Rev. Edward Pinkney leads a protest while on house arrest May 14, 2007. Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe

Now the court has denied Pinkney`s motion for a new trial, rejecting claims that he had been denied a public trial because of restrictions to entry to the courtroom and failure of the video system in another courtroom where Pinkney supporters had to sit during jury selection.

Pinkney had already challenged the racial composition of the jury which heard his case. It was all white and was obviously not motivated by truth and justice. Berrien County Prosecutor Gerald Vignasky failed to arraign on the information and failed to obtain a waiver of arraignment. There were several more constitutional violations in the trial.

Pinkney was accused of election fraud after BANCO (Black Autonomy Network Community Organization) successfully recalled Benton Harbor`s powerbroker, supervised Councilman Glen Yarborough. Yarborough was instrumental in getting the city to give away its only beachfront and Lake Michigan Park to support a private resort, residential marina and Jack Nicklaus golf course development - a $750 million to a billion dollar value - for peanuts.

The effort to bring in the development was headed by the former chief of Whirlpool Corp., whose headquarters is in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph and has long been the largest employer in the area, although most of the manufacturing has now been eliminated.
Benton Harbor, the poorest city in Michigan - 94 percent Black, 70 percent unemployed, 90 percent below poverty level - happens to have a very valuable piece of real estate.

The property was sold for approximately $1 million dollars, probably less than the cost of one of the homes that is going to be built there. The project is now ongoing and there has been no benefit in terms of employment for Benton Harbor residents.

The city continues to deteriorate. Houses are being foreclosed and families are being systemically destroyed - sort of like the Palestinians in Gaza. Law enforcement in Berrien County assists this operation by arresting as many Blacks as possible and frequently removing them from the community. It all adds up. Land stealing always requires force. Rev. Pinkney concentrated on the criminal justice system - America`s best working railroad - repeatedly criticizing the courts.

The recall of Councilman Glen Yarborough, the esablishment`s most loyal servant in Benton Harbor, set off a firestorm of reaction resulting in an intense 30 days of raking over the community, terrifying vulnerable people and obtaining false statements, later recanted. Racist cops from multiple districts had a heyday of harassment and violence.

The forced statements were used to first attack the city clerk, perceived to be Pinkney`s collaborator in the absentee ballot vote initiative in setting aside the recall. The Honorable Paul Maloney played a unique role:

1. As an election commissioner, he voted not to authorize the language in BANCO`S recall petition against Yarborough. But when the prosecutor`s suit to set aside the election was assigned to him, he did not disqualify himself.

2. Even though there were insufficient disqualified votes to change the result, Judge Maloney declared that the election reeked of fraud and set it aside. Pinkney was not involved in the lawsuit and Benton Harbor to defend its own clerk in its election.

3. Maloney was associated with wealthy and politically connected individuals who promoted Harbor Shores development.

4. Maloney was rewarded with a federal judgeship in western Michigan by President G. W. Bush. Immediately after the election was set aside, Pinkney was charged with election fraud. His supporters were intimidated and threatened with prosecution. In his first trial there were Blacks on the jury who refused to convict on any charges. A number of witnesses who had been directly threatened in order to try to obtain their testimony against Pinkney refused to testify about the tactics of the police and prosecutor out of fear, although they have given written statements.

Rev. Pinkney was sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation. Thus far he is under house arrest wearing an electronic tether. He is restricted by court order from much of his physical and political activity.

How you can help

Send legal fees! The judge denied Pinkney's motion to be declared an indigent because even though he testified under oath, he did not provide written documentation. Pinkney refused to provide the documentation because he feared it would be used to drum up some kind of false statement charges against him or be referred to other law enforcement agencies to bring other charges.

The court is forcing Pinkney to pay for the transcript: $7,400 plus the fees and expenses. The appeal will be filed by Nov. 26, 2007. It will probably take 18 months for the first stage. Send all donations to BANCO, 1940 Union, Benton Harbor MI 49022.

Demand clemency! Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who visited Benton Harbor after the anti-police rebellion in 2003, promised to help eliminate the poverty. Instead, she supports the Harbor Shores development and appeared at its inauguration. But she cannot ignore the issue of Benton Harbor and the treatment of its Black community - particularly economically. Pinkney and BANCO were active in attempting to develop a sustainable economy for the residents of Benton Harbor.

