“I know many people who know somebody who died on 9/11 and others who have gotten cancer from 9/11. My dad swears he didn't get sick after 9/11 because of this woman, a stranger, who had to be carried out of the towers by medics. She stopped to give him a rag to put over his face while they were all running away from the buildings. I guess it shows that masks work, right?"

- Fiona (born in 1999)

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Since 2001, the war on terror has informed nearly all US international policies, the economy, and social and political relationships locally and globally. Although President Obama declared war on terror over in May 2013, the US remained in Afghanistan until September 11, 2021, with roughly 2500 troops still scattered throughout Iraq. From gun violence and school shootings to arming the police with military equipment, 24-hour cable news cycles, smartphones, and surveillance, the young people featured in this project have grown up feeling the impact of militarization exacerbated by the war on terror. This project investigates how the post-9/11 generation (defined as a generation that will live most of their lives after 9/11) makes sense of navigating the events of September 11, 2001, and the post-9/11 world.

”In my lifetime, throughout all of my schooling, we had lockdowns every time there was an active shooter nearby, so at least a handful of times a year. I was fortunate enough never to have been through that myself, but on the news, I’ve seen plenty of kids get murdered. We have issues of domestic terrorism people don’t even want to acknowledge in this country. 9/11 feels like another tragedy that happened in history, not that history doesn’t matter, but… so many tragedies are piling up daily; 9/11 is just another one.” - Kristen (born in 1998)

"I know many people who know somebody who died on 9/11 and others who have gotten cancer from 9/11. My dad swears he didn't get sick after 9/11 because of this woman, a stranger, who had to be carried out of the towers by medics. She stopped to give him a rag to put over his face while they ran away from the buildings. I guess it shows that masks work, right?" - Fiona (born in 1999)

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20 YEARS LATER

NEW YORK (2021 - Present)

"20 Years Later" is about memory and how historical events are taught and remembered. This portrait project investigates how the generation born after September 11th, 2001, in the United States has been taught about terrorism, the war on terror, and the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. When we talk about war and conflict, often, the lens is placed elsewhere, far away, with little or no introspection on the US’s ongoing transgressions abroad. This project investigates personal and collective memories about 9/11, militarization, and the war on terror within the United States.

This photo exhibit is part of a multidisciplinary project with a documentary theatre component that began in 2011 with “10 Years Later” (2011) and “20 Years Later” (2021). A company of youth actors devised both theatre projects through autobiographical and verbatim interview-style techniques. Excerpts from the theatre production can be viewed under the Video/Media tab.

View the photo exhibit on Social Documentary Network.

View the multidisciplinary project at Docbloc.

Text and Reviews:

“An Extended Moment of Silence: Reflections on How September 11 is Taught to the Post-9/11 Generation” Anthropology News, Fall 2023
This project was supported by the 2022-2023 CUNY Graduate Center and the National Endowment for the Humanities PDIG (Provost Digital Initiatives Grant), and the 2022 CUNY Graduate Center Publics Lab Grant.

“Luke” performed by Kristen Hoffman, Directed by Ash Marinaccio. This excerpt from “20 Years Later” is transcribed from an interview and performed verbatim.

Peter Kendall, cast member and co-creator of “10 Years Later” reads and responds to his piece from the script in 2011.