Below are five ways for communities and groups to get involved. Check out our 25 Years Later Toolkit with the suggestions below.
You can also find a calendar of events for the 25th anniversary here.
About this Hub: The 25 Years Later Community Hub brings together publicly available resources developed by organizations and advocates responding to the effects of 9/11 and the domestic and global War on Terror. It is intended as an archive, a repository and learning resource, and does not represent positions of organizations included here. Members of the South Asian Coalition and allies curated the hub over the course of a year. The calendar of events is provided for informational purposes only – these events are independently organized without endorsement from South Asian Coalition groups
Take Time to Reflect.
As we near the anniversary, nonprofits can mark it by creating space and time to remember what happened on 9/11 and how families and communities have been affected. Staff members might have personal connections to 9/11 and are working through grief, loss, and trauma. Staff and members who are of South Asian, Muslim, Sikh or Arab background might have encountered backlash and bigotry over the twenty-five years since 9/11. Your organization might wish to hold a moment of silence, invite staff into a healing circle, or open up space for conversations. Click below to find helpful discussion prompts.
What do you remember about 9/11? If you don’t remember the day, what were you taught about the impact of 9/11 and what do you still want to learn?
How has that day and its aftermath affected you, your family, your community?
On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, what is important to recognize and commit to?
Amplify State and Local Efforts
There are a number of ways to get involved with state and local efforts from a policy standpoint.
In consultation with partners at the South Asian Coalition and allies, the Sikh Coalition has created a state- and local-level resolution/proclamation toolkit as well as additional paths for advocacy.
Visit The Sikh Coalition’s Action Page to learn more.
Partner with and Support Organizations Affected by 9/11
In the aftermath of 9/11, Black, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian (BAMEMSA) communities experienced backlash in the form of hate violence, workplace discrimination and government profiling and surveillance. Nonprofits working with these communities continue to highlight ongoing effects of the post 9/11 backlash and the War on Terror, from immigration enforcement to deprivation of civil liberties and mass deportations. Assess whether your organization supports and partners with BAMEMSA groups. See below for more ideas for how your group could show up in solidarity.
Assess whether your organization supports and partners with BAMEMSA groups. Consider the following reflection questions: How could you include BAMEMSA groups in your coalitions and networks? What connections can be made between the issues that your organization addresses and those affecting BAMEMSA communities? How can your organization uplift the work of BAMEMSA groups to your networks of funders and partners?
Your organization might wish to hold a moment of silence, invite staff into a healing circle, or open up space for conversations with prompts such as: What do you remember about 9/11? If you don’t remember the day, what were you taught about the impact of 9/11 and what do you still want to learn? How has that day and its aftermath affected you, your family, your community? On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, what is important to recognize and commit to?
Connect the Dots
September 11th is not a historical moment that is frozen in time. The consequences of policy decisions made after 9/11 pervade our lives to this day. We recommend creating space with staff and members to learn about and discuss the ongoing ways in which public policies and narratives affect us today. Below is a list of examples of connections between from 2001 and today.
- The current immigration enforcement apparatus, including the revitalized surveillance state, is the result of laws passed before and after 9/11 which enabled law enforcement entities to collect and share information regardless of individualized suspicion.
- The overwhelming allocation of resources to the military in the wake of 9/11 is partly why public health infrastructure is crumbling in the midst of a global pandemic.
- The alarming situation in Afghanistan since American troops withdrew exposes the failure of the US to rebuild the region’s systems and institutions over the past two decades.
- The high levels of hate violence over the last 5-6 years are part of the trajectory of bigotry, Islamophobia and xenophobia that was fomented after 9/11 which targeted South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, and Arab communities. Visit our Resources Hub to find more resources to understand the hate and bigotry after 9/11 and how it connects to today.
Find more materials and resources in the Throughlines section of the 25 Years Later Resource Hub.
Convene a Solidarity Dialogue
To mark the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, the backlash and the Global War on Terror, you could hold a conversation at your organization, with your friends and family, and with community members, using our resources and testimonials as a starting point. See below for ideas.
*Watch the testimonials from South Asian community leaders here
*Read one of the articles about the post 9/11 era found on our resource hub here
*Facilitate a conversation using the following questions:
What commitments can you/your organization make to solidarity?
What came up for you as you listened to this testimonial?
Were you surprised by anything you’ve heard? Was there new information that was shared?
What did you learn about community building during the 9/11 backlash?
What is the infrastructure needed to support organizations today?
What were the narratives after 9/11 that continue to shape our country today?
What inquiries and curiosities are you sitting with?