m.artist

my economics teacher read this to us, i thought i would share. keep in mind, this man wrote this the day after
how where you feeling? could you even put into words what you where feeling? even put them into perspective? this man did, for all americans

Read this and try not to tear up...
By leonard pitts jr of the miami herald
We'll go forward from this moment


It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the american soul. But in this moment of airless shock, when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be adressed to the unknown author of this suffering
You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.
What lesson did you hape to teach us by your coward attack on our world trade center?, out pentagon, us? What was it you hoped that we would learn? Whatever it was, please know, that you failed.
Did you want us to respect your cause? you just dammed your cause
Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve
Did you want to tear us apart? You brought us together

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of extending tremendous emotional energy on cultural minutiae - a singers revealing dress, a ball teams misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy too, spoiled by the readily avalibility of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentely decent, though- peace loving and compassionated. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving god
Some people, you perhaps, think that any of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed we are strong in ways that cannont be measured by arsenals
In pain?
Yes we are in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand the this isn't a special effect from some hollywood blockbust, isn't the plot development of some tom clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition, and the probable death tool, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States, and probably the history of the world. You've bloodied us like we've never been bloodied before

But there's a gulf of difference in making us bloody, and making us fall. This is a lesson that Japan was taught to it's bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought such and abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our courage, and terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, and go to any length in the pursuit of justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction, I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with the dread of the future.

In the days to come, there will be recimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determined whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again, there will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking bask freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, and sad. But determined too. Unimaginably determined.

THE STEEL IN US
You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspact of our character is seldom understood by the people who don't know us well. On this day, the families bickering is put on hold.

As Americans, we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, an as Americans we will rise in defense of all that we cherish. So I ask again, what was it that you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message recieved. And take this message in exchange. You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started.
But your about to learn



how was that?
isn't that awsome?!?!?!
and what's even crazier is that the man who wrote that, wrote that the day after
i love that speech and will forever hold onto it
__________________

__________________
"Before you open your mouth to speak, please make sure it's an
improvement upon the silence."