We want 5,000 letters sent to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, P.O. Box 30013, Lansing MI 48909. Gov. Granholm has the ability to pardon Pinkney or commute his sentence. That is the next active part of the campaign. All individuals and organizations are urged to immediately sign up, write letters etc. in favor of clemency. We already have hundreds and hundreds of letters that we obtained for sentencing. We need updated letters and outreach.

Build the demonstration! There will be a mass demonstration on July 19, 2008, in Benton Harbor, Mich., for everyone in the country.

Write letters to Whirlpool and the Herald:

• Whirlpool Corp. World Headquarters, 2000 N. M-63, Benton Harbor, MI 49022-2692, (269) 923-5000

• Herald Palladium Newspaper Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 128, St. Joseph, MI 49085, (800) 356-4262

Boycott Whirlpool and its subsidiaries: Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator, GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Roper, Magic Chef, Acros, Supermatic. Abroad: Bauknecht, Brastemp, Consul, Eslabon de Lujo.

Buy instead from Whirlpool's competitors: Frigidaire, General Electric, LG, Samsung, Viking, Subzero, Dacor, some Kenmore, Electrolux etc.

Sign the petition at http://bhbanco.blogspot.com. Feel free to post comments or questions.

Email Rev. Pinkney at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Gordon Matthews reports

We would like to comment on the inspirational meeting on Western Michigan University's campus last Sunday. Clearly, Kalamazoo and Benton Harbor need to blend their efforts to establish a voice from the people regarding racism, corporatism and police brutality.

Kalamazoo resident Mary Watson sadly spoke about the police beating of her son. He suffered a concussion, broken facial bones, ringing in ears and no white can be seen in one of his eyes. He has never carried a weapon in his life. He is still in the Kalamazoo county jail and cannot get medical help.

Mary Watson has NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY HELP OF ANY KIND IN KALAMAZOO. Another speaker said people die every week in that county jail and no one knows about it. If you can help, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Kalamazoo's speakers, particularly Joseph Anderson, echoed speakers from Lansing and Detroit. The establishment, as witnessed through the police force, the city councils and the land developers, are getting away with practices that diminish the poor and the people of color of Southwestern Michigan. Benton Harbor is the worst. Kalamazoo needs to reach out to the citizens of Benton Harbor, which has the highest unemployment in the country and where people live in a horrifying state of institutional poverty and fear.

Whirlpool is currently working on stealing Benton Harbor land for a corporate development and a multimillion dollar golf course. As identified by the speakers, institutions are getting away with practices of racial profiling, jailings and land acquisitions while the cities of Michigan deteriorate because little ethical behavior can be seen on a federal and state level.

Clearly, the passivity of Michigan residents is catching up. We cannot rely on the judicial system. Corruption has become an acceptable precedent as set by the federal government with its contracts with Blackwater and the like.

Why do we turn away from Benton Harbor? Why do we accept what Whirlpool has done to them? Take a drive to Benton Harbor and then look for the parks, the museums and the art centers that Fred Upton's company has so generously built in St. Joe, a quarter of a mile down the road. Drive around the East Side and North Side of Kalamazoo. Drive around all of inner city Detroit. Drive around Lansing or Division Street in Grand Rapids. Then take a trip to the county jail in Benton Harbor - housed in St. Joe - or watch a court hearing in any one of the these cities. You may be videotaped by the police if you are watching in Berrien County.

Most of us can barely live with the horror of Iraq. Most of us need to barely live with the horror of Benton Harbor. Watch for civil rights fighter, Rev. Pinkney. They have him on house arrest for watching over the racial profiling in Benton Harbor and for speaking about the racism of Whirlpool. They locked him up. Then again ... he has black skin.

The speakers last Sunday made significant connections between our federal and local policies and the resulting acts of inhumane treatment of Black people. If we care about the humanity abroad, we also must care about the humanity at home.
A positive step would be elected police oversight boards with subpoena power in all Michigan cities. Information about them is on the web, one place being the Albuquerque, N.M., site, www.cabq.gov/council/abqrpt9.html.

Tag it:

?