Remember September 11

(Photo courtesy of: www.hilaryshepherd.com)

Today I join with the world and remember September 11, 2001.

I remember that the perpetrators were a group of people who perversely thought striking buildings and stealing thousands of lives was the way to get a point across.

I can't help but also think of the division, the hatred and the callous hearts that also come with remembering this day.

We've trapped ourselves with unforgiveness - the deadliest of human emotion. All that negative energy we have pent up inside that cannot be transferred to the perverse people that are responsible for 9/11 and would do it again, we transfer it to each other. We transfer it to our government and those who share the same religion but not the same moral standards of terrorists.

In our pursuit of justice, we have found selfishness and a pride that is wholly un-American (the cynic in me says history proves it's quite American). Now, when we boast in our freedoms and civil liberties, we condemn the freedoms and civil liberties of our neighbors, our coworkers and those we don't even know.

When I think of 9/11, I think about being in a cafeteria of nervous middle school students waiting for buses to arrive. We were granted early dismissal just in case we'd be attacked due to our proximity to D.C. I think about the pool of faces; some belonging to people that I honestly didn't like but seeing the tears on their faces and the concern behind it, I couldn't look at them and say "you deserve it". That's what we're doing to each other 9 years later. We're saying that we didn't deserve this type of action, embarrassment and emotion and I don't think we did. So we deflect. We try to punish those who suffered and cried with us. We're telling them that they deserve it merely for having a type of skin color, dress and belief that extremists have corrupted. We try to punish each other for acknowledging the memory of 9/11 in different ways. Some acknowledge it by supporting war, some by peace and some by protest but all of us were right in the ways we did so.

We ask God to bless America, but not the America that is in any way, shape or form related to the evildoers of 9/11. We ask America to bless God, but for Him not to hear the cries of those we've outcast and are indifferent to. We try to make this a matter for God; yet we set a battle against the flesh and blood of our neighbors when He has called us to not only love one another but to test all spirits of the matter.

I don't think we're testing spirits and motives now and deciding if they mean us harm. I think we're jumping at anything that makes us feel like we either "deserved" 9/11 or makes us remember the emotions that came with it. Worst of all, we politicize it. On the day where thousands died we politicize it.

We owe it to those who lost their lives to grieve with those they left behind while seeking to understand and love those we've outcast. 

Life Update

Courtesy of: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/74269/d21f3/

Hey everyone,

So for those who don't know, I recently started my first semester as a law student at Drexel University -- eh-hem, the Earle Mack School of Law AT Drexel University.

Law School itself is everything that you might think it is. It's a lot of hard work and a change in the method of education. For example, my pre-graduate attempts at memorizing APA, MLA, and Chicago citation method have been futile. Unfortunately, I do not celebrate it because I now have "The Bluebook" which has 200+ pages of legal citation methods. My aversion to citation has been transferred. I'm also learning how to apply fact to precedent. The subjective jargon would be "massaging the truth" but I assure you I am not attending a breeding ground for professional liars. (I have got to start now to dispel the evils of the profession). It has been a great experience so far. There have been many casebook pages to read which will increase as the semester continues but every so often I've scheduled time to see more of Philadelphia.

I have adjusted well to Philadelphia living. I live in a two bedroom apartment close to the school and have a great roommate. I got my first taste of Philly Theatre watching my good friend JB play a hilarious butler in a play called No-Talent Hacks which was presented as part of Philadelphia Fringe.

I spent time with my family this weekend, leaving me with much to do Monday morning. I am going to go pretend to get a headstart.

Much love to everyone and thanks for the good wishes, prayers, and support. It feels good to know that I've got a lot of love where I come from.

Seeing Through the Bluest Eye

"What you NEED to do is..."

Acting in The Bluest Eye is a great cap to what I have learned theatre is all about; stories that need to be told. To be entrusted with the responsibility to present lessons that transcend time by honoring the director's vision and the playwright was truly a blessing.

I'll always remember what was said by a gentleman during the talkback on Tuesday night. Though many of the parts are purposely comedic, our need as an audience to laugh at the side stories and jokes instead of being engrossed by Pecola's plight is an indictment on our own indifference. We must examine what of ourselves stops certain people from blossoming and why we so easily acquiesce to the shortfalls of our community. We must no longer be hostile to marigolds.

One more show Friday Night March 12 at 8:00pm. $9 Student ticket; $26 Regular Admission.

Thank you all for coming out to support me and this beautiful story. "You are true friend[s]"

Congrats to my castmates, crew, and Walter Dallas; a director who brought an insermountable amount of vision, nourishment, and love to those involved and the play itself.