Sunday, November 27, 2016

Let the Holiday Campaign Begin for Rev. Edward Pinkney!




By Polly Hughes
November 26, 2016 

"Therefore, if you can, along with any card or letter, please include 3-4 sheets of lined paper that he can use for his writings."  (address also in post below this)

Recently, Reverend Edward Pinkney was abruptly transferred out of West Shoreline Corrections Facility in Muskegon Heights to Brooks/Fremont Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights. He was driven around in a van for about 30 minutes before ending up at Brooks/Fremont, which is basically across the street from West Shoreline! Both facilities are at 2500 S. Sheridan! 
What is behind this latest move? We only can surmise that it is a typical tactic used by departments of corrections to cause confusion, isolate prisoners, keep families and friends from inmates; in other words, it’s a “show them who’s boss” mentality that costs taxpayers unnecessarily and puts stress and hardships on not just the inmates, but on their loved ones. 
Rev. Pinkney reports that Brooks/Fremont is worse than the Marquette facility—a fact that is difficult to comprehend. We all know the conditions at Marquette: walls covered with black mold, unsanitary conditions, rotten and inedible food, hostile prison officials, a warden with an iron fist, poor medical treatment, and much more. 
When Dorothy Pinkney and I visited the Reverend on Saturday, November 19, he was in good spirits, talkative, joyful to have visitors, and he was hungry. At West Shoreline, visitors can bring in quarters to purchase a variety of vending machine foods for the inmate. Microwaves are provided to heat up sandwiches. He ate plentifully and talked about how much he had learned while being incarcerated for the past two years. The Reverend is always just as interested in the lives of his visitors, in their opinions and activities as he is in talking about the deplorable conditions he has endured over the past two years. He is genuinely appreciative of others, and every time I speak with him, it is a lesson in self-sacrifice, devotion to others, and compassion.
Rev. Pinkney was looking forward to the next weekend’s visit on Friday, November 25, the day after Thanksgiving. The plan was for a visit from Dorothy along with their daughter and grandson. On the 21st he was moved, and the fear was that his visits and his phone calls would be interrupted, perhaps suspended for a time. However, he did receive the family visit on the 21st and his phone calls resumed. He is so grateful for family members, friends, and supporters. 
Rev. Pinkney has repeatedly expressed his gratitude for all the birthday cards he received—about 250 from around the world! He is looking forward to receiving your holiday cards in celebration of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, etc. He told us that the cards and letters he receives give him great joy, hope, and a real connection with others, and the communication lets him know so many individuals are aware of the injustice so many are suffering. 
Now that he is at Brooks/Fremont, his wife will have to order more pre-packaged food for him (through the prison system) that is edible (rather than eating the rotten, worm-infested food that is served daily). There are vending machines available at Brooks/Fremont, but they contain only snack foods; no sandwiches or any healthy fare is offered, and there are no microwaves for inmates’ use. 
He is determined to give the prison system as little funds as possible, but he must continue to speak out, and one means is by writing blogs and articles. Therefore, if you can, along with any card or letter, please include 3-4 sheets of lined paper that he can use for his writings. If we all write to him and send paper to him every month, he would be kept busy with his reading, research and writings until his 2.5 years are up in June 2017—a day we are all looking forward to celebrating with him. His freedom, his life, his family have been sacrificed for far too long. #FreeRevPinkney 

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Rev. Pinkney's new address

Reverend Edward Pinkney, #294671
Brooks/Fremont Correctional Facility 
2500 S. Sheridan Dr. 
Muskegon Heights, MI 49444

Monday, November 21, 2016

Attention: Rev. Pinkney Will Be Transferred

Rev. Edward Pinkney, political prisoner and civil rights activist, will be transferred from West Shoreline Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, to an unknown facility. We will give an update on his final destination when we know it. This is an abrupt transfer and Rev. Pinkney does not know at this time to which correctional facility he will be moved.

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Happy Birthday, Rev. Pinkney!

Here are more photos and video from the Oct. 24 birthday party in Detroit for Rev. Pinkney! Thanks to Moratorium Now who supplied postage stamps for birthday cards and frequently monetary donations to Rev. Pinkney's Legal Fund. A birthday cake and punch were supplied by Marcina Cole of Observers In the Court. Many thanks to Leona McElevene for the photos and video!

