One of the important issues going on out here in
Berrien County, Michigan in the last couple years is the corporate
effort to seize the Benton Harbor
public beach from the people of that town. Benton Harbor is 20 miles
from the farm, and known as the poorest city in the state. Decades ago,
a family named Klock gave the lakefront land to the people of Benton
Harbor, so that everybody, no matter their income, might have access to
the lake; they named the park after their daughter, who died in
infancy. Jean Klock Park
is lucrative land in the eyes of Whirlpool, which has its headquarters
here and which exerts tremendous power in the area and over Benton
Harbor through various neoliberal machinations (setting up "non-profit"
corporations to assist the Benton Harbor government in giving away
public property) and through Whirlpool scion Fred Upton, who bought his
way into the U.S. Congress as a Newt Gingrich-style conservative back
in the day. Some big media attention has put the proposed seizure of
Jean Klock Park on the map, including an article in the Washington Post
by our friend Kari Lydersen and a Chicago Reader article a few weeks
ago. The group Save Jean Klock Park has plenty more information at www.savejeanklockpark.org.
What
Whirlpool proposes to do with the park is utilize its dunes as part of
a $500 million hotel and recreation complex, with a Jack Nicklaus
Signature Golf Course at its center. The whole development hinges on
getting those dunes, for three holes of golf looking out over the lake
are what provide the "Signature" in Jack Nicklaus' world. Whirlpool
promotes the project as one benefiting the poor blacks of Benton
Harbor, yet studies have shown that the whole shebang would likely
create a ridiculous 22 permanent low-wage jobs.
What has been written out of recent media attention are
the years of community work and courageous activism by the Black
Autonomy Network Community Organization and Edward Pinkney, that were
bringing the taste for self-determination to Benton Harbor. For years
as director of BANCO, Pinkney sought to improve the lot of Benton
Harbor's poor, through various means. He organized people to watch the
courts in St. Joseph, Michigan, the white town across the river, where
judicial malice continues to send black youth to jail and prison in a
system that reminds one of the Jim Crow south. Pinkney organized to
bring 100 living wage textile jobs to Benton Harbor, but his reputation
as a thorn in the side of the local powers caused them to block the
effort at every step. Finally, BANCO organized a recall election of a
Benton Harbor commissioner who was doing the dirty work of getting the
city's approval for privatization schemes, ranging from selling off the
right-of-way under the streets of Benton Harbor (a cheap location to run extremely lucrative lines for high
speed internet for Western Michigan) to pushing through the giveaway of
Jean Klock Park. For his efforts in coordinating a successful recall
election, Pinkney was charged and convicted of 'election fraud,' the
old bugaboo used to keep blacks disenfranchised. For the past half
year, Pinkney has wallowed in the pokey in St. Joseph, Michigan, tucked
away while Whirlpool marches on.
At
this point, the only potential legal block to this travesty of class
warfare is the National Park Service, which must evaluate any
privatization of public lands which have received federal funds in the
past, as Jean Klock Park has. Word has it that Congressman Fred Upton
is twisting arms at the NPS, so letters from opponents of park
privatization are crucial at this moment. For information on writing,
see http://www.savejean klockpark. org/NationalPark Service.html.
While
tempting to see the farm as a rural retreat and getaway, in Berrien
County as in Chicago issues of vital importance for the shaping of
future generations are happening at hyper speed right now. Courageous
grassroots efforts and linked movements are our hope.
Saturday and Sunday, July 5 and
6, you are invited to come work at the farm for another First Weekend
of the month! Think rustic camping, carry-in carry-out, we're providing
the land so bring food and drink and a tent. We do have access to a
bathroom and shower. Hope to see you!