Unity not Division

 I was 25 years old when the world changed that September morning in 2001. My mother woke me up, telling me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York City. Half-asleep, I remember saying, That doesn’t make any sense. Pilots can see those buildings. But when I got out of bed and turned on the TV, I watched in horror as the second plane struck. In that moment, I knew it wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate.

The images and sounds from that day are still burned into my memory. But what haunts me just as much is what came after. Instead of drawing us closer, fear and anger caused many to turn on those who looked different, prayed differently, or thought differently. And in the 24 years since, it feels as though the division has only deepened.

Instead of uniting, humanity is unraveling. Harsh rhetoric is now commonplace. People are quick to point fingers and label others as the enemy simply because they disagree. Our country is tearing itself apart from within—and we cannot let that happen.

We have to pause and think about the weight of our words and the impact of our actions. We don’t have to like everyone, but we do have to live and work together. If we can’t find common ground, then the lives lost on that September day lose their meaning. Their memory demands that we choose unity over hatred, humanity over division.