As I was leaving Anya's apartment this morning, I noticed that she had a September 11, 2001 issue of Time Magazine, as well as other magazines, sitting at the foot of one of her night stands. I've seen that image (pick one) a thousand times, but it is still shocking to see both of those buildings completely in total chaos. When you haven't seen those pictures in months, seeing fireballs and debris shooting from the buildings is quite a reality check. A lot of those emotions that I felt on Sept. 11, came back with a quick, concentrated flash. And then, as I walked from her apartment to work, I tucked away those feelings to the same place that they've been hiding for the past few months.

But one thing that I wasn't quite able to shake was the back page editorial that I read from that same issue of Time Magazine. It was a really inflammatory, rah rah, let's go blow shit up type of editorial. I'll let the first paragraph speak for itself.

"The Case for Rage and Retribution."

by Lance Morrow

"For once, let's have no " grief counselors" standing by with banal consolations, as if the purpose, in the midst of all this, were merely to make everyone feel better as quickly as possible. We shouldn't feel better. For once, let's have no fatuous rhetoric about " healing." Healing is inappropriate now, and dangerous. There will be time later for the tears of sorrow. A day cannot live in infamy without the nourishment of rage. Let's have rage. What's needed is a unified, unifying, Pearl Harbor sort of purple American fury--a ruthless indignation that doesn't leak away in a week or two,..."

Needless to say, I didn't feel that this was the type of approach to take. I feel that rage and retribution are the easy way out, and that compassion is the hardest way. Compassion in the face of the ultimate evil, is a doctrine that both Buddha and Jesus preached about almost more than any other doctrine. Didn't Jesus ask for God to forgive his persecuters as he was nailed to a cross? Buddha's whole deal was non-violence and compassion. The Dalai Lama was kicked out of his country by a brutal Chinese government. Yet he didn't feel the need to send role into China with rage in his eyes and guns blaring.

So I wondered what kind of response on the other side of the argument would be an appropriate response to the editorial printed above. And I remembered that hip hop artist Talib Kweli had a song called "The Proud" where he spoke about 9.11.01. As far as I can tell, he's one of the few major hip hop artists who has come out and spoken on the subject without facing a major backlash. Here's what he wrote.

The Proud
by Talib Kweli

September 11, 2001
Terrorists attack the Pentagon and the World Trade Center
Kills thousand and permanently scars America's false sense of security
We see the best examples of humanity in the face of the worst
As fire fighters, police officers, rescue workers
and volunteers of all sorts, fight to save lives
The world will never be the same again

[Verse Three]
My heart go out to everybody at Ground Zero
Red, black, yellow, white and brown heroes
It's more complicated than black and white
To give your own life is the greatest sacrifice
But it's hard for me to walk down the block
Seeing rats and roaches, crack viles and 40 ounce posters
People broken down from years of oppression
Become patriots when they way of life is threatened
It's a hard conversation to have
We lost kids, moms and dads, people ready to fight for the flag
Damn, when did shit get this bad?
America kill the innocent too, the cycle of violence is sad
Damn! Welcome to the world, we here
We've been at, war for years but it's much more clear (yeah)
We got to face what lies ahead
Fight for our truth and freedom and, ride for the dead


matt out