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Reverend Pinkney’s Fight Against Racism, Gangsterism and Land Stealing
by
David A. Love | 12.13.2007
An outspoken leader in the fight against racial injustice, poverty, corruption and corporate greed, Rev. Pinkney was sentenced to jail by an all White jury for voter fraud. His crime was leading a successful effort to unseat a city powerbroker, and resisting corporate development of his poor Black community. --Philadelphia lawyer and journalist David A. Love has also recently written Hanging Hate: Backlash against the Jena Six case sparks an epidemic of public nooses, America failing its less fortunate young, The Intelligent Racists Are the Most Dangerous Kind, and reviewed "Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror," By David Cole & Jules Lobel. Listen to Love's presentation at the Dec.4 Journalists for Mumia press conference, which he covered for The Black Commentator.  Reverend Pinkney’s Fight Against Racism, Gangsterism and Land Stealing By David A. Love Published by The Black Commentator December 13, 2007 In Benton Harbor, Michigan, the injustice against Rev. Edward Pinkney continues. An outspoken leader in the fight against racial injustice, poverty, corruption and corporate greed, Rev. Pinkney was sentenced to jail by an all White jury for voter fraud. His crime was leading a successful effort to unseat a city powerbroker, and resisting corporate development of his poor Black community. In a May 10, 2007 commentary, Benton Harbor 2007: A Case Study of State Sanctioned Suppression of Voting Rights, Black Commentator editorial board member Larry Pinkney (no relation) sets the stage by providing an insightful analysis of the situation in Benton Harbor. Benton Harbor is a mostly poor (90 percent), mostly unemployed (70 percent) and mostly Black (94 percent) town of 11,000 people, located 100 miles east of Chicago. In fact, it is the poorest place in Michigan, and was called "the worst place to live in the nation" by Money magazine in 1989. Today, foreclosures abound and families are being decimated in Benton Harbor, while its residents are intimidated by police brutality and controlled by an unfair criminal justice system. At the same time, Benton Harbor rests on prime waterfront property on Lake Michigan, adjacent to the predominantly White and affluent town of St. Joseph, home of the Whirlpool Corporation, the largest company in the area. Both communities are located in Berrien County, Michigan, which is less than 16 percent Black and has transitioned from an industrial economy to a tourist, service and real estate economy. Whirlpool has had machinations regarding its poor, isolated and economically depressed Black neighbor. It bought 465 acres of Benton Harbor's prime real estate for $1 million - a modern-day equivalent of beads and trinkets - in order to pave the way for a $750 million to $1 billion private development project called Harbor Shores. The resort development will include two hotels, 880 luxury housing units, a marina and a Jack Nicklaus golf course. The project is of no benefit to the predominantly Black Benton Harbor residents. Pinkney and his organization, BANCO (Black Autonomy Network Community Organization) waged a recall election battle in 2005 to unseat Glen Yarborough, the powerful City Commissioner who was instrumental in making the land steal, or rather, land deal, happen. Yarborough lost by 54 votes. A local judge, Hon. Paul Maloney, said there was fraud, threw out the election and ordered a new one, in which Yarborough won by 40 votes and was reinstated. Maloney, who, as an election commissioner had voted against authorizing the language in BANCO's recall petition, and had alleged ties to the Harbor Shores project, should have recused himself. But President Bush rewarded Maloney with a seat on the federal bench in the Western District of Michigan. This makes sense, given the energy spent by the Bush Justice Department on the manufactured issue of voter fraud - a pretext for the elimination of voting rights for Black, Brown and poor people, in order to facilitate Republican electoral victories across the nation. Meanwhile, Yarborough sought payback. Pinkney was arrested and charged with voter fraud, amid sketchy allegations that Pinkney paid voters to vote against Yarborough, and that Pinkney handled absentee ballots. The prosecutor made use of a 1995 state law that makes it a felony to handle an absentee ballot of a person not a family member, even without evidence of ballot tampering or criminal intent. Pinkney provided poor Benton Harbor residents with address labels and postage stamps, but asserted that he did not handle the ballots. Pinkney's first trial in March, 2006, had two Black jurors. Witnesses were allegedly intimidated. There was a hung jury on all five counts against him. The prosecution called for another trial. This time, the National Lawyers Guild provided Pinkney's defense. The second jury was all