History

First Time Visit to One World Trade Center

IMG_00000753During my triathlon practice trip to New York City last July ,I happened to cycle by the One World Trade Center complex. I hadn’t been to this part of town since just before the 9/11 attacks 15 years ago. I have gone to New York multiple times since the attacks, but there was a mental block that was preventing me from going anywhere the site. Being reminded of the events that happened there brought back some really bad memories from that day.

On September 11, 2001, I had just started the second day of my final year at college. It started out as a beautiful, sunny Tuesday with a cool, late summer breeze. I was at work at my part-time job a little before 9am when a coworker named Denise came into my office and said that a plane had just crashed into one of the Twin Towers. My coworker and I immediately went into a conference room where there was a television. I turned it on to CNN and saw the sheer horror of a plane sticking out of the side of a tower. A few other coworkers came into the conference room with shock on their faces. At this point, we were all convinced that this was just a really bad accident.

That was until the second plane crashed into the other tower.

“This is terrorism,” said Bernard, another co-worker. “This is not an accident.”

Our boss then came into the room and said we can all go home for the day. It seemed like all of downtown Boston had the same idea to go home, as the train and the bus I got on suddenly got crowded with people who just got the bad news. There were a couple of women crying hysterically. Back then there wasn’t any social media or mobile phones, but there were a few people on the bus who were getting updates on their PDAs (personal digital assistants). One man announced to the bus that the two planes came out of Logan Airport. There was suddenly one big sigh and a few “Oh my God” variations.

When I got home, I started getting phone calls from my parents and friends to make sure I was okay. I turned on the TV and my eyes were glued to the set all day. I saw the Twin Towers come down over and over again, people covered in white dust running away from the scene, and, unfortunately, a few people jumping to their deaths. Then there were reports of other planes crashing into the Pentagon and in rural Pennsylvania.

“What the hell is going on,” I said to myself multiple times.

About a few hours later, it was revealed that the planes were hijacked by radical Muslims associated with al-Qaeda. Akhil, a Sikh guy I was casually dating at the time, was attending graduate school in New York. He wears a turban, is brown-skinned and wore a long beard. He called me constantly days after the attacks to tell that he was being harassed in the streets because people thought he was Muslim. What made this worse is that he had a childhood friend who was working in one of the towers during the attacks. The friend luckily survived but was severely injured both mentally and physically for life. It was horrible that Akhil was dealing with this near-death experience with his friend, and at the same time, dealing with harassment from people who thought he was directly responsible for the attacks.

The oddest part about the whole situation was that I was actually inside Tower One just two weeks before the attacks.

I was in New York at the time for a UN reception for college students interested in careers in foreign policy, and participants were taken on bus tours of the city. When the bus stopped in between the Twin Towers, I marveled at the height and grandeur of the towers. Because the bus tour was running late, we only had time to see the lobby in Tower One. We were actually supposed to go to the top of the building to see the city’s skyline.

Sometimes in the back of my head even now I think: Suppose my bus tour happened two weeks later? What if we went to the top the of the tower?

I just count my blessings every day.

I strongly believe the 9/11 attacks affected my perspective in many ways:

Terrorism is real, but immune: After 9/11 I quickly learned that America wasn’t immune to terrorism on its soil. Before then, such attacks only happened “over there” in some middle eastern country. Unfortunately, because there have been so many attacks in the last 15 years in the United States, including here in Boston, and in other countries, I think many Americans have become emotionally immune and detached.

Distrust in government: 9/11 brought this country together in a way that has never been seen before. However, the poor handling of the so-called “War on Terror” by the Bush administration was very distressing and has since made me question the motives of all politicians, including Obama.  Unfortunately, we are still dealing with the consequences of othe Iraq War, namely the rise of ISIS.

Fear of tall buildings: I have since developed a fear of going into building with more than 10 floors. All I think about when I see a really tall building is that what will I do if an attack happens and I can’t get out the building.

Compassion: This is especially for Muslims in America. The vast majority of Muslims are patriotic, law-abiding people who love America and detest terrorism just as much as other Americans.

So when I cycled by One World Trade Center in July, a lot of these emotions came back to me. But I only paused quickly to pay my respects to the lost souls buried there, and then I continued on with my day.

I don’t see the 9/11 memorial site as not a tourist spot. It is a place that became a turning point in the belief systems for all Americans

Revisiting Black Martha’s Vineyard

villa rosaLast week I went with a group of friends on a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard. I have only been to the island three times in my life. Many people are surprised when I say this because I am a lifelong Bostonian, and it seems like the place every black person goes to vacation.

Most of the black people who go to the Vineyard tend to be upper-middle-class, college-educated professionals. Since I was raised in a working-class household, the Vineyard wasn’t a place my family would think of going to when I was growing up, mostly because of the cost to stay there (and still the reason I only make day trips there).

When we went on our day trip, I also went on a three-hour tour of the island. During the tour, I met with tour guide and hot sauce proprietor Gregg Wilson, or Mr. G, a longtime Vineyard resident who says he will be giving the Obamas and his traveling press pool a private tour of the island this week. In talking to him, he gave me tidbits about black Martha’s Vineyard.

The Inkwell: Contrary to common belief, the Inkwell was not given its name because it was the beach for black people. According to Mr. G, the beach got its name because of all the Harlem Renaissance writers who visited the island over the years and found literary inspiration, including Dorothy West, the author of The Wedding.

Villa Rosa: The Villa Rosa is a grand mansion (above) overlooking the Inkwell that Harlem union activist Joe Overton once owned. It is better known as the “Summer White House” because of all the famous civil rights activists who have stayed there, including Dr. King, Malcolm X, A. Philip Randolph, Harry Belafonte, and Jesse Jackson. It is believed that Dr. King found inspiration to write his “I have a dream” speech while looking out the front of the mansion and over the Inkwell.

