PHOTO/VALERIE JEAN
BENTON HARBOR, MI — The attack on democracy in Benton Harbor, MI shows that the corporate power structure aims to crush anyone who stands in its way. It is a process under way across America. After the once stable working-class community of Benton Harbor was devastated by automation and globalization, the community began resisting, fighting back and confronting the Corporations.
As concerned citizens of Benton Harbor, with support from our allies here and around the world, we protest the exploitation of our community by Harbor Shores, Kitchen Aid/Whirlpool Corporation and PGA of America.
The Harbor Shores development came about through the undermining of democracy, political pressure on public agencies, theft of public land for private profit, destruction of rare ecology, theft of water from the public and the continuing destruction of the very fabric of the predominantly Black community of Benton Harbor, which is already politically disenfranchised and economically impoverished.
Harbor Shores has refused to pay taxes to the city of Benton Harbor on all stolen land—645 acres of which is to become St Joseph land.
We hereby make the following demands on the 2020 Senior PGA:
We demand the cancellation of the tournament in Benton Harbor, MI. Unless these demands are accepted, there will be no peace.
We want the transfer of 25% of all profits of the 2020 Senior PGA to go to the citizens as partial compensation for stolen land and water for the purpose of meeting budget deficits and building affordable housing for the people of Benton Harbor.
We want you to acknowledge in an announcement at the Senior PGA event that the people of Benton Harbor have been exploited in numerous ways, including the theft of land for profit.
The failure to address these grievances and demands publicly at the event will reflect the collusion of the Senior PGA with the ongoing hypocrisy and exploitation of Harbor Shores and Kitchen Aid/Whirlpool Corporation.
Benton Harbor residents need jobs with a living wage, better schools and teachers, affordable housing, political self-determination, true democracy, justice, freedom, park land, and a future for our children. We must remember the opposite of rich is not poverty. It is justice.
Join us on May 23, 2020 in Benton Harbor, Michigan at City Hall, 200 Wall Street, at 10:30 a.m. for a mass demonstration. We will have speakers from around the country. Occupy the PGA. Justice for all.
More Voices from Benton Harbor:
“We can no longer stand back and do nothing. People are dying in Benton Harbor. Whirlpool Corporation will be taking over the Harbor Shores development in 2025. Benton Harbor received no tax dollars from this project. I will stand with Rev Pinkney
on May 23, 2020. Occupy the PGA.” — Quacy
