Newark Mayor Praises ‘Power Of Love Over Hate’ On 9/11 Anniversary

NEWARK, NJ — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is asking residents of New Jersey’s largest city to remember the triumph of “love over hate” that took place in the wake of 9/11.

On Monday, Baraka was among the public officials across New Jersey that offered a somber reflection on the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 attacks. See Related: Essex County Mourns 9/11 Victims: 'We Will Never Forget'

“The City of Newark, in the company of good-minded people everywhere, stops to honor the 2,977 lives lost 22 years ago in a horrific sequence of acts that continue to defy all reason; senseless against the reality that what hurts one person, hurts all humankind,” the mayor wrote.

“What hurts one nation, hurts the entire globe,” Baraka added.

He continued:

“Today, once again, we reflect on what has risen up from the enormous pain and sadness of September 11, 2001, and realize that what survived is our memory of coming together, despite our differences, to console and heal each other. To offer each other undeniable reverence, compassion and hope. Maybe no other single day in modern history so clearly exposed the darkness of hate and the radiance of love in their fullest forms, side by side. The explosion of hate lasted but moments. But the surge of love that rose from that day can still be accessed to inspire courage and kindness.”

Baraka continued:

“As we stop to reflect all these years later, we realize that what has risen up from the depths of despair 22 years ago, is a mightily propelled and passionate hope for a future free from fear. What has risen from the unspeakable hatred that piloted those planes is an immeasurable monument to all that is good and honorable in humankind. What has risen up from the ultimate act of disregard for human life is profound appreciation for the preciousness and exquisite beauty of a human life lived in love.”

“So let us water those seeds, see the beauty in each other, and pay tribute to this undeniable evidence of the power of love over hate,” the mayor concluded.

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