Rev. Pinkney's energy and optimism
after eight months behind bars for a crime he did not commit was
amazing, but he was also sober about his situation.
Rev. Pinkney wanted to know, have you
ever heard of the First Alabama Cavalry or the name Newton Knight?
Not likely. It was a story written by Paul Wilcox. The capitalist
media have always promoted stories of “former Confederate soldiers”
who loyally served the Confederacy, loved General Robert E. Lee, had
no issues with slavery, and so on. But there is another story. A
hidden history of poor whites' opposition to the Confederacy and to
slavery.
Newton Knight was a poor white farmer
who fought the Confederacy with all his might. The First Alabama
Cavalry was an anti-slavery, pro-Union cavalry mostly white, but also
with Blacks, about 2,000 in total, whose members fought the
Confederacy and eventually were escorts for Gen. Sherman during his
historic march through Georgia in 1864.
The greatest opposition to slavery came
from the enslaved themselves, who always had escape in mind, who
aided both the Union Army and Confederate deserters, fought for the
right to fight the Confederacy, and heroically struggled for their
freedom at every turn. There was also significant opposition to the
Confederacy from poor whites in every slave state.
Rev. Pinkney's activism and kindness
have won him the respect and admiration of many of the poor white
prisoners, along with over 95% of the Black prisoners. We must stand
together and fight back, Blacks, whites, poor whites, and all others.
It is not just one thing, it is everything.
