DeKalb Square Park held an open mic event Sunday afternoon in memory of Sept. 11 victims.

Attendees were encouraged to share their thoughts and emotions on the terrorist attacks that occurred 10 years ago. One participant, Rachel McPheeters, English teacher at Genoa-Kingston High School, shared a piece she had written in 2009: “A Teacher’s Question: Should I Lead Them in Remembering Today?”

“Any lesson that ignores the anniversary of September 11 and an opportunity to learn and grow from it seems to borderline on ridiculous,” McPheeters said during her performance. “But what do you say? How do you remember? What do you remember? Why should we remember?”

Speeches like McPheeters’ were only one way attendees expressed themselves. David Stocker, an Illinois Arts Council Artist-in-Residence, sang an altered version of the Star-Spangled Banner, with the lyrics expressing a desire for peace. Some rapped, others shared their memories about where they were when they heard the Twin Towers had been hit, or played on the bucket drums Stocker had brought.

Christopher Sims, event organizer and emcee, said the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 158 N. Fourth St., wanted the event run as an open mic to promote different opinions.

“I chose to do [the open mic] because it gave many other voices a chance to be heard,” Sims said. “An open mic is a very open venue for self-expression.”

Maria Ahmad, NIU graduate student in higher education, said she thought it was important to go to the open mic so that she could be together with other members of the community, even though she did not plan on speaking. McPheeters said she read her speech because she felt the event type would be “perfect” for her to share her experience of encouraging students to open up about their Sept. 11 experiences.

“I felt like, if I can pull this off, I want to run to this place and share,” McPheeters said.

There was no set list of who could speak or when participants should go into the gazebo to address the crowd. Instead, attendees spoke as inspiration or courage hit them.

Stocker closed the program by having onlookers beat five gallon drums as he played a guitar and sang a song that was written for International Peace Day.

“If people are looking for a smooth program where things are predictable, this is probably not the best thing,” Stocker said. “But it gets to the foundation of freedom of speech. This was important to do, even if nobody came or the place was packed.”