White, not surprising, given the county's history of excluding African Americans from juries, a condition Rev. Pinkney spoke against for years. On March 21, 2007, the jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation. He was placed under house arrest. The selective prosecution of Black men is nothing new in America. Nor is the targeting of truth tellers and change agents. As hate crimes go unpunished, and as politicians and lawmakers commit criminal offenses against humanity, with impunity and without penalty, and pay no price for making deceitful decisions that cost thousands of lives, the Reverend Edward Pinkneys among us are fair game for prosecutors with lots of spare time, warped priorities, secrets to hide and interests to protect. And surely, they believe that a community leader who fights against poverty and racial injustice, exposes corruption and unseats the powerful, poses a great threat to the status quo and must be silenced. This gives the impression, firmly grounded in reality, that this is not our justice system. "There is a problem here," says Rev. Pinkney. "They are like gangsters here. They're pushing them out of the community." Although it is easy to conclude that hicktown justice is limited to the deep South, one could say that Benton Harbor and Berrien County, Michigan are little more than Jena, Louisiana North. The case of Rev. Pinkney is proof that these things still happen, and the struggle continues. His fight is everyone's fight, and how the story ends is up to ordinary, everyday people. Rev. Pinkney deserves clemency from the Governor of Michigan, and must be made whole for the injustices perpetrated against him. And Whirlpool products--including Maytag, KitchenAid, Magic Chef, Amana, Jenn-Air, Gladiator, GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Roper, Acros, Supermatic, Bauknecht, Brastemp, Consul, and Eslabon de Lujo - deserve a boycott by the public. Copyright © 2007 By David A. Love
-- Visit my Color of Law column at BlackCommentator.com
Visit my blog, Commentary by David A. Love, at davidalove.com
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Comments
Freedom of Speech
Submitted by Armin (not verified) on Fri, 12/14/2007 - 9:31pmThe fact that Rev. Pinkney sits in jail tonight cannot be tolerated. No matter what you think of his legal situation, he has been incarcerated because he invoked his right to speak. Being sent to jail for speaking is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. We must not allow this to continue.
Armin
Contact:
aschleiffarth@gmail.com
Rev. Edward Pinkey Jailed for Criticizin
Submitted by Abolish Racism (not verified) on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 9:00pmIssued by Global Women's Strike, Women of Color in the GWS, and Payday men’s network. 215-848-1120 or 323-646-1269 philly@crossroadswomen.net 12/16/07
Stop Press… Stop Press … Stop Press… Stop Press… Stop Press…
Black Community Leader of Benton Harbor, Michigan
Jailed for Criticizing Judge
In the latest unbelievable outrage against Black low-income residents of Benton Harbor, MI, community leader Rev. Edward Pinkney, who has been under house arrest since he was falsely convicted by an all-white jury of election fraud, has been jailed without the immediate option of bail for criticizing the judge who sentenced him. This persecution follows a successful campaign he led to recall a city commissioner considered corrupt and in the pockets of developers. He is now on a hunger strike until all this is resolved.
On December 14 at approximately 1:30 pm, the Sheriff's Department in Berrien County, Michigan arrested Rev. Pinkney and took him to the jail in St. Joseph. The sheriff also seized Rev. Pinkney's computer.
Background: Benton Harbor is 94% Black with an average income of $8,000/year. Rev. Pinkney and others in BANCO (the Black Autonomy Network of Community Organizations) regularly monitored courthouse proceedings, named those involved in corrupt and racist practices and opposed rampant police brutality particularly following the death of a Black teenager. When the CEO of Whirlpool (HQ in Benton Harbor) announced a “development plan” for 465 riverfront acres in Benton Harbor, BANCO’s leader Rev. Pinkney was outspoken in opposition to this land grab. BANCO succeeded in having a City Commissioner recalled for being in the pocket of Whirlpool (though he was later reinstated). But with so much money riding on it, the power elite attempted to criminalize Rev. Pinkney, accusing him of electoral fraud. Without either evidence or credible witnesses for the prosecution, an all-white jury found him guilty. Grassroots action succeeded in getting a possible 20-year sentence reduced to one year in jail and 5 yrs probation.
Until Friday, Rev. Pinkney was under house arrest – having to pay $84/week for the court tether he was required to wear in order to avoid serving time in jail. He was the only one under house arrest in Michigan who was being monitored by satellite.
