PHOTO/DAYMONJHARTLEY.COM
MARQUETTE PRISON, MI — Some of my personal suffering over the last few years have served to shape my thinking. I always hesitate to mention these experiences for fear of conveying the wrong impression. A person who constantly calls attention to his trials and suffering is in danger of developing a martyr complex and making others feel he is consciously seeking sympathy. It is possible for one to be self-centered in their self-sacrifice. So I am always reluctant, but feel somewhat justified in mentioning them today, so everyone can know how I feel!
Due to my involvement in the struggle for freedom of my people: Black, white, brown, red, yellow, and all others, I have known very few quiet days in the last few years. I have known little peace. I have been arrested several times and put in Michigan prisons a few times. A day seldom passes that I or my family are not recipients of hatred. So in a real sense, I have been battered by the storms of persecution. I must admit that at times I have felt I could no longer bear such a heavy burden. I have been tempted to retreat to a more quiet and serene life, but every time such temptation appeared, something comes to strengthen and sustain my determination.
My personal trials have taught me the value of unmerited suffering. As my suffering mounted I soon realized there were two ways I could respond to my situation: either react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course, recognizing the necessity for suffering. I have tried to make it a virtue, if only to save myself from bitterness. I have attempted to see my personal ordeals as an opportunity to transform myself and heal the people of Berrien County, Michigan—from Judge Sterling Schrock, prosecutor Mike Sepic, Sheriff Paul Bailey, County Clerk Sharon Tyler, Election Clerk Carolyn Toliver, and Juror Gail Freehling, who are involved in this tragic situation. I have lived these last few years with the conviction that unearned suffering is redemptive.
There are some who find the cross a stumbling block and others consider it foolishness, but I am more convinced than ever that it is the power of God unto social and individual salvation. So like the Apostle Paul, I can now humbly yet proudly say: I bear in my body the Mark of the Lord Jesus. The suffering and the agonizing moment through which I have passed over the last few years have also drawn me closer to GOD. More than ever before, I am convinced of the reality of a personal GOD!
I now understand the hypocrisy of the corrupt Berrien County criminal justice system which has no limit. My suffering will not be in vain.
Rev. Pinkney and the corporate takeover of Michigan
From the People’s Tribune
Rev. Edward Pinkney sounded the alarm early on about the threat of the emergency manager system of corporate dictatorship in Michigan, which denies democracy so corporations can buy up public resources. For this, he was imprisoned without evidence on phony charges in his community’s ousting of a corporate-backed mayor. Michigan is now criminalizing those fighting for the people’s water rights. Like Pinkney, these leaders are coming up against the same corporate-run emergency manager system; it ushered in the state’s massive water shutoffs and the poisoning of Flint’s water.
The fight to free Rev. Pinkney is the fight to stop the corporate takeover of our country. It is the fight for democracy itself.
Keep the Pinkney case in the public eye. Donate at bhbanco.org. Write Rev. Pinkney at: Rev. Edward Pinkney #294671, West Shoreline Correctional Facility, 2500 S. Sheridan Drive, Muskegon Heights, MI 49444.
