Friday, October 02, 2009

Jeffrey Free Luers, final Dispatch from Prison


September 2009

The last nine years have been a long journey for me. During that time I have written extensively of my hopes and aspirations, my heartache and my loss. These dispatches have allowed me to remain an active part of this movement and a voice for earth liberation. They have provided me an outlet for the often painful emotions that come from being in prison.

When I began this journey many years ago in the back seat of a police car, I had no hope or any expectation but that I would walk this path alone. The overwhelming love and support I have received since my first night in jail has been constant and absolute. I have never had to walk this path without the support of my friends, family and thousands of unknown allies walking behind me.

I am eternally thankful to my dedicated friends that built my support from a handful of people into an international campaign. Their work and loyalty has served as the foundation for which earth liberation prisoner support is now based.

I owe so much to the people of this struggle. I owe you my freedom. Without the support I have received throughout the years and the demand for my release I do not believe my sentence would have been reduced.

For the rest of my life I will carry with me the memory of the years spent behind these walls; undoubtedly, they will shape my future.

However, the strongest memory of all will not be of the years inside. It will be of the years of solidarity; the demonstrations and protests, the letters and visits, and most of all the love.

To all of those who have supported me over the years, those who have read these dispatches and shared in my life I give you my never ending thanks. You have carried me through these years.

It is time now for me to end this chapter of my life. This will be my final dispatch. For many of us this is our goodbye, for a handful this is just the beginning.

All of you have my sincerest heartfelt appreciation and gratitude. You have shown me without a doubt that I was never forgotten and never abandoned.

This struggle, our cause, brings us together. Each of us is connected, every moment of resistance intertwined. Together we carry with us some ancient understanding of freedom and intrinsic knowledge that we must honor the land and water as sacred.

I will always carry this struggle in my heart. I will always remember the victories and bitter losses, the joy and heartache, the camaraderie and betrayals. This is our history, who we are, who I am.

I can give no greater tribute to this movement than a promise I will remember everything we gave, every sacrifice, every love filled battle cry and every heart broken tear. I will always remember. I will never forget.

-Jeffrey Free Luers

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