“We have to educate the people,” says Rev. Pinkney from prison

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Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate in 2012, speaking at rally to Free Pinkney outside Berrien County Courthouse. PHOTO/SANDY REID, PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE
Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate in 2012, speaking at rally to Free Pinkney outside Berrien County Courthouse.
PHOTO/SANDY REID, PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE

I want to talk about the hearing on April 14. It was a major victory for us. We exposed a corrupt system. It showed they will do anything to crush you. They will lie, cheat, even kill, if necessary. We, the people, had the opportunity to actually see them in operation. The judge and the prosecutor work hand in hand with one goal: to keep me in prison for a crime that was never committed.
We’re dealing with people, government and the corporations—all working together. It is a true example of fascism. Nobody would believe that they would go to such extremes to keep the people down. It’s the rich against poor, the haves against the have-nots.
We must continue to fight this battle until the people understand. We must start educating the people so they will know exactly what to do. This is not conflict. We are at war. We must continue this fight until we win. There are more of us than them.
The problem is we are not educating the people enough so they can stand up and fight for what is right. Even here at Lakeland Correctional Facility, the people have been beat down so low they can hardly walk around with their head up. The medical conditions are unheard of. Michigan does not have a death penalty, but if you get sick here, you have almost a 75% chance of dying. I can’t imagine anything worse than being in prison. The conditions are unheard of. Food has been served with rocks and bugs in it. They have thrown food in the garbage and served it to the prisoners.  Nobody deserves the cruel and unusual punishment that the people are receiving.
The poverty in the country and the prison system is going to get worse before it gets better unless the people around the country take a stand and say, “no more.”
We must continue to fight for each and every one and educate them on the things they need to know. We only get information that they want to give us. We have to reach out to other sections of the population falling into poverty. We have to get out newspapers like the People’s Tribune to help motivate us and take us to a whole different level.
The fight has just begun. We have no intention of stopping. Enough is enough.
Oh my friends, if there is one thing we must see today, it is that these are revolutionary times. All over the world, men and women, as never before, are rising up against the old systems of exploitation and oppression. Out of the wounds of a frail world, a new system of justice and equality will be born.
I speak out against injustice, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all, with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example to the world.
We must stand together, Black, White, Red, Brown, and all others.
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