Community Spotlight | Goodradiostation

25 Years Later: Newark’s East Ward Remembers September 11

By Apostle Genie Santos
Owner & Broadcaster, Good Radio Station

NEWARK, NJ — Twenty-five years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, residents, students, first responders and community leaders gathered in Newark’s East Ward to remember those who were lost, honor those who served and remind a new generation why the events of that day must never be forgotten.

The ceremony opened with a remembrance of the 2,977 people who lost their lives on September 11 — 2,753 at the World Trade Center, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 aboard Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

Organizers also brought the loss closer to home by naming five Newark residents they said were among those killed: Elizabeth Ann Darling, Harry Ramos, Reverend Sean Hooker, Saeed Abdul Fatah and Daphne Elder.

“They were people just like you and I,” attendees were reminded. “They got up in the morning and didn’t come home.”

Eastside High School student Kimberly Valentine performed the National Anthem before local leaders began sharing memories and reflections from a day that remains vivid for millions of Americans.

Vince Magnifico, director of the Ironbound Business Improvement District, recalled watching the Twin Towers being built as a child and reflected on how buildings that took seven years to construct came down within minutes.

September 11 also came frighteningly close to his own family.

Magnifico told the crowd that his younger brother was supposed to have been aboard the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania, but a last-minute reservation change kept him off the plane. His oldest sister was in Washington, D.C., when the Pentagon was attacked and eventually paid a cab driver to take her from Washington to New York. Magnifico used his experience to speak directly to the younger generation.“The young people who are here didn’t see this happen, but it’s part of your history,” he said.

Captain Mike Alexander remembered those who lost husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends and acquaintances on September 11. He also honored police officers, firefighters, EMS workers and civilians who participated in the response, along with those who later died from cancers and respiratory illnesses related to Ground Zero.

Newark school board member Linda Dominguez reflected on watching the 25th anniversary observances earlier that morning. What particularly affected her, she said, was seeing children and grandchildren reading the names of relatives they had never had the opportunity to meet.

The presence of young people was also noticeable at the East Ward ceremony.

Before the program began, several Wilson Avenue School girls noticed Good Radio Station recording and eagerly asked to be interviewed. When the camera and microphone turned toward them, two became shy. One did not. She happily said she was “having fun” and later jumped excitedly with her friends. The girls would later participate in the memorial program.

It was an innocent moment, but also a reminder of the generational distance that now exists. These children were born years after September 11. They cannot remember the day or the world immediately after it. For them, 9/11 is history — one that several speakers emphasized must continue to be taught.

One of the evening’s most emotional reflections came from Newark East Ward Councilman Michael J. Silva.

Silva recalled September 11 as a beautiful Tuesday morning — crisp, with a blue sky — before tragedy struck.

He then spoke about the America he remembers the following day.

“I believe this country on September 12th was a country that made me proud to be an American,” Silva said.

“On September 12th, we came together. This country was so unified. It didn’t matter what color your skin was, what religion you believed in. None of that mattered. We were all Americans.”

Silva then made a pointed comparison between the unity he remembers following September 11 and the country today.

“And today, we kind of lost our way,” he said. “Somebody had to say it, and it’s okay. I’ll be the one. Today, we’ve lost our way a little bit.”

He noted that approximately 100 million Americans were not yet born when September 11 occurred and urged parents to teach their children what happened.

“This could never end,” Silva said. “It’s a part of our history, good or bad, and we must continue to tell that story.”

Silva then revealed a part of his own September 11 experience that he said he had not spoken publicly about for 25 years.

“I went to 9/11. I was there. I was in the middle of the rubble,” he said.

Silva described standing among police officers, firefighters and others who had come from across the United States and around the world with the same purpose: to find people who needed to go home to their families.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way,” he said.

Silva acknowledged that being there for 10 to 12 hours affected him physically and emotionally. But what remained with him was witnessing firefighters, police officers and other workers coming together for one cause.

As Silva spoke, I listened from behind my camera and sunglasses with tears in my eyes. Hearing the emotion in his voice took me back 25 years.

At the time of the attacks, I was a young, newly ordained minister serving at Glad Tidings Tabernacle in Midtown Manhattan and already active in evangelistic ministry. Following September 11, our church became deeply involved in the response, collaborating with ministries and volunteers who came to New York to help.

My service eventually included working with a Christian relief effort based at South Street Seaport, helping feed Ground Zero workers and delivering food with a team to St. Paul’s. We also ministered to grieving families and responders and received grief-counseling training because of the depth of trauma we encountered.

As I listened to Silva, one thought stayed with me: while he had been inside the devastation at Ground Zero, I had been among those outside helping support and care for people coming from it.

I don’t know whether our paths ever crossed during those days. Perhaps they did; perhaps they didn’t. But 25 years later, I was grateful that he made it out of Ground Zero alive — and grateful that he remembers.

That personal connection made his words about September 12 especially powerful to me. I remember seeing churches, ministries and volunteers that ordinarily operated separately working side by side. People came from different parts of the country and the world to help.

It is a memory that made Silva’s observation — “we’ve lost our way a little bit” — particularly difficult to hear and impossible to ignore.

The ceremony continued with acknowledgments of local officials and community representatives, along with police, firefighters and EMS personnel who attended the remembrance.

A moment of silence was observed for the victims and heroes whose lives were forever changed by September 11.

As the ceremony concluded, the Wilson Avenue students participated in the program, bringing the evening back to one of its recurring messages: remembrance cannot end with the generation that witnessed the attacks.

For those who lived through September 11, memories can still be triggered by a voice, a photograph, a blue September sky or someone else finally telling a story they have carried silently for 25 years.

For the children who came afterward, there are no such memories. There is history.

And there are those of us who can tell them what happened. Perhaps that is one of the most important lessons from Newark’s East Ward remembrance: honoring September 11 is not only about remembering those who were lost. It is also about making certain their stories, the sacrifices of those who responded and the lessons of those days are not lost with the generation that lived them.

Twenty-five years later, we still remember.

And we will never forget.

Apostle Genie Santos
Owner & Broadcaster
Good Radio Station
Entertainment That Pierces the Darkness
GoodRadioStation.com