October
2001
To
My Peaceloving Friends
By Pamela Rice
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I would not have tuned in to the TV special, “America:
A Tribute to Heroes,” which was run on over 8,000 broadcast stations
around the world on September 21st. I was sure it would be a crass,
over-acted display of flag-waving up-with-America. But from the moment
I began watching (my husband Alan had tuned it in) I was transfixed.
I can almost say it was the best thing I’ve seen on television
since I cried over something I saw on “Romper Room.” That
was a long time ago.
I especially knew it was a great show when I heard Neil Young sing
John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Perhaps the emphasis on heroism was not exactly the right way to go.
Maybe it was... Regardless, the TV special was immensely uplifting.
From beginning to end it was an unabashed, full frontal assault on
cynicism.
Let’s hear it for love, tolerance, dignity, and selfless generosity!
Sure there was incredible talent displayed, but that alone would not
have carried it. First, there was the soft-spoken, bursting-at-the-seams
sorrow: rightly so. How refreshing after the self-serving, giddy-on-revenge
George W. pep rally the night before at the House of Representatives.
Then the blockbuster stars, one after another, displayed their defiant
love of life, simply by performing their art and displaying human emotion
at its deepest. Unstated, they declared their absolute belief in the
fundamental right to human expression. It was raw, and it cut to the
quick. Our only defense is to continue to love and create. Even one
step down the road of hate, coercion, and revenge will be our undoing.
Pamela Rice is the author
of “101 Reasons Why I’m a Vegetarian” and president
of the VivaVegie Society, which houses the new Vegetarian Center
of New
York City. Call (212) 242-0011 for more information.
