Under the baobab: Heroes from 9/11 remembered on sacred ground

“We who believe in freedom can not rest until it comes” –Bernice Johnson Reagon, Sweet Honey in the Rock

There are places we share, Independence Hall, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, Dealey Plaza, Lorraine Motel, Ground Zero, Stoystown, that merge with times — July 4th, Dec. 7, Nov. 22, April 4, 9/11 — to create the sacred. Anointed by the sacrifice of martyrs. We gather together in community to renew the covenant that makes us all Americans.

Most of the young students on Penn State’s campus were not born when our country was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001 and 3,000 of our people were killed. Most of the victims died unknowingly and unwillingly. But a few consciously gave their lives for the common good.

Early that morning I had parked in downtown Manhattan to follow the pick-up van to the bowling alley set in New Jersey. I was playing a judge on the sitcom “Ed” starring Tom Cavanagh and Julie Bowen, who became famous on “Modern Family.” The first scene we shot was in my courtroom. Afterward some people told us that a World Trade Center tower had been “accidentally” hit by a plane. Only one news channel was available, a Spanish language station, which we watched on a small TV at the guard’s post. As we watched, another plane crashed into the second tower. We immediately knew this was no accident. Our world had been forever transformed by multiple terrorist attacks in New York, Washington D.C. and PA. With the support of most of our allies the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to flush out the culprits.

Later that year while on a Fulbright Fellowship in South Africa, I wrote a play based on the experiences of some people who lived and died on that day called “9/11 — A Day in the Life of a People” for the Capetown diplomatic community, sponsored by the U.S. Consulate. Months later, the play was the first to be presented in the new Penn State Downtown Theatre, State College. The play was selected presentation at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy and was produced somewhere every year on the anniversary for 20 years.

This year on the 23rd anniversary College Republicans at Penn State placed 2,997 flags on Old Main Lawn to commemorate our lost sisters and brothers. Stoystown was where the passengers and crew of Flight 93 knowingly sacrificed their lives to prevent terrorists from destroying the U.S. Capitol or the White House.

At the commemorative ceremony Wednesday, several hundred of us watched as President Biden, Vice President Harris, Governor Shapiro and Lt. Governor Davis, along with relatives of the 40 victims who died on Flight 93, laid a wreath at their memorial. Later in the day former President Trump also appeared to honor them. The country is in the midst of a heated presidential campaign — none of the candidates made a speech. All recognized that we were on sacred ground. Rather we consoled and comforted each other, remembering a time when giants walked the Earth and ordinary folks became heroes. We hope in these contentious times that we who believe in freedom will not rest.

Also last week, a redwood fell in the forest. James Earl Jones, my mentor, neighbor and friend has joined the ancestors. I believe he was the finest, most versatile actor of our times. He was an EGOT winner with a Broadway theater named for him. Known as the voice of Darth Vader and CNN, he played “Othello” six times, and the Lion King’s father. In 1962 the first play I saw in New York was Genet’s “The Blacks,” which featured Jimmy and Cicely Tyson. Ironically one of the last Broadway shows I saw was “Gin Game,” a two hander with Jimmy and Cicely.

Our world is diminished by their passing.

Charles Dumas is a lifetime political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Congress in 2012. He was the 2022 Lion’s Paw Awardee and Living Legend honoree of the National Black Theatre Festival. He lives with his partner and wife of 50 years in State College.