Photo credit: Leona McElevene

Photo credit: Leona McElevene



Marcina Cole and David Sole speaking at celebration of Rev. Pinkney's birthday.
Video credit: Leona McElevene

Friday, November 18, 2016

The All-White Jury, that has never been under a Dictator Emergency Manager, is a tool of the Establishment

By Rev. Edward Pinkney
Let the truth be told. As it is known, I was convicted by an all-white jury that ignored the law and evidence in reaching a capricious verdict, by a jury that based its verdict on unrevealed, deeply held prejudices. The verdict against me was not based on a desire to achieve a fair or moral outcome. 
This all-white jury had never been under the Emergency Manager Law. Not one of the members of the all-white jury lived in Benton Harbor, a city with a 96% Black population or in Benton Harbor Township, which is 70% Black. Not one single juror knew the power of the Emergency Manager. 
In 2010, Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed an Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) under Public Act 72 to assume control over Benton Harbor’s finances. This EFM was one of a number appointed across Michigan in the 2000s. The EFM had limited power initially. However, in 2011, the Michigan legislature passed Public Act 4 which gave the EFM much broader powers to overrule all elected officials and take dictatorial control of any cities and school districts the State deemed in need of management. 
Benton Harbor was one of the first cities to be assigned an EFM when the people of Michigan overturned Public Act 4 by referendum in 2012. But, the legislature thumbed its nose at the people of the State Michigan and promptly passed a new, even more dictatorial, version of the law, Public Act 436, which is not subject to referendum. 
The Emergency Manager Law allows EFMs to take over cities and school districts, to replace local officials, to sell public assets, to privatize public services, to dismantle collective bargaining agreements, and much more! EFMs are dictators in the service of corporations that have purchased our public officials. 
Between 2010 and early 2014, Benton Harbor had two separate EFMs, and they both stripped the elected city officials of their power, cut city spending and continued giving away public land to the greedy, blood-sucking Whirlpool Corporation, which has its corporate headquarters in Benton Harbor. 
The case of Rev. Edward Pinkney is but the latest saga in a ruthless pursuit of the naked corporate rule that is gripping the whole country. We are witnessing the establishment at work in its promotion of fascism.
The all-white jury has never been under the Emergency Manager Law, and members of the jury never knew of the dictatorship that exists in Benton Harbor. The jury never learned about the dismantling of democracy in the city of Benton Harbor. The attack on democracy in Benton Harbor shows that the corporate power structure is determined to crush anyone who stands in its way.
Benton Harbor and the State of Michigan, with their growing poverty and the assets of a city turned over to the banks and corporations, while establishing martial law, are emerging as the center of the fascist assault sweeping the nation. 

The all-white jury has exposed the establishment for what it is, for who they are. What we, as Americans, are facing is bigger than that all-white jury. It is the establishment using the all-white jury as a tool to complete the establishment’s mission. We must come together and confront this fascism being promoted, even forced, upon our nation and its citizens.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

A cake for Rev. Pinkney!


Birthday greetings to political prisoner in Michigan


pinkney-birthday-2016The Rev. Edward Pinkney, Michigan political prisoner, turned 68 years old inside prison on Oct. 27. The African-American community leader from Benton Harbor, Mich., has been receiving dozens and dozens of birthday cards from people around the country showing support for the unjustly convicted activist. In Detroit, supporters held a birthday party in Rev. Pinkney’s honor on Oct. 24.
Rev. Pinkney received added support when Green Party vice presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka visited him in the West Shoreline Correctional Facility on Oct. 19. Rev. Pinkney was able to tape a message of thanks to a Workers World Party forum in Detroit on Oct. 29, which featured WWP vice presidential candidate Lamont Lilly.
(Photo: Leona McElevene)
http://www.workers.org/2016/11/01/birthday-greetings-to-political-prisoner-in-michigan/#.WC2qR3eZPeQ

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Quote!

We found a quotation that is more than appropo for the decision to imprison Rev. Pinkney:

"Remember, when the judgment's weak, the prejudice is strong." 

-Kane O'Hara, (1711/1712-1782) 

Thursday, November 10, 2016

The Cruel Hand of a Broken System in Berrien County, Michigan

by Rev. Edward Pinkney

A heavy and cruel hand has been laid upon me, the Rev. Edward Pinkney, by cruel and evil people. I feel myself to be not only deeply injured, but grossly misunderstood. Our white countrymen do not know us. They are strangers to our character, ignorant of our capacity, oblivious to our history and progress, and they are misinformed as to the principles and ideas that control and guide us, as a people. The great mass of American citizens underestimates us as being a characterless and purposeless people; hence, we must hold up our heads against the withering influence of a nation's scorn and contempt.

