In Honor of 9/11 and All Who Have Suffered Unspeakable Loss: Come September

Come September

A speech given by Arundhati Roy

And also in coversation with Howard Zinn

Lensic Performing Arts Center

Santa Fe, New Mexico

September 18, 2002

I first heard Come September by Arundhati Roy barely one year after 9/11. Howard Zinn was also part of this remarkable event. I was on my way to do a home visit when I happened to turn on the radio to NPR*. And there was this voice and these words that mesmerized me and touched my heart in an indescribable way. I felt compelled to pull over and listen to the rest of this amazing speech. And I was changed. Deeply changed.(*Tragically, and to our peril, voices such as Arundhati Roy and Howard Zinn will no longer be found on National Public Radio; the one exception is Alternative Radio, broadcast on some Tuesdays on NPR from 8-9pm.)

Another equally powerful speech, Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy (Buy One, Get One Free), was presented by Arundhati Roy in New York City at The Riverside Church on May 13, 2003 shortly after the start of the Iraq War. It is fitting that Arundhati Roy gave this speech at the Riverside Church in New York City. This is the same church that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his Beyond Vietnam speech, which occurred on April 4, 1967 - exactly and precisely one year to the date before his death. Many believe it was King's most powerful speech. And yet, tragically, millions of Americans have never heard Beyond Vietnam. Or Arundhati Roy's Come September or Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy(Buy One, Get One Free). Most Americans do not even know who Arundhati Roy is, this despite her being what may be considered a global Martin Luther King, Jr. But I know who Arundhati Roy is. I know she is an author whose novel The God of Small Things has sold over six million copies worldwide and that it is printed in 40 languages. More importantly, however, I know this beautiful petite woman from India has amazing courage, amazing heart, amazing knowledge and wisdom. And I know that she is a fierce and passionate warrior on behalf of humanity. Arundhati Roy is a hero to me. And to many all over the world.

What informed and touched my heart ever so surprisingly and deeply in hearing Come September was how Arundhati Roy also gave powerful and passionate voice in honor of all who have suffered catastrophic tragedy on other 9/11's in other nations and across time. She was also masterful in the way in which she was able to communicate, in the midst of such brutal facts, a gentleness and compassion as she welcomed America to the rest of the world. Because so much of this is shocking to so many of us in this country. I simply had no idea. As an American, I had not been informed or encouraged to learn, to truly know, of the suffering of so many in my own country much less that of others in other nations. But courageous voices such as that of Arundhati Roy and Howard Zinn and many others have been changing all that for me for several years now. I am humbled by how little I have known. And I am humbled by both the suffering and the sacredness of us all.

Not many are able to have the exceptional capacity to see, know, feel, and speak so powerfully to that from which we all suffer. Not many can go there again and again with eyes and heart wide open, and with such astounding bravery, as this petite woman from India. Most of us, to one degree or another, will end up turning away, closing our hearts, and seeking refuge in denial, distortions, and distractions. Yet, to expose so much is to also lay open the possibility of genuine and profound change. For there can be no solutions for problems denied. And in modeling such exquisite courage, caring, and compassion, Arundhati Roy has cleared a path for all of us who can gather enough courage to follow.

- Please go here for the transcript of Come September: http://www.nmazca.com/verba/roy.htm or http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/11617.

- Please go here for the video: http://djiin.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/arundhati-roy-come-septmeber-speech2002-and-the-day-of-the-jackelsmay-2003/ or http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=945405493000735497

- For a transcript of Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy (Buy One, Get One Free), please go here: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0518-01.htm

- For the video of this speech, please go here: http://www.weroy.org/video_instant_mix_imperial_democracy.shtml

- To view or purchase Arundhati Roy's book War Talk, which includes Come September among other essays, please go here: http://www.amazon.com/War-Talk-Arundhati-Roy/dp/0896087247. I have all of Arundhati Roy's books and, at least in my experience, any of her writings are deeply informative and life changing.

If you haven't already, it is my hope that you will watch or read Come September or other works of Arundhati Roy -- and then pass it on. Thank you.

Heartfelt Wishes for Peace & Blessings To All,

Molly

The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead... To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget. ~ Arundhati Roy