Melodie Johnson Howe (Author) |
I am a non-joiner, but I am joining because I cannot forget the image of the men and women holding hands as they jumped from the twin towers on 9/11. Caught by the camera they looked like ballroom dancers waltzing in the sky. Below children were being hurried from a nearby school. They looked up and told their teacher that birds were falling from the sky. Their innocent minds could not grasp the reality of people leaping to their death to avoid being burned alive. I cannot forget the dead in Madrid and their government for caving into the terrorists. I cannot forget the blackened bloody faces of the English as they staggered from the underground into the daylight. I cannot forget the Afghanistan women voting for the first time without fear of mutilation or death. I cannot forget the Iraqis, against all odds, holding up their stained blue fingers. I cannot forget the New York intelligentsia after 9/11 wondering if irony had died. As usual they asked the wrong question. It was nuance that had died. Now there is only good or evil, democracy or Islamic fascism, tyranny or freedom. |