September 11, 2008 | Tags: none

Eight years may have been enough of G. Dubbs, but seven years isn’t enough to dull the memories of 9/11.

Seven years.

Is it just me or does it not feel like it’s been that long? In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday, but at the same time I realize how much has gone down in those seven years of my life since it all happened. I graduated from high school, got my first legit job (and a couple others as well), I got my driver’s license and am now on my second vehicle…essentially I was mad young when it all happened. And yet, it still feels so recent.

Last weekend I found myself in New York City, with a room at the Millennium Hilton in the Financial District registered to my last name (sometimes you gotta splurge, you know?). In case you’re not from NYC or don’t go there much, that particular hotel is directly across the street from Ground Zero. Thanks to a room upgrade from the hotel (good lookin’ out), I found myself lounging in a room on the 18th floor where the walls were essentially 50% windows. One side of the room looked right down into the gaping hole in the ground that changed a lot of lives not only in our country, but throughout the entire world. It was pouring rain and was basically a big mud pool in there, but the murky puddle didn’t cloud the significance of what I was staring at.

And I stared. For a long time. Eventually I flipped on the TV, and lo and behold there’s a show about 9/11 on TV. I listened to the show and stared into the ground some more, completely losing myself in my own thoughts. Eventually I stopped my contemplating and took my butt into the rain to go find some food. By the time I came back to the room it was dark, but the hole was still catching my eye. At that point a friend who lives in NYC was with me, and started to talk about the site. I was told that they’re still finding body parts there. Seven years later, and they’re still finding body parts.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20614353-2703,00.html

http://www.portauthoritypba.org/media-archive/misc/northjersey-061008.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15345694/

Yeah, those stories date back to 2006, but I don’t doubt for a second that they’re still finding stuff, despite how astonishing it sounds. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to be one of the construction workers that are currently working on that site.

It was an incredible thing to look at. I had places to be later that night, but I would have sat awake in that room until the sun came up just staring out that window. And after a few hours of that kind of reflection about something so serious, I would have been in one hell of a mood the next day. But here I am, almost a week later, reflecting again upon what I saw and the implications that that particular place in NYC has on the world. Seven years, and that hole is still the underlying root of some of our nation’s largest problems.

It’s been seven years, and we’re still at war. It’s been seven years and Osama Bin Laden is still at the top of our most wanted list. We still have the same President (thank goodness that’s about to change). We have people who voted in favor of the Patriot Act, who are now trying to apologize for doing so, running for President and asking Ron Paul (yeah, that guy that loved to spit that revolution game) of all people to be their running mate*. Al Qaeda is still a problem and they still seem to hate us. We’re still in debt – very much in debt, and yet are still funneling money into the war. We’re still losing lives in that same war. The list goes on. Sure, new memorials were unveiled (Dubya was here in VA today at the one at the Pentagon), and that’s all great, but that doesn’t fix anything.

I hope that the result of this upcoming election will at least begin to correct some of the aforementioned problems. I hope that one day I can clear up the questions in my head that remain about 9/11 – that I can feel like I know the truth about what really went down, not just the story that I was spoon fed via Faux News or the stories that many have come to label as conspiracy theories. Yet at the same time, I don’t ever want to forget the feeling I felt on this morning seven years ago. I saw, literally, how people’s lives can change in an instant, and not just in minute ways. That may perhaps be the greatest lesson I’ll ever take from those attacks, and one that I surely took for granted seven years ago, but that continually gains importance as I get older.

Sure, there’s not much said here that hasn’t been said before, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s still relevant and should be said. My best wishes go out to the families of those lost, as well as the many people that survived the horrific event, only to be left with toxic dust-related respiratory illnesses and inexplicable emotional scars. The effects of this event on the American population are far from over, even seven years after the fact.

I know I’m rambling like crazy because there’s just so much to say about this, so let me just leave you with one final, hopefully cohesive point: one can build memorials, give speeches, rebuild the demolished wall of the Pentagon, and sketch the blueprints for the future of the former site of the World Trade Center, but that will never erase what happened and won’t solve the problems we’re still facing as a result of that day. Perhaps the best thing any of us can do is to never forget what went down. It’s beginning to be cliché, but it’s real talk. The smoke may have cleared and the debris may have been picked up, but it’s the messes that aren’t immediately visible that are the hardest to clean up.

A glimpse of the view from my hotel room. Just to put it to scale, check out the size of the taxi compared to the hole. Incredible, and that's only a portion of it.

*I see you, Bob Barr, who, for those of you that may not know, is the Libertarian candidate for President. And F.Y.I. - the Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente ticket would be that of the Green Party. Yep, there are other candidates besides McCain and Obama, even though they don't get talked about much on the news channels.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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