Washington Informer

Just like the day when President Kennedy was assassinated, everybody remembers exactly what they were doing when those four hijacked planes snuffed out nearly 3,000 lives on September 11, 2001.

It was personal. In the initial seconds, there was confusion. Perhaps, it was just a tragic accident. But as the morning of 9/11 unfolded, it became crystal clear. This was no accident. It was terrorism - cold and calculated.

Emotionally, there is a big difference between falling down the steps and being pushed down the steps. Collectively, we were all "pushed down the steps". Intention makes all of the difference in the world. Our psychological injury from 9/11 comes, in large part, because it was the terrorists' plan to harm us.

Defiantly, we have survived. But personally and culturally we would never be the same. We were unavoidably changed: scarred, dazed, traumatized. Psychological and emotional trauma leaves an indelible mark. It alters the way we see things. Trauma changes the way we take in the world. Here are a couple of the key ways that the overwhelming stress of Sept. 11 continue to affect us:

• Can't Balance Your Emotions - Ten years after the initial attack, we may still find we may find ourselves experiencing moments of what I call the four useless emotions of trauma: panic, worry, rage, or despair when confronted with information related to 9/11. These emotional responses are useless because they never help us to identify helpful ways of handling our reactions to what happened on that fateful day in a balanced and rational way. Instead, trauma puts us on edge and prompts us to over-react. Specific to September 11, another emotion that surfaces is an irrational fear of people of the Islamic faith tradition because the terrorists claimed to be Muslim. We may also take the emotional extreme of being so affected by our feelings about 9/11 that we hit the "emotional off switch" and numb out. We can tell when this happens when someone detaches to such a degree that they seem to not care.

Taking Our Power back - We take our power back by taking away the terrorist's greatest weapon: fear. We can choose our emotions. Instead of fear, we can choose compassion, keeping us connected with the best in us and others. We can even use anger effectively. While rage is an out-of-control emotion, anger can be effective when used to affirm a boundary which says, "I won't tolerate being violated with aggression". We can also choose determination, an emotion which enables us to keep moving forward in a positive direction. We can choose to not remain bottled up with toxic emotions. We can identify responses that work, like not taking the "hate bait". We can be wise enough to not confuse the distorted perspective of terrorists with anything remotely resembling the nobility of devout faith. True faith replenishes life.

• Can't Tell Time - When people have been overwhelmed by trauma, they tend to live in the past. Some people have a hard time getting over what happened to them regarding 9/11 because they keep re-experiencing their pain through nightmares, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts. Think of 9/11 nightmares and flashbacks as "instant replays" of our trauma. Intrusive thoughts occur as we are engaged in almost any activity and our mind "changes the channel" to something 9/11 related.

Taking Our Power Back - We take our power back by realizing that the way out of trauma is living in the present. Trauma confuses the past with the present. We can heal powerfully, as we acknowledge the tragedy of September 11th, but give new life to ourselves as we affirm that 9/11/01 is over and September 11th 2011 is a new day with a whole new story and we get to write it!

Dr. R. Dandridge Collins, known as "Dr. Dan", is author of the bestselling book, The Trauma Zone: Trusting God for Emotional Healing. More information: www.drdancollins.com . Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Phone number: 215-768-8512.

James Clingman

High Noon Economics – Who really suffers?

When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

A proverb among the Kikuyu people, a tribal group in Kenya, Africa.

In today's parlance, I guess, we could expand that proverb to say, "When elephants and donkeys fight, the grassroots suffer." Isn't it intriguing to watch the politicians squabble over raising the U. S. debt ceiling? The posturing, the pontificating, the postulating, the predictions, the placating, and that's just the P-words we can use to describe their insincere, uncaring, condescending attitudes toward an issue that up until now has been almost an automatic move by Congress.

Under George W. Bush the debt ceiling was raised five times, thereby increasing the national debt from $5.9 trillion to $9.8 trillion. Several of the politicians who are railing against raising the ceiling now voted all five times to do the same thing under George W. What hypocrites! And common folks, the grassroots folks, voted for these knuckleheads. How stupid is that? Now they are fighting and we are on life support.

How can voter approval of Congress be 13%, the lowest in the history of the Gallup Poll, while many in Congress have been there for decades? This reminds me of another quote: "It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." Thomas Sowell.

Those without resources will suffer tremendously during an economic catastrophe. Yes, we can do wonders with a pot of beans and some cornbread, but what about the long run? In our current economic state people are breaking into homes to steal a couple of pounds of copper piping that they can sell for about $2.00 per pound.

Two things for your consideration, especially you politicians. First, our children's future is in a tug-of-war right now; they are the ones who will surely take the hit for the games you are playing now. They are in schools where teachers were laid off and activities cut in response to budget shortfalls. They are in colleges across this country, mounting up student loans, which comprise the latest "bubble" just like housing and Dot Com's. When they graduate they will be faced not only with paying back tens of thousands in loans but also with very dire prospects for obtaining a job with which to do so. All of this while you play political games with their future.

Second, when politicians take office they proudly take their positions to be sworn in. Many have their families around them and someone special to hold the Bible upon which they place their hand and swear or affirm some boilerplate verbiage about their duties. I have to believe that after the pomp and circumstance, after the "swearing in" ceremony, after the celebrations and accolades have been given, and after the congratulatory glad-handing, most of politicians never sit down and open that Bible to see what it says about their obligations and responsibilities. That Bible collects dust for the next two, four, or six years waiting for them to stand again and swear again that they will do what is right by those who elected them.

While, admittedly, it is hard to do, we pray for these political hypocrites who are in leadership positions. We pray they will not only pose for their photo-op with the Bible but they will also do what it says with regard to those over whom they rule and for whom they make decisions. Don't just put your hand on the Book, turn the pages once in a while.

May this high-stakes game of economics come to an end soon, and may those who are playing it come to their senses before it's too late. This is not merely about the debt ceiling; it is about the future of this country and economic foundation upon which our children and grandchildren will stand. They are the ones who will suffer from this latest elephant-donkey fight.

James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati's African American Studies department, is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. He hosts the cable television program, ''Blackonomics,'' and has written several books, including his latest, Black Empowerment with an Attitude - You got a problem with that? To book Clingman for a speaking engagement or purchase his books, call 513 489 4132 or go to his Website, www.blackonomics.com.