<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div id="container" class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div id="reader-header" class="header" style="display: block;"> <font
size="-2"><a id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/13/chelsea-manning-prison-sentence-commutation">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/13/chelsea-manning-prison-sentence-commutation</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Chelsea Manning: to those who kept me
alive all these years, thank you</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">Chelsea E Manning - 13
February 2017 <span class="content__dateline-time"><br>
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="content">
<div id="moz-reader-content" class="line-height4"
style="display: block;">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"
xml:base="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/13/chelsea-manning-prison-sentence-commutation">
<div class="content__article-body from-content-api
js-article__body" itemprop="articleBody"
data-test-id="article-review-body">
<p><span class="drop-cap"><span class="drop-cap__inner">T</span></span>o
those who have kept me alive for the past six years:
minutes after President Obama announced the commutation
of my sentence, the prison quickly moved me out of
general population and into the <a draggable="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/24/chelsea-manning-suicide-attempt-solitary-confinement-health-experts"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">restrictive
housing unit </a>where I am now held. I know that we
are now physically separated, but we will never be apart
and we are not alone. Recently, one of you asked me
“Will you remember me?” I will remember you. How could I
possibly forget? You taught me lessons I would have
never learned otherwise.<br tabindex="-1">
</p>
<p>When I was afraid, you taught me how to keep going.
When I was lost, you showed me the way. When I was numb,
you taught me how to feel. When I was angry, you taught
me how to chill out. When I was hateful, you taught me
how to be compassionate. When I was distant, you taught
me how to be close. When I was selfish, you taught me
how to share. </p>
<p>Sometimes, it took me a while to learn many things.
Other times, I would forget, and you would remind me.</p>
<p>We were friends in a way few will ever understand.
There was no room to be superficial. Instead, we bared
it all. We could hide from our families and from the
world outside, but we could never hide from each other.
</p>
<aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail
element-rich-link--upgraded" data-component="rich-link"
data-link-name="rich-link-1 | 1">
</aside>
<p>We argued, we bickered and we fought with each other.
Sometimes, over absolutely nothing. But, we were always
a family. We were always united. </p>
<p>When the prison tried to break one of us, we all stood
up. We looked out for each other. When they tried to
divide us, and systematically discriminated against us,
we embraced our diversity and pushed back. But, I also
learned from all of you when to pick my battles. I grew
up and grew connected because of the community you
provided. </p>
<p>Those outside of prison may not believe that we act
like human beings under these conditions. But of course
we do. And we build our own networks of survival. </p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/24/chelsea-manning-suicide-attempt-solitary-confinement-health-experts"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">after
I tried to end my life. </a>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>From where I am now, I still think of all of you. <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/17/chelsea-manning-sentence-commuted-barack-obama"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">When
I leave this place in May,</a> I will still think of
all of you. And to anyone who finds themselves feeling
alone behind bars, know that there is a network of us
who are thinking of you. You will never be forgotten. </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>