In an effort not to further the silence on the subject, my reading of the project web site lead me to Gina's interpretation as well. Perhaps this is not directly stated but I clearly read it between the lines, although perhaps I'm an optimist. -Ericka Menchen --- air-l-request@aoir.org wrote:
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Message: 1 From: "Gina Neff" <ginasue@panix.com> To: <air-l@aoir.org> Subject: RE: [Air-l] the september project: invitation to get involved Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 17:47:55 -0700 Reply-To: air-l@aoir.org
I'm going to respond on list with the expectation that several of us may need to move the conversation off list if it develops.
I think that the conceptual work behind the September Project is actually brilliant -- the project offers a way to subvert the overwhelmingly militaristic definition of a historical moment that, frankly, resonates deeply with people inside the United States, regardless of their political tendencies. The September Project does this by refusing to continue to allow the unexamined association between Sept. 11 and a right-wing agenda, and it does so *without* resorting to a politics of contention. Within the current, highly-charged political environment here in the U.S., this dual move is critical to the success of any oppositional politics.
What it means to be American in a globalized world will prove to be the most challenging and important question for progressive social movements within the United States. I would argue that any movement *within* the United States that attempts to be a mass, broad social movement must take on some kind of answer to that question; and cannot as those of you abroad might say, "quite enough already." Nor can this answer be framed in anti-patriotic terms if it is to be a successful mass movement within the U.S. If there's anything "sinister" in the September project, it is that is the pure subversion of dominant ideological paradigms within the United States.
I think many activists in the U.S. would agree that these expressions of re-thinking and re-defining 9/11 would necessarily happen in different ways in different countries (and might even hope that those expressions include mass protests against the behavior of the U.S. government). And different responses are to be expected given the cultural and historical differences in the dominant ideological paradigms within different countries. But frankly, the world can't afford to have American citizens to throw up their hands and cede the rhetorical control of 9/11 to the U.S. right wing. Nor can the world afford to have citizens in other countries sit idly by and watch.
Gina Neff
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Message: 2 Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 23:42:50 -0300 From: Maximilian Forte <mcforte@kacike.org> Subject: Re: [Air-l] the september project: invitation to get involved To: air-l@aoir.org Reply-To: air-l@aoir.org
This is very interesting Gina, as an interpretation of what I said the original message left unspoken. When I visited the website, I personally got no sense whatsoever of anything you mentioned in your message. Perhaps you have more intimate knowledge of this project. Let me just say that I hope you are right in the interpretation you offered in your message.
In the event that you are correct, and that this is a brilliant project, I would be interested in learning the methods and means by which messages such as yours will be conveyed and coordinated through a vast network of libraries, and who the prime movers will be in ensuring that just such a message gets across.
As for my comment on the exact quote I extracted, I believe that my comment still stands. Anyhow, I very much appreciate your comments. You will be probably be one of the very few with the courage to address this topic on list...otherwise, as you will notice, the silence is deafening.
Cheers,
Maximilian C. Forte