By: Andrea Clara-Vega Staff Writer

8: 46 a.m., the unforgettable hour in which American Airlines Flight 11 crashed against the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. With a death count of nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost due to the attacks, it is impossible to forget Tuesday of September 11, 2001.

With the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it would be impossible to find someone in the MC community who was not affected in one way or the other. Take Daniel Stylos, a second year MC student who courageously shared very delicate and personal memories of 9/11. “Well, I found out that my aunt and my uncle and their two year old daughter were on the second plane that hit the Twin Towers. I was in fourth grade at the time and I mean, how does any fourth grader deal with that kind of stuff?” said Stylos.

Furthermore, Daniel said that he did not understand how bad the situation was while he was in school under “code blue,” but that he later grasped the seriousness of the issue once he joined his family at home. “I was pretty broken up, obviously. I just lost a part of my family. The next few days were kind of a blur. I donʼt remember much.” Stylos said that he had his own way of remembering 9/11 in a more quiet and reflective way and added “I donʼt like what the media is doing to it. I think it’s using national tragedy for ratings and to get what they want.”

Salma Sharaf also shared her story and take on the attacks of 9/11, and what it meant for her as an American and Muslim. “I was just a kid, now I understand the complexity of the issue of 9/11, the horror that happened, all the struggles this country went to as a result and, of course, as a Muslim Iʼve also been affected by 9/11,” said Sharaf.
While acknowledging the struggles the United States faced as a nation post-attacks there is also the taboo and rarely spoken effects of 9/11 on the Muslim community.

“Iʼm American, but as a Muslim you kind of stand out as a result of 9/11 because people have this perception about you. 9/11 has affected the muslim community because when you think of 9/11 the first thing that comes to mind is “Muslim Terrorist.” Well, yes they were Muslim terrorists but they were Muslim extremists. Normally, the majority of Muslims in the world would definitely not agree with what happened; would definitely not support it, and so as a Muslim and as an American it affected my community because people had these perceptions of what we were like without even knowing us, and, of course, you face discrimination and prejudices because of being Muslim and because showing obviously that you are a Muslim people assume that you support such an act, when of course not,” Sharaf said.

Jaleel Brown said that as he got older he came to grips with the gravity of 9/11. “Now I understand how bad it was, but back then I didnʼt understand because I was still a little kid,” Brown said. Brownʼs uncle worked near the WTC at the time, but thankfully was not hurt by the attacks. “I didnʼt know how it would impact me and everyone around me,” Brown said. When asked how he felt about remembering 9/11 Brown said, “I feel like we should all reflect back on the day and just think about the ones other people loss.”

Salma finished by saying, “9/11 is not a day that has to do with any specific religion. The twin towers, they had Christians and Jews and Muslims in it. A lot of Muslims died in the twin towers, and thatʼs something that people donʼt know. It wasnʼt an act against Christians or Jews, it was an act against America. You could be Muslim and American, and when you do an act against America you are also doing an act against a Muslim.”

Regardless of religion, gender or race, letʼs remember the mothers, fathers, daughters and many other relatives that were loss during the attacks of 9/11. The families that were affected by this tragedy, and the lives of the innocent and those that sacrificed themselves to aid and rescue our nation in turmoil. In the loving memory of all, we will never forget.