As we approach the 10th anniversary of the 911 attacks on our country, the story of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows (Peaceful Tomorrows; see www.peacefultomorrows.org) provides a powerful testament to the possibility of peace and justice in our world, if we will simply listen.
Peaceful Tomorrows takes their name from the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” Peaceful Tomorrows is a group of family members who lost loved ones in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93 that went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
In response to these horrific attacks, victims' family members came together to say, “Our grief is not a cry for war.”
In the months following the attacks, they walked together for peace, from Washington, D.C. to New York; they prayed; they shared their stories of loss and pain; they listened deeply to the stories of grief, fear and terror suffered by other victims of war and terrorism; they traveled to Afghanistan to visit with and listen to victims of war there; and they committed themselves to finding alternatives to war and violence as a response to this horrifying tragedy. In the spirit of Dr. King, who believed that “violence only begets more violence,” and Mahatma Gandhi, who said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” they came together to support one another and invite the United States government to seek creative alternatives to violence and war in response to terrorism.
Peaceful Tomorrows co-founder, Dave Potorti, poignantly and powerfully shared that he had to tell his mother that her son, his brother, had died in the World Trade Center. When he told her, he said it was as if someone had kicked her in the gut. As he reports it, she literally doubled over with grief. At that moment, he said that he knew one thing for certain: he didn’t want any other mother or family member to go through that kind of pain, to suffer what his mother and family suffered.
When I have shared the story of Peaceful Tomorrows with my students at New York University, almost without exception, I find that not one of them has heard of Peaceful Tomorrows. Not one of them knows that this group exists, let alone that they were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
"Why?"
I ask my students to ask themselves why they have never heard of Peaceful Tomorrows.
I then name a number of recent Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, such as Wangari Mathai, Mairead Maguire, Muhammad Yunis, Shirin Ebadi, Jodi Williams, Joseph Rotblat, Rigoberta Menchu, Aung San Suu Kyi and Oscar Arias, and again my students’ eyes glaze over. They give me that blank stare that says they have never heard of these global peacemakers.
Once in a while, a student gives me that quizzical tilt of the head and squints as if she or he's looking far into the deep recesses of her or his mind to search for the name; "Where have I heard that name?" she/he seems to be asking her/himself. Still, even if the name is somewhat familiar, my students know nothing about the work, words and life of these Nobel Peace Laureates.
Again, I ask, "Why?" I ask, "What does this say about our culture, our educational system, our news media, our desire for peace?" I also ask them to ask themselves the question, “If you haven't heard of these internationally known peacemakers, social justice advocates and Nobel Laureates, of whom else haven't you heard?" Again, "Why?" And, "What are you going to do about it?"
I challenge my students, and I challenge you, to listen to the stories of these peacemakers and to open your ears and eyes to the lives and stories that invite us, as individuals and as a global community, to find alternatives to revenge, violence and retaliation. I invite my students, and you, to listen deeply, in reverent silence, to the truth, not only in their, your, own heart, but also in the heart and soul of stories, like those of Peaceful Tomorrows, that present a third way, an alternative to flight or fighting violently, a creative alternative to violence, that seeks deeper truth and authentic transformation of heart, mind and soul, transformation that has the power to turn an "enemy" into a friend.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I invite you: to visit the Peaceful Tomorrows website; to listen deeply to the stories that they and their friends, and fellow victims of war and violence, have to share, especially on their newly formed site 911 stories: our voices, our choices (www.911stories.org); to consider what other voices you may not be hearing and to find a way to listen to them; and to take action that invites understanding, global community building, and movement toward deeper truth, reconciliation and healing.
