Posted by TheBlackList on January 13, 2009 at 6:30pm
From Freddie Pinkney
banco9342@sbcglobal.net;
Dear Friend,
We are making an urgent appeal for Rev. Edward Pinkney and his family due to a miscarriage of justice.
Summary:
First he was found guilty of election fraud by an all-white jury who were motivated by something other than the truth.
Then he was falsely accused of violating probation and sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison.
Rev. Pinkney was first criminalized because he angered Benton Harbor and Berrien County elite by speaking out against the racist environment, degradation, and corruption. He also was criminalized because he organized a successful recall campaign against a corrupt city official closely aligned with developers for Harbor Shores/Whirlpool.
The land grab Rev. Pinkney was fighting was the conversion of 22 acres from Benton Harbor's only public park on the shore of Lake Michigan for an expensive golf course. That course has just been approved by the National Park Service. Expensive homes, out of reach of the Benton Harbor black majority whose average income is $8,000 per year, are also being built on the surrounding lake and riverfront properties. The project does not include black Benton Harbor residents who are subjected to old-fashioned Jim Crow type racism. Berrien County intimidation against the poor black is rampant but ignored by the main-stream press, national civil rights organizations, and elected officials. It is absolutely outside of one's imagination to understand what goes on there.
Mrs. Pinkney has worked tirelessly and lovingly in the painstaking and exhausting behind the scenes work of going back and forth to the jail and prison trying to ensure that her husband received humane treatment in a brutal and filthy environment. At the same time she has been organizing for his appeal, trying to keep the family together, and put food on the table. It is women like Mrs. Pinkney who rarely are in the public eye and who's hidden work is rarely acknowledged. They are the ones who are most active in just campaigns.
We want to honor and support the work of the Pinkneys. Please join us in making a commitment to ensure that the Pinkney's home is not lost and that the Pinkney's are not left in dire financial straits. Your dollars will fight racism by going for the basic survival of Rev. Pinkney (who was released from prison on a $10,000 appeal bond), his family and his legal defense.
Please be as generous as you can. Your help is needed now.
Please allow me to thank you in advance.
Pastor Mary Gault
Make all checks to
BANCO
1940 UNION
BENTON HARBOR, MI 49022
More info: bhbanco.org
https://theblacklist.net/
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