In Aftermath of 9/11 Community Exercises Creative Options - by Aberjhani


President Barack Obama with 1st Lady Michelle Obama and other U.S. political leaders at 1 WTC in New York (photo by Jewel Samad and AFP Getty Images)


“Democracy does not have to be a blood sport. It can be an honorable enterprise that advances the public interest.”
     ––former U.S. President Bill Clinton

When former U.S. President Bill Clinton made the above statement at the 2012 Democratic National Convention on September 5 in Charlotte, N.C., he was referring to the intensely negative elements that have made their way into the current presidential election campaign. He could, however, have been discussing almost any kind of attempt to resolve major differences where individuals choose to rely on brutality or guerrilla decontextualization as opposed to civility and communication.

Imagine the many possibilities of what life might, could, or would be like for so many today if Osama bin Laden had developed a different perspective on how best to address what he considered grievances against the United States. Even if his reasoning still led him ultimately to the word “jihad,” he would still have had the option of exercising a definition of jihad as something other than a physical war against one’s fellow human beings.

He could have honored the legitimate definition of jihad as a spiritual effort to overcome whatever personal limitations or failings might stand in the way of achieving one’s greatest spiritual development. The version Osama bin Laden chose created a maniacal manifestation of what Clinton called “blood sport.” Had he opted for the higher path, instead of his legacy casting a shadow of dread and hatred over this 21st century it could have developed in such a way that he left behind a shining example of diplomacy, grace, and faith.

In his presentation at the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Joe Biden noted that correcting the injustice of 9/11 “was about righting an unspeakable wrong, healing a nearly unbearable wound in America’s heart,” a wound that had to be healed. In truth, the wound he spoke of was in the world’s heart. It was such not only because citizens in New York City lost their lives in the attack but because New York has long been celebrated as the ultimate metropolis, the place of glittering urban canyons to which people traveled and relocated from everywhere else to satisfy their sense of adventure and freedom. In addition, the total number of those who died in the multiple locations of the violence reportedly represent some 90 countries. 

Creative Responses and Processes of Healing

Please click the link to read the full article by Aberjhani:
In Aftermath of 9/11 Community Exercises Creative Options - National African-American Art | Examiner.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Dream to Book: How I Wrote Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah

Image
Like many of the real-life characters in its pages, including me, the author, Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah is a survivor. It has endured several powerful hurricanes, withstood the terror of too many computer crashes to count, eluded theft, and dodged falling ceilings. The real miracle is the book not only survived these successions of turmoil but managed to steadily evolve with the addition of my artwork to the nonfiction stories. To appreciate how truly exceptional that is, please note that when I first began writing the book I did not consider myself a visual artist of any kind at all: not an amateur digital craftsman, acrylic stylist, photographer, or portraitist. I was the author of Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player and co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance beginning a new literary adventure. Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah started with the experience of an actual dream in 1989. It had to do with a group of friends banding toge
Read more

The Year of James Baldwin Now in Full Classic Literary Swing (part 1) - by Aberjhani

Image
Author James Baldwin in St. Paul de Vence, France, 1976. (photo by Dmitri Kasterine) “It has always been much easier (because it has always seemed much safer) to give a name to the evil without than to locate the terror within. And yet, the terror within is far truer and far more powerful than any of our labels: the labels change, the terror is constant.” –James Baldwin, from  the essay Nothing Personal Members of New York City’s cultural arts community made a rare kind of decision earlier this year and the results of that decision continue to generate exceptional events and responses. They–– as in Columbia University School of the Arts, Harlem Stage, and New York Live Arts–– elected to observe The Year of James Baldwin from April 2014 until June 2015 in honor of the late iconoclastic African-American author’s 90th birthday August 2, 2014. Long before he died on December 1, 1987, millions came to recognize the indelible mark of Baldwin’s impact on, and the incredible depth
Read more

THE EXTRAORDINARY TALENT OF BEAUFORD DELANEY

Image
    This 1941 portrait of celebrated author James Baldwin, entitled “Dark Rapture,” is one of numerous masterworks created by the equally celebrated Harlem Renaissance artist Beauford Delaney (1902-1979). Delaney (whose brother Joseph, 1904-1991, was also an accomplished artist) enjoyed a remarkable career that spanned some five decades. That he was a visual artist whose creative aesthetics profoundly influenced the work of a major literary artist like James Baldwin is one indicator of how powerfully charged the creative energy of the Harlem Renaissance truly was. Aberjhani Co-author of ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE And the author of I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY
Read more