Mrs. Dorothy Pinkney, wife and fellow campaigner for justice, reports that the sheriff's deputies presented a bench warrant to arrest the Reverend for violating the 15th condition of his probation (which she said they were totally unaware of) by being quoted in the Peoples Tribune newspaper as follows:
”The corruption and the deceitfulness continues in Berrien County Courthouse. Judge Butzbaugh has violated his oath. I support the constitution of the United States and the State of Michigan; we are still waiting on this racist corrupt judge to do the same. Judge Butzbaugh has failed the people, the community, his duties and his office."
What about Rev. Pinkney’s right to free speech under the Constitution? And why have they seized his computer? Have the sheriffs of Berrien County, Michigan nothing better to do than to persecute Rev. Pinkney? No violent crimes to solve, no rapists to catch, no people to protect?
The police examining Rev. Pinkney’s computer will find he and BANCO have supporters all over the world. For example, a delegation from the Global Women's Strike representing South America, Europe and the Caribbean visited Rev. and Mrs. Pinkney in mid-November, and are committed to gathering global support for him. “Benton Harbor’s struggle against racism and to survive in their own home city is our struggle,” they said.
Legal abuse and persecution of Afro-Americans in the Jim Crow South is flourishing in Michigan. We must not stand by while the white elite of Berrien County attempt again to silence a man whose only ‘crime’ is to be the voice of Benton Harbor’s Black community, calling out the racism and corruption of local government, police and courts.
ACT NOW. Demand Rev. Pinkney’s immediate release!
Demand that all charges be dropped against him and that he be released from house arrest!
1) Call or write with your objections
Call the Sheriff’s Dept, Berrien County Michigan and inquire about Rev. Pinkney’s well-being.
Sheriff Paul Bailey
Berrien County Sheriff’s Department
919 Port Street
St. Joseph, MI 49085
(269) 983-7141
Email: Pbailey@berriencounty.org.
Copy Letters to: Hugh M. Davis, Constitutional Litigation Associates, P.C., 450 West Fort Street, Suite 200, Detroit, Michigan, 48226. Phone: 313-961-2255; Fax: 313-961-5999; email: conlitpc@sbcglobal.net:
2) Demand Rev. Pinkney’s pardon and immediate release.
Gov. Granholm has the ability to pardon Pinkney or commute his sentence.
All individuals and organizations are urged to immediately write letters or post cards DEMANDING his pardon.
Governor Granholm
P. O. Box 30013
Lansing, MI 48909
517-335-7858 (call may not be recorded)
3) Send donations to BANCO
Legal Fee Donations (non-profit so it's tax-deductible):
BANCO
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
4) Write to the Editor of the main newspaper of Benton Harbor/St Joseph and say what you think of this outrage against freedom of speech.
Herald Palladium Newspaper (letters to the editor)
P.O. Box 128
St. Joseph, Michigan 49085
800-356-4262
5) Support Rev. Pinkney and Sign the Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/624471377
bhbanco.blogspot.com
6) Boycott Whirlpool and its subsidiaries, and spread the word:
Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator, GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Roper, Magic Chef, Acros, Supermatic. ABROAD - Bauknecht, Brastemp, Consul, Eslabon de Lujo.
Let Whirlpool know that’s what you’re doing:
Whirlpool Corp. (World Headquarters and N. America Region)
2000 N. M-63
Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692 Tel: 269-923-5000
7) Demand an immediate investigation into this injustice. Contact:
The Congressional Black Caucus. Phone 202-226-9776, mail to 2264 Rayburn House Office Bldg, Washington, DC 20515.
Your Congressional Representative. For phone number and address call 202-224-3121.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington DC 20510, demanding a full investigation into the Whirlpool corporate takeover of the city of Benton Harbor. Phone 202-224-7703.
8) Send us your statements of support and we will compile them and put them on the website. E-mail: womenstrike8m@server101.com
Statement from Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike
We call on all people of conscience, those who love justice, to take immediate action against this ongoing outrage. In the aftermath of the great electoral frauds of 2000 and 2004, Rev. Pinkney stands as an example of the power of the people to demand accountability from politicians and use of the electoral process as it was intended. His ‘crime’ is that he is refusing to bow down to illegitimate and corrupt power, but is instead tireless in the service of the community. Send a message to the body politic. Contact your elected representatives. Let them know we are watching them. Let them know you demand both an electoral system and elected politicians who serve the people. Call Sheriff Paul Bailey and inquire about Rev. Pinkney's wellbeing.
Signed Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike/ Bay Area San Francisco; Los Angeles; Philadelphia; England; Guyana; India (Chhattisgarh); Mexico; Peru; Uganda; Venezuela. email: la@crossroadswomen.net
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