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+1. We've gone from remembering 9/11 to wallowing in it. I intend to spend the day avoiding the TV and most other media, if I can help it. Unfortunately, with the likes of Peter King in office and exploiting the tragedy, I don't see it quieting down into a private, contemplative day anytime soon.

I'm hopeful that the 10th anniversary will be the last "major" commemoration. Not that anyone should ever forget what happened or the people who were lost, but that event led to so many other national tragedies - two wars, vast restrictions to personal liberties, the advancement of a police state mentality, the willingness of our government to use fear to coerce the public to go along with its agenda, the likely cause of a second Bush term - the list is long.

Maybe with the opening of the memorial people will have the opportunity to remember however they see fit and that process can become a more private, ongoing thing that no longer requires a collective display of politicians, national press, replays of footage of the attacks. There really is nothing that can be said that hasn't already been felt a thousand times over by the people who suffered through it. No one is going to forget. I didn't lose anyone close to me that day, but I was there - a few blocks away when the first tower fell.

That's just the way I see it - it's probably one of those deeply personal issues where there are as many answers as there are people willing to give them.

What do most people think about recalling 9/11? Is it a platform for jingoism? Is it just something most want to put behind us? Does it occassion too much of the victim mentality? Does it bring back memories, bad for most on this board, of George Bush (what ever happened to the poster on JCLIST with George as his avatar?)? I remember as everyone was running back on Montegomery Street from the water's edge freaked out by the fall of the first tower while helicopters barked orders to retreat and just as fighter planes came low over the city, no one really sure in the confusion if they were friendly or not, and an old timer who was on the sidewalk was calling out: this is our Pearl Harbor. I thought it a bit ridiculous at the time and wondered how the old woman with an eight grade education managed to summon up instantly such an historic perspective. Anyway, may light perpetual shine on the victims and on all the faithful departed.

Thanks for posting this!

NJCU 9/11 Exhibit to Feature Works by Joel Meyerowitz, Yoko Ono, Ultra Violet and on Loan from 9/11 Museum

In recognition of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, New Jersey City University will present ?AFTERWARDS and FORWARD: A ten-year 9/11 reflective art exhibition,? a group show featuring works by 18 international artists, including Joel Meyerowitz, Yoko Ono, and Ultra Violet, as well as two works on loan from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Monday, August 29 through Tuesday, September 27, in the Visual Arts Gallery, 100 Culver Avenue in Jersey City.

Gallery hours are 11:00 a.m. ? 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and by appointment. An artists? reception will be held 4:30 ? 7:30 p.m. on Monday, September 12. The reception will follow NJCU?s 27th annual Academic Convocation, which will feature a keynote address by Rochelle Hendricks, acting New Jersey secretary of higher education.

On loan from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum will be Milton Rosa-Ortiz?s ?Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,? a lightbox with World Trade Center debris, and Werner Pfeiffer?s artist?s book, ?Out of the Sky-9/11 a tribute.? Among other works featured in the exhibit will be Mr. Meyerowitz?s ?Nov. 12, 2001, 2001 North Tower Shroud in Smoke and Spray,? a photograph from his ?Aftermath: Images from Ground Zero, 2001? series; Yoko Ono?s wish tree, and Ultra Violet?s sculpture, ?IX XI.?

Exhibiting artists will also include Hugo Bastidas, an NJCU professor of art; Richard A. Buntzen, a 2009 NJCU alumnus; Nemat El-Nasser, Carole A. Feuerman, Ben Jones, NJCU professor emeritus of art; Thierry Palau, Duda Penteado, Jos? Rodeiro, an NJCU professor of art; Herb Rosenberg, NJCU professor and chair of art; Patricia Saxton, Jacqui Taylor-Basker, Raul Villarreal, and Chee Wang Ng. Works by these artists include paintings, collages, prints, sculpture, graphic designs, a film, and an installation.

?AFTERWARDS and FORWARD? considers the implications of the momentous events of 9/11 and endeavors to shed light on a host of prevailing issues about violence in the world and to promote dialogue, deeper reflection, meditation, and contextualization relating to or emerging from the 9/11 disaster.

Works selected for the exhibition include works created in the wake of 9/11 or its ensuing war-on-terror in any medium and works about peace created after 9/11. Three themes are represented in the exhibition: artistic responses to 9/11; artistic responses to the war on terror; artworks to promote peace efforts. Each artist whose work has been selected for the exhibit has demonstrated a strong commitment to anti-war issues throughout his or her career.

The tenth anniversary of 9/11 holds great significance for both Jersey City and New Jersey City University. Jersey City served as the primary staging-area for aid, support, search-rescue, organization, escape, and clean-up. With its uniquely ethnic faculty and student population representing 57 languages, NJCU is a microcosm of the diverse socio-economic populations impacted by the events of 9/11.

For further information please call (201)200-2496.

A virtual event: Facebook: Remember Me.

You will be given the name of a victim who was murdered on 9/11 sent to your Facebook inbox. This will include their age, employer and location at the time of the attacks. Post their name to your status on 9/11, or you may choose to do so before hand, with "Remember Me" written before their name. You can also request a specific name.

Ref: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/index.html to read about the person you are honouring.

Saturday, September 10th at 11:30am, Holy Rosary Church will offer a Requiem Mass in memory of those killed ten years earlier. The mass will be sung by Cantores Sancti Rosarii, directed by Harold Bott.

This is a moving and ethereal treatment of the Mass for the Dead. Cristobal de Morales' music is typical of the polyphony of the middle Renaissance, and the Requiem is a simple, contemplative presentation of the funeral mass. The central theme of the service is in the Requiem text: "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine on them."

Holy Rosary Church is at 344 6th St (between Brunswick and Monmouth Streets) in downtown Jersey City (FLYER).

Please post notices of September 11th anniversary events here:
cultural performances, religious services, community gatherings,
etc.