Caught
in New York
September 11, 2001
Its
Wednesday night, September 12, 2001 about 10:30 p.m.,
and as I sit here watching the devastation of the terrorists
attack in New York City yesterday, I realize how lucky
I was to get out of there today. I'm still in shock.
I
went to New York Monday for the annual National Association
of Minorities in Cable (NAMIC) conference. I'm currently
in discussion to develop and produce two cable programs
and was looking for information and resources as I develop
my proposals and begin negotiations.
Another reason for my attendance was to meet and introduce
African American women in attendance to www.DigitalSistas.net.
I had my brochures ready and my approach. Support was
there. One of NAMIC's members had already become a DigitalSista.
Check out her column on the site, Sanyika Boyce Calloway.
But,
as it turned out, I only had a chance to talk to her,
three African American female students from Penn State
University, my friend from Comcast, Stephanie Lowe, and
one of her co-workers, once at the reception Monday night.
The
next morning at the opening session, someone came and
told the woman sitting two seats from me that a plane
had crashed into the World Trade Center building. That
young lady got up and left and the woman next to me turned
around and said to me and those sitting behind us, "Did
you hear what she said, a plane crashed into the World
Trade Center building." We looked at her, shook our
heads in disbelief, and turned our attention back to the
keynote speaker.
About
15 minutes later I had to leave to come back to Philly
to moderate a Digital Divide session at the Council For
Urban Economic Development (CUED) conference. (I had planned
to return to NYC by 6 p.m. that evening). When I tried
to get a cab outside the hotel to take me to Penn Station,
the driver told me that he couldn't take me because "a
plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, and he
was too upset to drive." He told me that I didn't
need to go anywhere but home because it looked like we
were going to war.
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