - merged with the most horrific day in US history. I remember holding her in my arms that afternoon and into the night wondering what had become of the world, when someone would plot and plan such a diabolical attack. And I remember fighting back the tears while thinking of what a hateful world we had brought my daughter into... I could only pray she would be capable of growing up devoid of the cynicism and hate this day brought us.


It is now a decade later, two wars have run their course, we have a Black President, bin Laden is dead... and my innocent little girl is a pre-teen. She is pretty as a button, lovable, and kind. But we have raised her in a changed world, where every motive is suspect, our freedoms have been abridged, our economy has tanked, and political vitriol has damn near crippled President Obama. This post-9/11 world is vastly different than the one I grew up in. I can only hope we can use this tenth anniversary of 9/11 to put this behind us and move on to a kinder, more understanding America.

The Hate That Hate Produced (1959)

This documentary from 1959 features a pre-60 Minutes Mike Wallace in a 1 hour propaganda piece on "dangers" of the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) and Black Nationalists. An interesting note is that a Black reporter, Louis Lomax, conducted a number of the interviews. The video quality is poor, but the audio is excellent... and for some reason, the video repeats after the first hour.

Although, the rhetoric of the Nation of Islam (Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X) is imflammatory, you should also note that their message is one of self-empowerment and self-determination of Black people. Framed against that backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement and the fervent segregationist movement in the South of the late 1950's, it is remarkable that there was a group of people who exhibited Black Pride before it was fashionable to do so. They are no more interested in integration than the race-mongering politicians of the Jim Crow South.

It is pretty amazing that today, no one would ever spend this much time examining the thoughts and philosophies of Black people in this country. If it is not uttered by some profiteering reverend, mainstream America will not hear it. We are also dumbed-down and engrossed in 20-second sound bites, we are unable (and unwilling) to learn about people who may think differently than us.

On the heels of the Jena 6 Controversy that led to a large demonstration in Jena, LA last week, think of how differently our Black communities would have evolved over the past 40 years if the separatist movement of the Nation of Islam had been embraced rather than the non-violence movement of Dr. King. Think of how different the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would have looked had Blacks demanded and won equal accomodation and self-determination, rather than integration. Just a thought.

As a teenager, plezWorld read the Autobiography of Malcolm X; this book changed the way that I looked at myself, other Black people, my religion, and questioned the relative equality that was extended to Black people by The Establishment. I even went out and obtained a copy of the Koran... unfortunately, reading the Koran was no more inspiring than reading the Holy Bible.

Remember, this documentary was produced in 1959! I must say that Mike Wallace did an admirable job of scaring the be-jesus out of white people and a fair number of Black people, as well. plezWorld was born near New York City in the early-1960's and my parents exposed me to a lot of things, but the Black Muslims were not one of them!

Hat Tip: Black Educator