On the recent twenty-second anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, other prisoners and I reminisced with my prison supervisor about where we were when we heard the devastating news. It was a bit shocking to realize that some of the prisoners around me were not even *alive* when the twin towers fell. They know nothing of America before terrorism became a household word. They've never lived in an America naively free of hatred for American ideals.
The tragedy that struck America on 9/11 changed America forever. It injected a fear that drives politics, resulting in the loss of privacy and freedoms for Americans. We exchanged freedoms for a sense of security. The 9/11 tragedy forever altered our lives.
As I reflect on the shock I felt and the terrible sense of loss I've experienced because of 9/11, it reminds me that crime victims feel these same things in a much more personal way. Crime victims lose their sense of safety, their peace of mind, their ability to sleep, and in some cases their very innocence.
All Americans have been affected in some way by the 9/11 tragedy, even if we were not personally harmed by the terrorist attacks. But millions of Americans have experienced earth shattering events that harmed them personally. They have lived through their own terror, have watched their own towers of safety and security crumble.
I hate that I have ever, in any way, contributed to the devastating consequences of crime. I hate that I have been responsible for blowing up anyone's sense of safety and security. I hate that I have been the cause of anyone learning that the world is not safe. I don't need an infamous calendar date to remind me, though. Every day I wake up in prison is a reminder that I was the terror that blew up some people's worlds.
We ought to honor those whose lives were devastated by the 9/11 attacks, but let's also not forget those who live among us whose lives have been devastated by terror they've experienced a little closer to home.
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