When Ralph Poynter and I went to Benton Harbor, Mich. we saw the effects of gentrification and the firing of mostly Black folk (working class) by Whirlpool. The sole spokesperson for police brutality land grabbing is the Rev. Edward Pinkney. What happened in Ossining, NY is similar in terms of getting rid of the Ossining Chapter of NAACP by the NY State pres. Hazel Dukes. Former Lobbyist for the tobacco industry and now unofficially supporting the poisonous soft drink industry. This Chapter was too much for some folk. I spoke in Benton Harbor on the history of J. Bond, Hazel Dukes, James Gee, and Ben Andrews - all charged with crimes and in some cases reappointed to the National Board of NAACP. Benton Harbor and Ossining Chapters of NAACP committed no crimes against our folk. That is the treatment that the Ossining Chapter got after 70 some odd yrs. of service to the community. Now the Kneegrow middle class in Benton Harbor, Mich. has decided Rev. Ed Pinkney is too militant for the bourgeois kneegrows and Whirlpool. The "Silver Rights Leadership" have decided to move on Pinkney. They have tried to frame, jail him for 10yrs. and yet "He Still Rises" to overcome a most powerful enemy. Corprate ameriKKKa and the "Silver Rights Leadership" of the NAACP. IT SEEMS IT IS ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS.
SUNDIATA SADIQ
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I joined the NAACP this year when I moved back to Utica, NY as a gesture of solidarity with local people active in the community. I don't agree with the undemocratic structure of the organization or its close ties with the Democratic Party, which I believe along with the
GOP, does more to oppress black people, poor people, and people in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. and does nothing at all for self determination, freedom and liberation of poor people. The organization does some good work but I regret signing up and I wanted to let you know I just heard of your story and just burned my NAACP card. I haveto be true and faithful to my core beliefs and values as an anarchist and am unable to any longer associate myself with an organization that wants to share the table with the political and corporate elite. I find more inspiration from groups like SNCC, the Black Panthers, the IWW and many others and can find it now through the Occupy movement which I am a part of. I think you made the right move in creating a grassroots community group and I hope you see it flourish.
in struggle and solidarity,
anon.
Utica, NY
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The head of the NAACP on Monday compared the group's fight against voter ID laws that have been passed in several states to the struggle for civil rights in the 1960's.
What a hypocrite organization. In order to vote in any NAACP election you must have a picture ID. What a hypocrite organization. -- Rev. Pinkney
