We all know how horrific the images are. We’ve all seen the footage on cable news and on the internet. September 11th, 2001 was the most horrifying and tragic day most of us have ever seen.
Many of you may remember, in the wake of the tragedy, the spectacle that was the 2001 World Series. At a time when Americans desperately needed a diversion, "America's Pastime" came through with flying colors. Many say it was the greatest World Series of all time.
If you watched that series, you may remember this rendition of “America the Beautiful” performed by Ray Charles at Game Two in Arizona. It was one of the most amazing performances of any song I have ever seen, by any performer. If anyone might understand the wonder that is America, a blind Black man from the Deep South who fought the odds to become one of the most successful and most admired in his profession just might be that person. The passion and soul he poured into this performance was simply amazing.
I wish I could find better quality footage of this, because this is one of my most prominent memories of the aftermath of September 11th, 2001. It is a beautiful memory; unfortunately this video doesn’t do it justice, but I share it all the same. There must be some incredible copyright restrictions held by someone, which is unfortunate. For all the sad, horrific, and tragic images and memories we will always see, the one thing we should I wish more of us would remember is how we all came together as one in that time of crisis.
The 2001 World Series and this electric performance from that magnificent sporting event exemplify that very emotion in my mind.
3 comments:
It brought chills. Thanks for the reminder.
The coming together of the country was one of the good things that came from that horrible day.
Thanks for this blog posst
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