LULAC Remembers: 25 Years After Sept. 11, Honoring the Lives We Lost and the America That Answered
Nation's oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization marks the anniversary with a tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed and to the strangers who helped one another without asking who they were
WASHINGTON — The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) today marks 25 years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with a solemn remembrance of the nearly 3,000 people from more than 90 countries and every walk of American life who were killed in New York City, at the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. LULAC remembers them by name, by family and by the country they shared, and it remembers the ordinary Americans who, in the worst hours of that day, chose one another.
"On Sept. 11, Americans of every background ran toward danger to save people they did not know and might never otherwise have met," states Roman Palomares, LULAC national president and chairman of the board. "They did not ask about politics, faith, birthplace or station in life. They asked only who needed help. That is the America we remember today, and that is the America we honor: the one that showed itself in stairwells and on sidewalks, aboard Flight 93 and in the corridors of the Pentagon, when firefighters, police officers, medics, office workers, flight crews and passengers gave everything for people whose names they never learned," he adds.
Those killed that morning were citizens and immigrants, executives and dishwashers, clergy and cadets, parents and newlyweds. Among them were Latinos of many nationalities, from the kitchen staff at Windows on the World to the first responders who climbed the towers, and many were the sons and daughters of families who had come to this country for the very freedom the attacks were meant to destroy. Twenty-five years later, LULAC holds their memory alongside that of the responders and recovery workers who have since died of illnesses contracted at Ground Zero, and of the families who have carried an empty chair at every table since.
"We were united on Sept. 12, 2001," says Juan Proaño, LULAC chief executive officer. "Nobody imposed that on us. We chose it, because we understood that the attack was aimed at what we share, not at what separates us. Neighbors lined up for blocks to give blood. Restaurants fed rescue crews without sending a bill. Strangers drove strangers home. The truest way to honor those we lost is to remember how we treated one another in the hours after, and to carry that forward as their legacy," adds Proaño.
LULAC honors the memory of every life lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and the families, first responders and survivors who carry that day with them still. LULAC councils across the nation are encouraged to observe a moment of silence today and to remember, with gratitude, a generation of Americans who answered the darkest day in modern American history with courage, compassion and an unbroken sense of common purpose. We renew our commitment to the values they died believing in: that every person has dignity, that every life is worth saving, and that we are at our best when we stand together.
###
About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation's oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization. Founded in 1929, LULAC is committed to advancing the rights and opportunities of Latino Americans through advocacy, community building, and education. With a growing network of councils nationwide, LULAC remains steadfast in its mission to protect and empower millions of Latinos, contributing daily to America's prosperity. For more information about LULAC and its initiatives, please visit www.lulac.org/.