A few years ago, after hearing from a friend about
Rev. Pinkney's problems in Benton Harbor, I finally
went there to check these stories out for myself.
The facts I discovered shocked me and gave me some
insight into the struggles that Rev. Pinkney and
poor people of color are facing today in Benton
Harbor.
I found that if Rev. Pinkney has any faults, they
consist of caring too much and speaking out too
loud and too often against the institutionalized
racist power structure within Benton Harbor on
behalf of those who are the most mistreated, justice
deprived citizens of Berrien County For this he
is paying a very high price. He has been
convi(n)ced of "voter fraud" which is a common ploy
often used against the civil rights workers of the
60's -- a trumpted up charge designed to silence
people.
Henry David Thoreau wrote of our fear as a
nation to speak out when we know it is the right
thing to do. A lone ranger fighting a pattern of
oppression, racial injustice and poverty has spoken
out and is paying for it. Is this the "history" we
want our children of the future to read about.?
Gloria Harb