The Food Strike at Marquette Branch Prison

Let the truth be told, Rev. Edward Pinkney said: we are not eating at Marquette Branch Prison Chow Hall, for months the prisoners have been served rotten, spoiled, rodent infected waste. Food with maggots and worms. We are demanding better food, reform of the prison system, as well as humane treatment and stop torturing the prisoners.

At Marquette Branch prison on May 24, 2016 over 700 prisoners refused to go to the Chow Hall. Blacks, whites, browns, red, and yellow, plus all others. It was a tremendous show of power. The prisoners took control of the prison and will not give it back.

There is more power in organized masses of prisoners on the march than there is in guns in the hands of a few desperate men.

It is necessary that with a huge, unarmed but resolute mass of people. It is necessary that the mass action method be persistent and unyielding.

This method inspired and organized the prisoners: blacks, whites, browns, red and yellow and all others. This disorganized and demobilized the prison system like never before.

All history teaches us that like a turbulent ocean beating great cliffs into fragments of rock, the determined movement of people incessantly demanding their rights to humane treatment always disintegrates the prison old orders.

It is this form of struggle - non cooperation with evil through mass action, never letting them rest, which offers the more effective road for those who have been tempted and goaded to violence. It needs the bold and the brave because it is not free of danger. The prisoners face the vicious and evil Michigan department of Corrections squarely. It requires dedicated people.

Michigan Department of Corrections classified the protest as a riot which is unbelievable, so Michigan Department of Corrections could force Trinity food service to refund thousands and thousands of dollars that MDOC had already paid for, which the prisoners over 700 refuse to go to the Chow Hall to eat the rotten spoiled, rodent infested waste which includes maggots worms and bugs, the inhuman treatment continues.

Michigan Department of Corrections director Heidi Washington and Warden Robert Napel retaliated against the prisoners with a forced lockdown over 50% of the prisoners are moved to a different location inside the prison, including myself, retaliation comes with the territory by the MDOC Director Washington, Warden Napel. Become a dedicated fighter for human rights make it a central part of your life. It will make you a better person, enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. Make a career of humanity, commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights. The prisoners are demanding human rights that has been taken away by MDOC.

Rev. E. Pinkney
Marquette Prison