A month ago I tweeted is was time after a decade to establish 9-11 as a “Remembrance Day” instead of a day of horror, tragedy or revenge. While adults can easily compartmentalize such categories, I offer our younger generation is not capable of such. It is time to actively reflect how we are internally branding this watershed moment and ask ourselves “Is this how we want to instill, reinforce and project our perceptions of what 9-11 means?” The answer could very well be “yes.”
I offer a vignette, an insight into a young mind whose only understanding of “9-11” is from a church remembrance video that day and questions he asked of me that morning. Levi, 7, in church drew the image he found compelling-the “God’s Cross” at ground zero. Several weeks ago, on his own he drew a “slide show” (see below) of his understanding of 9-11: “sad day,” “when the planes crashed,” God’s cross, and images of the towers before impact. On three sheets of paper he produced images that spurred more emotional impact than the images I saw live on TV in 2001. While I was proud his young mind understood what occurred that day, I was concerned how he would digest it in the coming years. This is not a call to remove such associated imagery, but a call to focus on how we want to portray this event to ourselves and to those that will follow. Let's determine our information projection and not succumb to information momentum.
