Daily Archives: September 12, 2009

Joseph J. Berry

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Joseph J. Berry How do you write about someone you never knew?

There’s a lot of information about Joseph John Berry — or Joe Jr., as his family and friends called him — on the internet. I could recite the facts that I’ve gathered, that he was Chairman and CEO of Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods, and that even though he worked his ass off, he valued family above everything else. Someone else already did that.

I see some of myself in this guy. I’m an entrepreneur. I hustle. I have my own company, go to school full-time to be a teacher (Mr. Berry taught math for a while, too), run a pen pal support group, and work a part-time job. I hope to grow my little web design company into something big, so that it replaces a certain web design firm in my state. I hope to make a difference in kids’ lives the way that some teachers made a difference for me. The way that, it seems, Joseph made a difference in his kids’ lives.

Like Joseph, I also highly value my family. I envision myself as being the kind of mom who greets her kids home from school with fresh baked brownies or muffins. My best friend is my sister. I love listening to my great-grandmother talk about when she was young. I know I can always count on my aunt. I don’t mind doing things with my family, where most people my age are trying to get the hell away from theirs.

Joseph J. Berry I didn’t know Joseph, and I never will. But when I look at his photographs, I don’t see a snooty CEO. I see a man full of warmth and a big heart in his soft eyes.

I wanted to do this not because I feel like I have to, but because like Faiqa said, our nation never mourned our dead. No matter what you believe about 9/11, that is at least one truth. Joseph J. Berry — and all of the others who died that day — deserve to have their stories told. They deserve to be remembered. Not romanticized as if we knew them, but remembered as people who lived and breathed. Who worked. Who loved their families.

Loose Change

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First off, I’m not insensitive. I’m not an anarchist or anti-American. Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis or knows me in real life knows that. I realize that 9/11 is a sensitive subject for a lot of people, and different people handle it in different ways. I also realize that, no matter what you believe, 2,996+ (I say plus because that number does not include the accused or the firefighters and police officers who lost their lives that day, or the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in the war that was a result of that day).

Before I go any further, I want to invite you to watch the video that made me feel as if the top of my head had been blown off. Everything about 9/11 that I had taken at face value loses strength in the wake of this video.

If you watched that whole video, thank you. It’s hard to watch. The first time I watched it, I barely breathed. I didn’t speak throughout the entire hour or so that it played, and when it was over I didn’t say anything except “shit.”

Whether you agree with the theory presented in Loose Change or not, it still creates some questions that are tough to answer. It’s hard for me to question anything said in this video because everything stated is backed up very well. It makes sense for me. It’s fucking scary, but it also makes sense. Terrorists randomly deciding to snag a plane and crash them into a couple American monuments does not make sense to me. Going into war right after and not stopping to mourn or ask questions does not make sense to me.

Every year around this time, I think about what we were told and what this video says. I chew my lip and I do the math and it doesn’t add up. I admit that there are a lot of things that we were told that don’t add up. It’s easy for me to see how this video could be true.

I don’t think any of us will ever know, nor will our grandchildren or great-grandchildren. But I do think that we have to ask questions, that we shouldn’t take anything at face value.