The Supreme Court has now closed the courthouse doors to claims of racial bias at every stage of the criminal justice process from "stop and frisk," stops and searches to plea bargaining and sentencing. The system of mass incarceration is now, for all practical purposes, thoroughly immunized from claims of racial bias. The staggering racial disparities continue but never make the news. This system depends primarily on the prison label, not on prison time. What matters most is who gets swept into the system of control and then ushered into an under caste. The legal rules adopted by the Supreme Court guarantee that those who find themselves locked up and permanently locked out due to the war are overwhelmingly black and brown. 

The best example I can give you is my own case. I was convicted by an all-white jury that was motivated by something other than the truth, by a jury with unrevealed, deeply held prejudices, and by a jury with no desire to achieve a just, fair, or moral outcome. The Supreme Court has now closed the courthouse doors to claims of racial bias at every stage of the criminal justice system. 

During my trial, Mark Goff from the Michigan State police testified on the second day of the prosecution's case in chief. His testimony only indicated that he believed dates had been changed on the petitions. He had no opinion whatsoever as to whether Rev. Pinkney or anyone else had made the changes. He did not compare Rev. Pinkney's handwriting to the writing on the petitions. He also could not indicate how much time had lapsed, with respect to each entry, between the point when a date was first entered on the petitions and the point when a change was made, indicating changes could have been made minutes apart at any time or on any day.

Only in America is the judge white, the prosecutor white, the attorneys white, the jury all-white, the bailiff white, and all other law enforcement officers white, and the accused is black. The Supreme Court has now closed the courthouse doors to claims of racial bias at any and every stage of the criminal justice system. This is a cruel hand of a broken and corrupt system. 

In the land of the free and the home of the brave, my question is who is free? What do you do when the scales of justice held by the blindfolded lady no longer exist? This country of America is a fraud; it is corrupt and rigged inside the halls of justice. There is no justice here in America, in the State of Michigan which includes Berrien County. Stop the corruption of the rigged system!

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

Judges, Prosecutors and Law Enforcement are Parasites!

By Rev. Edward Pinkney
10.29.16
A worker is above all a producer. The judges, prosecutors and law enforcement are parasites who live off what the workers produce. All the material wealth, which is now in the possession of the capitalist class, was produced by the workers. 
What has the criminal justice system contributed to the production of this unprecedented amount of wealth? The answer is “absolutely nothing at all.” In fact, the system’s principle function is to guard the wealth for the capitalists and to protect their profits from the demands of the workers. The very essence of the capitalists is to use the criminal justice system to send the cops that practice the most inhumane brutality against Blacks, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Native Americans and all other minorities. 
The judges, prosecutors and law enforcement are the most parasitic social groups in society, are hired by the capitalist class through their agents to keep the mass of the people oppressed in complete subjection. They utilize all the forces and violence at their disposal whenever the people rise up in rebellion against the unendurable conditions imposed by the master class. 
The struggle that has taken place in recent years in Benton Harbor, Berrien County in the State of Michigan, is a case in point and one that holds a number of lessons for the American people. The fight in Benton Harbor is a war over whether Americans will have prosperity and democracy or live in poverty under the heels of open corporate rule, who are trained in the spirit of war against workers and the minorities that include not only Blacks, but also poor Whites, the homeless population,  and other minority races. 
The judges, prosecutors and the rest of law enforcement are nothing but mercenaries hired by the capitalist class to oppress the working class. Do not ever forget they are the most parasitic social groups in our society. When they do work, if that is what it can possibly be called, it is directed against the people to oppress, to destroy, to imprison, or even to kill!
The judges, prosecutors and law enforcement intimate collaborations in shady businesses, such as gambling and drugs, in order to maintain control of the masses. This is what the criminal justice system really is engaged in to keep the mass of the workers and the oppressed in complete subjugation. 
Judges, prosecutors and law enforcement are utterly inseparable from crime and corruption. One could not exist without the other; all are nourished and supported by the nature of the criminal justice system and the capitalist system. Every cent paid to the criminal justice systems comes out of the hides of the people, the workers. 

Let the truth be told. The attack on democracy is an attack on the workers. The attack on the poor people shows that the corporate power structure, along with its corrupt criminal corporate power, its corrupt criminal justice system, which includes judges, prosecutors and law enforcement in Berrien County, Michigan and all around the country, are determined to crush anyone who stands in its way. It is part of a process under way across America in various forms, and only we can stand up, speak up, fight back, and stop the crimes of the capitalist system!