Interview with Monica Iken

This transcript is based on videotaped interviews conducted by Great Projects Film Company for the documentary "America Rebuilds: A Year at Ground Zero," and has been edited lightly for readability. The interviewer's questions have not been included; the interviewee's initials indicate where answers to questions begin.

Monica Iken (MI): Former Mayor Giuliani was very helpful to the families, in establishing the family groups and letting us be the advocacy groups for the families. I was moved and honored to be a part of his discussions, sitting in at the round table in City Hall and really seeing that he understood what we were trying to say. There really was a constructive dialogue between the families and the people that involved the leaders. He did a phenomenal job in helping us to get noticed and be the voice of the families. And I really was moved to see how he said, "We need to make sure that we build the most beautiful memorial the world has ever seen and they will come to see it." And he changed his stance on that. He originally said it should be mixed and we should incorporate the memorial within a mixed use. And then he went and took a helicopter ride and it changed his whole view. Being up high, he saw the enormity of the space and realized that we need to honor those lives in a way that shows the world that we need to make the most beautiful memorial the world has ever seen. It's amazing to see how that happens and how people are changing their minds and really understanding that this is the most important thing we're going to do this century. It's world-renowned and it affects everyone.

MI: I was surprised that the mayor said we should build the most beautiful memorial on sixteen acres of land. I was kind of taken back because I didn't realize that he felt that way until the end. I think he really listened to us. He was very close to it as well. He was there and he has compassion and understanding and I think it took him some time to realize the enormity of what happened.

MI: To be honest, I don't know really how Monica Iken became Miss September's Mission in the light of advocating for the families. I don't really know how that happened. It just happened and I never said pick me to do the job. I just knew I had to do something. When this happened to me my whole life changed in a minute and I said I have to go on some kind of a mission to honor those lives and, at that point, it was about Michael and obviously now it's about all the lives that were lost that day. What could I possibly do being a civilian who lost her husband to honor him. And I didn't know exactly what that meant and until I started seeing that I needed to be a part of the memorial process and I have to make sure, you know, that we honor those lives. And that was why I started my mission. And with the help of a lot of angels to facilitate the process, I have been able to get a not-for-profit foundation started and have been recognized in the media. I don't even know how that really happened. I think it just happened September 12th when I was standing looking for my husband on our anniversary -- our two-year anniversary -- and I was captured on a news day. And I think that maybe started it going and I did things after that and the rest is history.

MI: Originally, it was very hard to see anything on that site because of the fact that that is our cemetery. We have nothing. The remains of our loved ones are there. It's a cemetery without tombstones. The leaders and the stakeholders are involved and realize that we need to have a constructive voice as families in order for us to be heard. Originally, different things took place. You're emotional. You can't believe that they want to build over dead people. There was no constructive dialogue taking place with the families and the stakeholders and the people that are involved with the redevelopment of lower Manhattan. We weren't involved in the process at all until the very end. So originally, you felt like you had to do whatever you could to get the message out that that is sacred and hallowed space and most of us won't get any remains back. And, of course, we had a little possession affiliated with that because that's the only place that we're going to have to go in the future. You know, that's where I want to go and be able to honor my husband and have something for the children of the future as well. I mean, we really have to think about how that is going to affect us and it's changing as the months go on. We're seeing that we can have constructive dialogue and some input in what's going on in the process and realize that we have to work together in creating a beautiful memorial, something that honors the lives that were lost that day and explains the qualities that land should possess for the future because it's not really about quantity. It could be thirty acres. It's really irrelevant. It's still a graveyard no matter which way you look at it. And acreage is not the issue now. Originally that was the issue because that's the size of the site. Now it's quality versus quantity. If they can show us qualities that land should possess for the future and how they're going to do that, then we can see how much land that will take to do that on.

1 >>