Alicia Zuniga could not talk about it.
The Bakersfield College student wept during a Tuesday prayer vigil as she discussed the terrorist attacks on the United States.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to take it seriously,” she said about the prayer vigil held downtown in front of the Liberty Bell.
“We need to join together more often. If we’re gonna have unity, we need to begin to deal with our own prejudices in our own lives and deal with the barriers that we create in our own lives.”
Merely hours after the news became public, a number of residents gathered to listen to local pastors and pray. For the community, it was a chance to unite and mourn together.
Among the speakers was Mayor Harvey Hall, who said the number of people who came was an indication of “the caring and giving attitude” of Bakersfield.
“It is a very sad day for America today,” he said. “It’s a very sad day across our land.”
Hall urged the crowd to mourn for the victims’ family and to give more of themselves in spirit and in caring to cope with the nation’s loss.
“This tragedy has never occurred in the free world,” he said. “Today, we must give to each other, and give to others, and constantly remind ourselves that as these tragedies are very unfortunate, we all will learn from it. We all hopefully will learn to care and love for one another, for all of America, and for all of our people.”
Senior Pastor Mike Popovich of Olive Drive Church said while this is a tragedy, it is not a time for people to turn on one another. In a prayer for the community, he said we would not “lose heart.”
“It is in our understanding that life is very fragile,” Popvich said. ” That we are mortal. That the immortality that God gives us can be the strength that we need. Even today I would suggest that within our city we don’t look for scapegoats. Do not do this. The acts of some should not be payed for by others.”
The vigil was a chance for BC students to unite with others in spirituality and put things in perspective.
“I feel America has been pretty spoiled, and there needs to be a change,” said BC student Rebecca Lotze. “America hasn’t done that many great things in my generation that I have seen that I have respected our country for, and this is the one time I feel proud of our country.”
Lotze said it’s sad that it takes a tragedy to bring people together.
“It’s shocking that it takes something like this to bring us together,” she said. “It’s a lesson for me, and I think it’s a lesson for a lot of people too. We need to be together and compassionate for our country every day, and the world, not just our country. There’s a lot going on out there that we just don’t think about, especially in America. There’s so much more out there, more than we can see.”