Thursday, October 20, 2016

VP Candidate Ajamu Baraka Meets Privately with Rev. Pinkney!

On Wednesday afternoon, October 19, Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka visited Michigan’s political prisoner Reverend Edward Pinkney at the West Shoreline Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights. 
This visit was highly anticipated by Rev. Pinkney along with his wife Dorothy, friends, activists, and supporters. Anyone who knows the facts about Pinkney’s egregious injustice foisted on him by the corrupt Berrien County criminal justice system will recognize this visit as a highlight in the struggle to free Rev. Pinkney. 
Not only was Rev. Pinkney excited about Mr. Baraka’s visit, but the other inmates, the prison officers, basically everyone at the facility, were looking forward to this event. According to the Reverend, “Everyone was excited and respectful.”
The private meeting found Rev. Pinkney answering the VP candidate’s questions, and Pinkney knew that Mr. Baraka had done is homework and had studied on his case. Rev. Pinkney was impressed with Mr. Baraka’s preparation and he described the meeting as “tremendous, respectful, exciting.” Rev. Pinkney felt comfortable and at ease with Mr. Baraka, a man who calmly “looked me in the eye” and discussed everything about Pinkney’s case: inhumane prison conditions, unhealthy quality of the food, the outrageous, false charges, not only of the forgery of dates on petitions, but also the attempts by the Michigan Department of Corrections to silence the Rev. (by accusing him of smuggling and misuse of phone privileges) to isolate him (by moving him to multiple prisons during the 22 months he has spent in incarceration), and to intimidate, harass, and abuse him.  
Reverend Pinkney wants Ajamu Baraka to know that he is “deeply honored” by this meeting. He knows the Stein/Baraka campaign is in full swing and crisscrossing the country in a valiant effort to educate, inform, and convince Americans that the Green Party is the only choice for America. Pinkney has been a long-time Green Party member and ran for Congress several years on the Green Party ticket. Dr. Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala have been friends and supporters for many years, and Rev. Pinkney publicly thanks them for their steadfastness in pursuing justice and equality for all, no matter what color, gender, race, or religion. He shares the Green Party’s values and, now, Pinkney is humbled to have witnessed firsthand what a great choice Dr. Stein made in choosing her running mate Ajamu Baraka. According to the Reverend, “For a moment, I forgot I was in prison; that’s how meaningful and compelling this meeting was to me.” 
After the meeting, Mr. Baraka held a press conference that was covered by WZZM13 of Muskegon. 

P. Hughes