365 Dr. King quote

100 Days of Nonviolence

Day 9

Opening Breath and Affirmation: 

Take a deep breath and say, I will be Nonviolent by choosing to see the glass as half-full instead of half empty.

Quote of the Day: 

No one has a right to sit and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do. –Dorothy Day, leader of the Catholic Worker movement

Today in Social Movement History: 

On January 23, 1978 the population of Nicaragua began a two-week strike against US-backed Somoza dictatorship.

Stories for Tuesday & Thursday: 

The following is an excerpt from a speech delivered two weeks after the attack on the World Trade Center in September, New York City, United States, 2001. 
 
My name is Usman Farman and I graduated from Bentley with a Finance degree last May. I am 21 years old, turning 22 in October; I am Pakistani, and I am Muslim.  Until September 11th 2001, I used to work at the World Trade Center in building #7. I had friends and acquaintances who worked in tower #1 right across from me. Some made it out, and some are still unaccounted for. I survived this horrible event.
I'd like to share with you what I went through that awful day, with the hopes that we can all stay strong together; through this tragedy of yet untold proportions. As I found out, regardless of who we are, and where we come from, we only have each other.
I'll spare the more gruesome details of what I saw - those are things that no one should ever have to see, and beyond human decency to describe. Those are things that will haunt me for the rest of my life; my heart goes out to everyone who lost their lives that day, and those who survived with the painful reminders of what once was.  Acquaintances of mine who made it out of the towers only did so because 1000 people formed a human chain to find their way out of the smoke.  Everyone was a hero that day.

From about 7 blocks away, I stood with a thousand other people staring, as the first tower collapsed.  The next thing I remember is that a dark cloud of glass and debris about 50 stories high came tumbling towards us. I turned around and ran as fast as possible.  I fell down trying to get away. I was on my back, facing this massive cloud that was approaching, it must have been 600 feet high, everything was already dark. I normally wear a pendant around my neck, inscribed with an Arabic prayer for safety, similar to the cross. A Hasidic Jewish man came up to me and held the pendant in his hand, and looked at it. He read the Arabic out loud. What he said next, I will never forget. With a deep Brooklyn accent he said  "Brother, if you don't mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us, grab my hand, let's get out of here." He helped me stand up, and we ran for what seemed like forever without looking back. He was the last person I would ever have thought who would help me. If it weren't for him, I probably would have been engulfed in shattered glass and debris.

I finally stopped about 20 blocks away, and looked in horror as tower #2 came crashing down. Fear came over me as I realized that some people were evacuated to the streets below the towers. No one thought those buildings could collapse. We turned around and in shock and disbelief, began the trek to midtown. It took me 3 hours to get to my sister’s office at 3rd Avenue and 47th Street. Some streets were completely deserted, completely quiet, no cars, no nothing -- just the distant wail of sirens. I managed to call home and say I was okay, and get in touch with coworkers and friends whom I feared were lost.

As the world continues to reel from this tragedy, people in the streets are lashing out. Not far from my home, a Pakistani woman was run over on purpose as she was crossing the parking lot to put groceries in her car.  Her only fault? That she had her head covered and was wearing the traditional clothing of my homeland. I am afraid for my family's well-being within our community. My older sister is too scared to take the subway into work now. My 8-year old sister's school is under lockdown and armed watch by police.
Violence only begets violence, and by lashing out at each other in fear and hatred, we will become no better than the faceless cowards who committed this atrocity. If it weren't for that man who helped me get up, I would most likely be in the hospital right now, if not dead. Help can come from the least expected place, and it goes only to show that we are all in this together regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.
 
Speech by Usman Farman reprinted in Engage: Exploring Nonviolent Living (Session 1: The First Step, page 18-20) Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service.
 

Activity of the Day: 

Please take a moment to look at the people sitting around you. Friends or strangers, in a time of crisis, you would want the nearest person to help you if you needed it. In the story, the help came from a person Usman would never have thought would normally even speak to him. … Usman concludes that the one thing that won't help, is if we fight amongst ourselves, for violence begets violence.  Take a moment to be grateful for those around you and what they can teach you and how they can help you.

Respond: 

Have you helped someone in a violent/unexpected situation or been helped by someone in a violent/unexpected situation? Write or draw about that experience.

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