The shifting hues of 9/11
Close your eyes and ponder the colors of 9/11. Of course, the first color that comes to mind for many people will always be that morning’s azure sky. It has been mythologized. The color of hope, the endless horizon, those last few hours when everything still seemed clear. Perhaps your mind can’t resist drifting toward slate tones, the shades of smoke that pierced and smeared that clean blue canvas. Or the reflective yellow bands encircling the dark jackets of firefighters who scrambled into the towers, and how police officers’ navy uniforms on the street were powdered with debris. Your memory may have retained the way Ground Zero drained the world of color, transforming everything into grit and dust. Then there are the ephemeral tones that arrived in the hours and days to follow. The tricolor newspaper flags taped to windows that slowly surrendered to the late summer sun. The thousands of pieces of white paper that each searched in vain for lost loved ones. A personal tragedy is commonly noted by the wearing of black clothes or ebony armbands. After Sept. 11, 2001, many people favored ribbons that honored the hues of the American flag. The mind’s eye may also instinctively fastforward to subsequent anniversaries of 9/11, to the parallel white lights that reached skyward into eternity to retrieve that morning’s hope. The tones all changed quickly. In the 102 minutes between the first air attack and the collapse of both World Trade Center towers, we began to see the world through a different prism. It was the end of many paintbynumber American dreams. So we need to remember these colors. For the 2,996 people who died on 9/11, for those who are too young to remember, for those on the scene for who continue to succumb to death and disease, for many survivors who still need support. Do not allow those colors to dim.