Ty Pinkins, the Army veteran and Delta advocate who fought against racist pay for Mississippi farm workers, announced Tuesday he will run against incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2024 as a Democrat.
Formerly a lawyer with the Mississippi Center for Justice, Pinkins spent much of the last two years aiding Black farmer workers in the Delta who were being paid less money for their work than white visa workers from South Africa doing the same jobs.
Pinkins, 48, said he’s alarmed that the state’s local and federal representation hasn’t responded to workers’ plights in the Delta — even after Pinkins testified before Congress in July on the topic.
“For the last two-and-a-half years, I’ve been working with local farmers,” he told Mississippi Today. “It was uncovered that local workers were not only being underpaid but underpaid in violation of federal law.”
A Mississippi Today investigation — and investigations by the Department of Labor — found several Mississippi farms were paying local Black workers less money per hour than visa workers, primarily white men from South Africa. Pinkins has helped Black workers get more than $1 million back in lost wages through lawsuits, according to the Mississippi Center for Justice.
Despite U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh’s visit to the Delta to learn about racist pay and hiring practices, Pinkins said he hasn’t “heard a peep” from any elected officials in Mississippi outside Congressman Bennie Thompson.
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