Silva is director of engagement at YOUnify.
“But what can I do?” That’s the question I heard most often after speaking with groups about the challenges of our time. It didn’t matter what the subject was. It could be homelessness, the racial tensions, political divides, economic disparity, political polarization or any of the many other human-created issues that often make us feel disempowered. That common refrain would be spoken time and time again: ”But what can I do?”
For a long while, I thought that people were genuinely asking me a question, and I was ready with an answer. I had an endless list of things they can do, or stop doing, to create the world or at least the country that so many of us profess to want. Let’s face it, if people wanting better communities, a better democracy, greater relationships, justice and equity, etc., was enough to make it happen, nearly everything we complain about today would vanish. Many of the systems, policies and institutions that deter us from sinking into utter turmoil would be unnecessary and every -ism (racism, sexism, ableism) that we argue over would be replaced with an -ity (humanity, civility, unity) that is indicative of individual and relational thriving.
Unfortunately, the chasm between wanting and having is vast and it will not be overcome by giving ourselves credit for wanting what we are unwilling to help create. We have to do something. Fortunately, we live in a time when there are a lot more opportunities to do something toward creating the world we want than ever before.
“Talking is not doing nothing!”
For going on two decades now, I have been in the talking business in one way or another. Whether it was being a linguist, a salesperson or a pastor, I have used words to invite people into more expanded possibilities. I have essentially been paid to use words effectively. And as such, I do not take talking for granted. It makes the world go round. Every single time we enter into an intentional conversation and are present with the encounter, most especially with someone who sees the world in a way that challenges us in some way, the world of every participant expands. And when that happens our capacity for creating the world we say we want increases.
“Guided conversation is the relational engine that drives community transformation forward.”
If the person I am today could talk to the person I was 30 years ago, I would thank him for asking questions and listening to the stories of different people. Any single person can only observe so much. We have to rely on others to help us see the bigger picture even if we disagree on how they interpret what they see. So one thing that anyone can do is work toward having those conversations. Even if it is as little as committing to one conversation across differences a year, such as those recently offered by the coalition behind America Talks and the National Week of Conversation, that is doing something. And doing one thing toward creating the world we say we want is always better than doing nothing.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.