Chello to those who follow this blog. Chello to those that are new, and stumbled upon this. Damn it, I say "WELCOME" to all.

To those who have a calendar on hand can see that the date is 11 Sept 2010, which marks the 9th anniversary in which 4 planes were hijacked, and thousands of people lost their lives. I can't say "Americans", because it just wasn't 100% whole blooded Americans whose lives were lost. In those thousands contained nationals from about 70 different countries. I digress.

Now, back on 11 Sept 2001, I can recall that day like it was yesterday. I was in my sophomore year at Morgan State University (DA BEARS!!) and it was a Tuesday. I remember because I only had one class on Tuesday, at 11am, and my father woke me up at around 8:50am. All I heard was, "Scooby you might want to turn the TV on. Airplanes are hitting buildings and shit." I thought to myself, he's old, so he must be tripping!!! Soon as I turned on the TV, BOOM!! The second plane hit just as I put the TV on to NBC. I didn't know what to think, because it looked like some shit out of a movie.



I watched the news as long as I could before I had to get ready to head off to school. Those who were bus riders know you have to leave a good hour or so to get where you need to be, close to your scheduled time. I had to take two buses to get from my house to Morgan (DA BEARS!!) and I can recall people getting calls from people who were around TV's giving them updates on the attacks. Yes, I said "calls" because texting wasn't as popular as it is now.


When, I got off the good ole #33, and hit campus it seemed like a ghost town. Barely anyone was outside. If there was a TV around then you could see a good 15-20 people huddled around it getting the updates. I was a telecom major, so I headed on over to Banneker to see what was up with classes. Ended up in some room I never saw before watching the news. I strolled on over to McKeldin to hit up the TV lounge. It actually was a power walk/jog because I was a little shook. Hey, you never know, al-Qaeda could of wanted to get at Baltimore!!! Those who knew me while at Morgan (DA BEARS!!) know I used to stay in that lounge, between classes of course.



I just remember sitting in there with my homeboy from Queens, and he was trying to call home, along with every person I knew from NYC. I never felt bad for that many people at once. All the 9-1-1 calls, and the cellphone calls had the airwaves jammed. People were panicking because their family & friends worked or lived near the towers, and couldn't get through to them. The same went for the PG/MO/DC crowds that had family and friends working at the Pentagon.

I was sitting there making jokes with my homeboy when I knew I shouldn't have. People were in there laughing at what we said, so we kept on going. I was amazed at the fact people in the WTC were jumping out of windows. I just kept thinking about Wile E. Coyote with his umbrella, thinking about people in wheelchairs trying to get down the steps, and I put it all out there. Ah yes, to be young and reckless.

By the time the fourth plane had been shot down, oops, I mean by the time the passengers attacked the hijackers, classes had been canceled. I was just mad that I had spent $3 on my all day pass, and came across town only to find out I could of kept my ass home watching CNN. It was a wild day, but the rest of the week made me feel a little better because my friends had gotten in contact with their family and friends. Best thing that happened later in the week as classes got back into the swing of things, was a teacher asked everyone about how we felt and went through that day. A guy in one of my classes raised his hand to answer the teacher. He said, "Man I was scared so I had to do what I had to do. I went and got that Blueprint album. I know I could of died, but I needed to have that." Nine years later and that still is hilarious to me. He was so serious about it too, like he put on a SWAT suit to hit up Best Buy or something. *SIDE NOTE* "The Blueprint" sold 426,000 copies in its first week.

The courage of the police officers, EMTs, firefighters from NYC and the Jersey area to this day gives me the goosebumps. People running OUT of a burning building covered in ash and soot, and they were running IN to help. I would of been the "outside coordinator" if I was one of the public servants. I would of been talking some,"This way!! This way!! Run over here to me, let's go!!" with my bullhorn from my safe distant location.

A lot of flags, posters, and slogans came about from 9/11, but the one that always sticks out to me is "We Will Never Forget." I hope that people do not forget, but at the same time remember that it was al-Qaeda who was led by Osama bin Laden, and NOT every person who is a Muslim.