(FinalCall.com)--Barry Crumbly, 41, is a senior government liaison for the American
Red Cross, a volunteer position, and on Sept. 11, 2001, he arrived at
the World Trade Center (WTC) at 9:15 a.m.
By then, both planes had hit
their targets and he had to get to WTC building seven, where the mayor�s
Office of Emergency Management is located.
According to Mr. Crumbly, 10 beepers are contacted immediately when a
disaster hits Manhattan, and he is one of them. "I call what I do the
three Cs," he said Sept. 5, 2002, during an exclusive interview,
standing across the street from where the twin towers once stood. He
said his responsibilities are to coordinate information between
government agencies and the Red Cross, to serve as a conduit with
officials from both groups and when not involved with disasters, he
collaborates by attending inter-agency planning meetings and emergency
management conferences.
For the Black community, he said, "I am concerned that Black people
think that being prepared for events such as September 11, 2001 is as
simple as buying a gas mask, and it is much more involved than that."
He said that for the last three years, every conference he attended
on disaster preparedness, included a discussion on weapons of mass
destruction and the World Trade Center being a major target, but the
discussions are not held in Black communities.
"We are standing on the island of Manhattan, and there are hardly
ever conferences in the Black neighborhoods concerning boating. In fact,
it is hardly a subject of general conversation," he insists. He said he
is the only Black in his sailing and scuba diving classes.
"My friends tease me because I spend time in upstate New York in the
Adirondacks, but on September 11, 2001, there were a whole lot of
messages on my machine wanting to know what they could do to protect
their families," he said. "Far too many of us have flashlights and no
batteries for them."
Mr. Crumbly is a proponent of Black self-help. A member of the Black
Farmers and Agriculture Association, he argues that Blacks in New York
must buy farmland in the upstate areas to "grow our own food." He added
that Blacks have become too complacent in the concrete jungles.
"The public is not informed of the real nature of the dangers that
are still out there," he said. "Look at what they are doing in Israel,
they are inoculating all of the people, their emergency response teams
are passing out gas masks to the general public. You would think that
[we] would be doing it here," he said.
People are not being prepared properly in New York for future
attacks, he said.
When asked if Black communities are included in the list of
vulnerable areas, he responded, "I know that institutions such as the
Metropolitan Opera House, the Federal Reserve, places on that order will
get government protection before they secure 125th Street in Harlem or
any housing projects."
Therefore, he said he has to get the message out that Black people
must think about what happened on September 11, 2001 and use it as a
wake-up call.
"We are as vulnerable a year later as we were on Tuesday, September
11, 2001," he said. "Government was caught off guard that day, with all
the knowledge and equipment that they possess, so why do Black people
think that we will be protected if there is another attack."
�Saeed Shabazz