{"id":73932,"date":"2016-05-23T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=73932"},"modified":"2016-05-20T18:10:21","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T17:10:21","slug":"why-i-keep-fighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/05\/why-i-keep-fighting\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Keep Fighting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"021065-chelsea<\/a><\/p>\n

16 May 2016 – <\/em>Good evening from sunny Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.<\/p>\n

I wish I could be there to accept this award<\/a> in person, but since I cannot, I am delighted to have Aaron Kirkhouse accept it on my behalf.<\/p>\n

As you know, I am held in an American military prison with only a small library and without access to the internet. In this time of rapid technological advances in social networking and the machine learning age, it\u2019s quite an odd predicament to find myself in.<\/p>\n

Today, when once obscure online refrains are now finding their way into the global lexicon \u2014 \u201cpics or it didn\u2019t happen\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s easy to feel disconnected from a world exponentially intertwined and dependent on technology.<\/p>\n

As a military prisoner, my public persona is carefully controlled and enforced. Any interviews or statements that I make \u2014 such as this one \u2014 must be written or dictated through someone else who types it up on my behalf. I am not allowed to be recorded over the telephone, do any video interviews, or have any pictures taken \u2014 with the exception of the occasional grainy mug shot. For those living in my situation, it\u2019s easy to start feeling invisible \u2014 left behind and dismissed by the rest of a fast-paced society.<\/p>\n

Despite these obstacles, I know I need to keep going. It is important to stay vocal. To stay creative. Active. Motivated. To keep fighting.<\/p>\n

I keep fighting to survive and thrive. I am fighting my court-martial conviction and sentence before a military appeals court<\/a>, starting this month. I am fighting to make the full investigation<\/a> by the FBI public. I am fighting to grow my hair beyond the two-inch male standards<\/a> by the U.S. military.<\/p>\n

I keep fighting to warn the world of the dangerous trend in which the only information you can access is the kind that someone with money or power wants you to see.<\/p>\n

And, I keep fighting to let people know that they too can create change. By staying informed and educated, anyone can make a difference. You have the ability to fight for a better world for everyone \u2014 even for the most desperate, those at the bottom of the social ladder, refugees from conflict, queer and trans individuals, prisoners, and those born into poverty.<\/p>\n

Thank you all so very much for your support over the years, and thank you to Lady Hollick, Mr. Davis, and Dr. Dreyfus for selecting me to be the first person to receive this award. It is truly an an amazing treat. I\u2019m honored that my voice continues to be heard. Thank you for all for listening and choosing to fight alongside me. And of course, thank you to Aaron Kirkhouse for accepting this award for me.<\/p>\n

I am grateful to you all \u2014 for being here tonight, and being there for me tomorrow. Think what we might accomplish if we do one thing \u2014 perhaps a grand undertaking or even what may seem to be a tiny, insignificant gesture \u2014 each day with the simple goal of making the world a better place.<\/p>\n

Good night everyone =)<\/p>\n

_________________________________________<\/p>\n

Chelsea E Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) is a United States Army intelligence analyst. She writes for the <\/em>Guardian in her personal, civil capacity. Her opinions do not represent those of the US Disciplinary Barracks, the US Army, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or any other government department, branch or agency of the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 readersupportednews.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a military prisoner, my public persona is carefully controlled and enforced. Any interviews or statements that I make \u2014 such as this one \u2014 must be written or dictated through someone else who types it up on my behalf. I am not allowed to be recorded over the telephone, do any video interviews, or have any pictures taken \u2014 with the exception of the occasional grainy mug shot. For those living in my situation, it\u2019s easy to start feeling invisible \u2014 left behind and dismissed by the rest of a fast-paced society. Despite these obstacles, I know I need to keep going. It is important to stay vocal. To stay creative. Active. Motivated. To keep fighting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whistleblowing-surveillance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}