Slavery: Slavery ended in Massachusetts in 1790. New England was the most active slave-trading area in America during the 1700s, and there were slaves on Martha’s Vineyard during that time. However, even when slavery ended, most former slaves were still limited to the jobs they were doing when enslaved, mostly in cranberry bogs and whaling.

Edgartown: While most of the island’s black history tends to center around Oak Bluffs, many black notables are from Edgartown. William Martin, the grandson of a slave, became the island’s only whaling master. Martin’s nephew also became a successful fisherman. His grandmother, Nancy Michael, or Black Nance, was like the “whaling whisperer” or “conjure woman” of Edgartown. Sailors would pay her in gifts in exchange for good luck during their voyages. Whalers that didn’t pay her were believed not to come back from their voyages alive. Another man named Daniel Webquish, who was of mixed African and Native American heritage, also became a whaling captain.

I guess you can say that William Martin led the way for future elite blacks who would come to the island. I would love to go back and learn more about this history shortly!

Stop Sanitizing the History of American Slavery

288px-Gordon,_scourged_back,_NPG,_1863This time of the year we celebrate the “freedoms” Americans attained after revolting against the British and gaining “our” independence. However, the recent remake of the classic TV miniseries Roots reminds us that while the Founding Fathers may have been fighting for the nation’s freedoms, those same freedoms didn’t extend to anyone who wasn’t a privileged, white male at the time.

I had a conversation with an older family member about a month ago about the new version of Roots. The family member said there wasn’t a need to remake the miniseries because “it will make black people get angry and uncomfortable.”

Well, yeah, black people should be angry and uncomfortable about slavery.

Then there were other people, like Snoop Dogg, who are tired of only seeing movies about slavery. He is not entirely wrong. Yes, it would be great to see more substantive films and TV shows that explore the full spectrum of the African-American experience, but there is still a need to have proper media representations of slavery because you can’t move forward as a society without knowing your past and where you come from. Otherwise, your history gets lost and diluted.

I say this because when you don’t remind people about the truth of slavery, there will be others who will take advantage of the void and lack of discussion to create revisionist history.

And there is a lot of revisionist history about slavery going on right now.

It is bad enough that American schools barely teach about the history of people of color, or even use fictional books with protagonists of color. But now this white supremacy in our schools have been taken to a whole, new level by way of textbooks teaching students that black slaves were migrant workers as if they came to America on their own free will.

This recent article also reminded me of other slavery revisionist theories, such as:

  1. Racism didn’t influence slavery;
  2. House slaves had it better than field slaves;
  3. Slave owners took care of their slaves out of goodwill, and not for their own economic interests;
  4. Slaves that were “loyal” had better treatment;

If you watched the original version or the remake of Roots, or know some real history, you will be aware that all the above are false.

My biggest grievance comes when the revisionist discussion of sexual violence during slavery comes up. A few months ago, I watched a TV program where the panelists were discussing the alleged relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. There was this one guy there who was desperately trying to make the case that Jefferson and Hemings had a “wonderful love affair.”

Let me say this upfront: all sexual relations between slaves and their owners are always considered rape because of the unequal power structure and lack of consent. To even say this today is actually controversial to some people, which further exemplifies how sanitized slavery has become in American history.

Although there have been many movies and books that have dramatized their “love story,” we don’t really know the true nature of the Jefferson/Hemings relationship. What we do know, however, is that Hemings was at least 14 years old when Jefferson, who was in his mid-forties at the time, began having sex with her. There is no way a 14-year-old, black, female slave was in the position to consent to a sexual relationship in 1787 with her white male slave owner, who was old enough to be her father. By today’s standards, this Founding Father would not only be considered a racist slave owner, but also a child molester.

For argument’s sake, even if in the highly unlikely case Hemings and Jefferson had a consensual relationship, I am pretty sure Hemings could never say “not tonight, honey.” During slavery, many female slaves became the master’s girlfriend or bed wenches, as they were not free to make that choice. It is even more ridiculous when historians refer to Hemings as a “mistress,” which again implies that she chose by her own free will to have a consensual relationship with Jefferson.

Also, sexual violence was so pervasive and complex among female slaves during slavery that sexual abuse against male slaves often falls to the wayside. Yes, male slaves were also raped, or what is called “breaking the buck.” It did happen, and you can read more about it here, as well as about other sexual perversions during slavery.

My point here is that we still need to have honest conversations about this dark point in American history. Slavery is America’s original sin, and Americans of all colors should preserve its real history not only for future generations but to also preserve respect for our ancestors.

Concerning Violence & Other Issues

wretched of the earthFollowing up on last week’s post about black radicalism versus pacifism, I was reminded of The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon.  This landmark work has become the handbook for black radicalism in the United States and anti-colonial movements worldwide.

“The colonized man finds his freedom in and through violence,” says Fanon in his book.  But are his words still relevant today, and how have social movements really benefited from this rhetoric?  I plan to reread this book in the next few weeks, and give a more thorough analysis.  I hope you will want to read the book too and follow along in the discussion.

In the meantime, you should check out this 2014 documentary called Concerning Violence, which is based on the book.  Narrated by Lauryn Hill, the film uses archival footage from notable anti-colonial campaigns in Africa, and features interviews with Robert Mugabe, Amilcar Cabral and Tom Sankara.

Unfortunately, the full movie was just taken off of YouTube for free viewing, but you can still watch it in other places like Netflix.  For now, check out the trailer here and an interview with the director below:

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