The Guardian has a very moving piece by Chelsea Manning in which she thanks the fellow prisoners who supported her during her six-year incarceration for leaking evidence of US war atrocities. Manning is due to be released from prison in May, after President Obama commuted her sentence days before leaving office. Read an excerpt from the piece below, or the full text here. (Chelsea Manning also figures prominently in another piece publishing on e-flux conversations today, “Hacking Biopolitics” by Heather Dewey-Hagborg.)
I never would have made it without you. Not only did you teach me these important lessons, but you made sure I felt cared for. You were the people who helped me to deal with the trauma of my regular haircuts. You were the people who checked on me after I tried to end my life. You were the people that played fun games with me. Who wished me a Happy Birthday. We shared the holidays together. You were and will always be family.
For many of you, you are already free and living outside of the prison walls. Many of you will come home soon. Some of you still have many years to go.
The most important thing that you taught me was how to write and how to speak in my own voice. I used to only know how to write memos. Now, I write like a human being, with dreams, desires and connections. I could not have done it without you.
Image via the Guardian.