Some of the most heroic figures of 2014 showed that in an utterly depressing world one can tell the truth and still live, albeit with constant persecution. I would point out the three awesome people below:
1. Yassin Bey aka Mos Def....when commercial artists with less talent were making millions for their ludicrous lifestyles rapping about nothing this man correctly drew attention of the otherwise distracted to what went on in Guantanamo bay.
2. Arnold Abbot. You go Zadie! No, he is not my literal grandfather; but I think everyone hopes their days of old age will be as important as his. He could have been napping all day at the old folks center but instead he was actively defying the police to expose the inhumanity of policies against the homeless.
3. Chelsea Manning, who has continued to hold up with dignity under what is probably untold stress with a certain amount of dignity her nasty critics lack.
I think at this point in history many of us identify with being an individual having their soul crushed by an overpowering machinery that is the larger society. And nobody cares.
I'll be trying to write some open letters to prisoners of conscience as apparently in some cases their governments monitor how they look in the court of global public opinion. Fortunately for me they do it through some really imprecise methods, such that this blog may tick off a counter in some global public opinion surveillance algorithm. I hope my first letter "hits" home to make a bit of a nerdish pun- as in my home by birth- the USA.
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Dear Chelsea Manning,
Thank you for showing the world about what modern war can feel and look like. I'm convinced many people passively support wars only because they have no personal experience in them so it can become about abstractions and slogans.
The first time I was in a bombing was September 11th 2001. I lived in Brooklyn but worked in Manhattan in the laboratory of a medical school. My train stopped, so I got out and walked. Someone had left an abandoned car open and the radio was playing. They urged everyone who worked in a hospital to report to the hospital. I figured I should go into my lab. I walked through the chaos for many blocks until at some point I think I caught a bus. There is a blank in my memories from seeing all this stuff swirling in the air until I was sitting in my laboratory talking to my boss on the phone. My boss had smartly run to a bomb shelter when the first plane hit. Apparently lab members mocked him as paranoid, right until the second plane hit, at which point they all started freaking out. I can't tell you how saddened I am that what I and many others went through turned into an excuse for what is apparently an endless war against people who for the most part had nothing to do with this.
I share your belief that life is precious. In fact shortly after 2001 I left my lab job and went to medical school. In the beginning was not particularly a natural talent at learning medicine to put it mildly. At one point I tried to drop out of medical school, and took a job as a dishwasher. Then I realized I hated washing dishes as a profession much more than I ever imagined. Long story short in spite of a pretty bizarre path, I became a doctor. Once I taught myself how to memorize large quantities of material, I was fine. I was able to pass my licensing exams pretty easily. I want to tell you that my experiences taught me the value of never giving up. I am not at all comparing studying to prison; I'm just saying don't give up and don't despair even if you are facing of 35 years in prison. Sometimes things turn out in ways we never ever expected.
I read some things you wrote. You seem to be holding up very well mentally considering the circumstances. I thought your commentary on how to combat ISIS was interesting. I hope you can continue to use the publicity around yourself to get publicity towards the mess we Americans are creating in the middle east. I hope you continue to hold up in spite of the many small miseries of prison I can only imagine. I hope you know that many people do not see you as criminal. I think a lot of people know, secretly, that the biggest criminals in our country are not in jail but rather in our government.
I wrote the white house several times about you because I think you are a patriot who deserves freedom. I know no one there really cares about what I think, but many people are writing these types of letters for you. Our hope is that at some point there will be so many letters they can no longer ignore us. Please continue to write. I'm sorry you have to suffer so much. As they say "freedom isn't free."
I and many other people are very grateful to you.
Love,
Makeda
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