Literacy: Beyond Words
When I was three years old, I learned the alphabet. When I was five years old, I learned how to read. A little before some, a little later than many. I have been reading for 18 years. But have I been literate for 18 years? Absolutely not.
On September, 11th 2001, I was an overweight eight year old. I was homeschooled at the time, and had a more flexible schedule than most. My mornings were very routine and structured. Breakfast at 9:00am (most always, grits). My mama and I would watch Regis Philbin and Kathy Lee Gifford, and I would begin my day. During the time before breakfast, we would watch The Today’s Show on NBC. On this Tuesday, we were greeted with this news: “8:46 am — Mohammed Atta and the other hijackers aboard American Airliners Flight 11 crash the plan into floors 93–99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building” (9/11). Shortly after, we were notified that this most likely not an accident: “9:03 am — Hijackers crash United Airlines Flight 175 into floors 75–85 of the WTC’s South Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building” (9/11). These attacks by extremist Islamic terrorists, along with Flight 77 which flew into the Pentagon, and Flight 93 which crashed into a Pennsylvania field, culminated with 2,996 people dead, and over 6,000 more were injured.
No one, that I’m aware of, saw the first plane hit. There weren’t cameras prepared to film this event. However, many Americans saw the impact of the second plane. I was one of them. An eight year old who sees that does not have the aptitude to understand magnitude of what he or she has seen, I know I didn’t. I wasn’t literate. I was “stuck in Flatland,” not only was I blinded by the natural ignorance of adolescence, but I was guarded by the walls of Flatland — things literally went over my head (Sousanis). I couldn’t process the information that was being flushed into my mind. The output was not equal to the input. I understood this was bad, but I had no idea what these events would cause my life to become. I had no idea that future presidential elections would be largely based around a candidate’s ability to defend us from Islamic terrorism. I had no idea that my life, and the life of every American would change forever.
I have since become literate, or at least, literate enough to understand the events that took place on September, 11th 2001. Although I have spent time reading and studying about the events prior to, during, and after the attacks themselves, it was not that reading that gave me the literacy to understand. It was seeing the pictures time, after time, after time. Over and over throughout the years. The under
standing that this was done by people to people and being able to see the visual impact that had on America and on humanity. The picture included in this post, of the second planning flying into the South Tower of the World Trade Center is something that will stick with me forever. If I close my eyes, I can still see the plan flying into the tower, I can hear my mama crying and praying, I can remember the confused fear I felt that had a birth in an unknown region.
I graduated high school with honors. I graduated college with honors. I am currently a graduate student. I have read a lot. But I have never become more literate than I did with a picture taken 15 years ago today. Words don’t make literacy — understanding the world does.
References:
“9/11: Timeline of Events.” History. The History Channel, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
“Media For: September 11 Attacks.” Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
Sousanis, N. (2015). Unflattening. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
