Asia+M’s+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech

= Phoenix = 9/11 was the best thing that happened to America. How can 9/11 be the best thing that happened to America? America woke up to the unthinkable. Not just one, but two airlines flying into the World Trade Center. Watching the carnage and despair of those trapped above the impact, the suicidal jumps, and the cries of the families and friends. Now, before you jump to conclusions or deem me a bad person about my opinion, let me explain myself. The thousands of deaths and falling of the twin towers is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the Phoenix of America rising from the ashes of ground zero. The best thing was the unity formed in the aftermath. America watched in horror as the towers fell, they wept as they heard the countless names of the dead, they united in the face of terror. "We were all American, We all felt the same loss". From Portland OR, to Portland ME, the sense of community extended across America. People flocked to Ground-Zero, bringing different skills, from different states, with one mission in mind. The mission to search, save and aid. Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, was in Washington D.C on September 11th, four days later he was driving to NY in a Bristol County Sheriff mobile command post. Upon Sheriff Hodgson arrival at ground zero, he joined the dozen plus law enforcement and shuffled through "the piles" for several day. A man from Washington DC, a woman from MA, a NYPD. They all united together for one cause.

It was not just ground zero where we united together. Across the whole nation, Americans turned a new leaf. Volunteerism skyrocketed, neighbors became important and America was overall kinder. In a little town called Fall River, community members put out a call for an overflow shelter for the homeless during the winter. Upon this request, they received more volunteers and organizations willing to help than they thought possible.Now, that annoying neighbor who plays music too loud, who throws parties and is overall non ignored, suddenly became important. This isn't because he finally invited you to one of those parties, but because America was united. People wanted to help out their neighbors mores. In NY, when Hodgson would depart for the night, he would see people just standing around talking to each other on the corner of the street. Talking about and feeling the effects of 9/11.The streets of America felt those feelings. Can you imagine LA without honking? Or without road rage? This was LA after September 11th. Drivers where politer, allowing X person to go before them and smiling in the process. Seeing the Stars and Stripes fluttering off their cars radio antenna and by September 12, American Flags were on back order and almost every household proudly flew the Stars and Stripes.Politics felt the those same feeling. On the steps of the capital, congress members sang "God Bless America" and they also passed a 40 billion dollar emergency bill that day- and it was passed unanimously.

Today? That's not the case. Many overflow shelter are struggling to find the people and resources to even run. We leave our neighbors alone and LA traffic is hell. How many of us own a flag? How many of us in this room remember 9/11. Actually remembers it, not just the documentaries or the museums or photos online. I know I can't. In my lifetime, I can't remember a period where America was this United. I remember the shooting of Larry King, I remember the political debate between my grandfather and mother, I remember the persecution of the Sheik due to their turbans, I remember the video of rich teenagers beating up a homeless man, I remember Ferguson and Baltimore and I remember the unfair difference in wages between genders.But, I have never experienced the unification of the American spirit. After 9/11, it didn't matter about your political views, sexuality, gender, religion, social status, or race. If you were American, you felt the same loss, the same unity, and the same resolve. We have tarnished what those first responders and hero taught us that fateful day. They unselfishlessly, united together to save the people of America and capital by working together and setting their differences aside. They ran into those burning buildings because it was the right thing to do not because they were obligated too. Why does it seem that we only unite after a tragic attack, like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, which galvanized us into action.That we need a cause to feel the effect. A negative impact for Americans to resolve to be positive. In the America I want to live in, I want to see this effect without a cause. I want to see the kindness in America awaken by compassion and not shock. I want Americans to remember the heros of America. That we too can do that. That we too have the ability to act without a crisis. That generations from now will embody the fire of the phoenix and hopefully this speech will inspire future amex students to accept this torch that I have presented to you. I want to see a proactive America, not a reactive one.

Work Cited

"ESSAY: 9/11 Brought Us Together, but Was It Unity?" //CNS News //. N.p., 06 Sept. 2011. Web. 11 June 2015.

"The Horror of 9/11, and the Unity It Brought." //CBSNews //. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 11 June 2015.

Experience from Karen Moore (My Mother)