What Happened in Flint? You Can Make a Difference
Recently, my family and I went to hear Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha talk about her book documenting her experience in uncovering the tragic disaster of the Flint water crisis. As she told the audience what happened in Flint, it became clear that public health and a clean environment are ruled by politics. I am sharing news of this event with you because it is important for lifelong health — for you, your children and your grandchildren. Age doesn’t matter. Cultivating good health early in life improves the odds of living longer, and improving our environment is directly related to human health. What happens to others can spread to you and yours. But there are things you can do about it. You can affect what happens to your body and your environment.
My husband. Russ, is a long-time Commissioner of the Detroit Public Library. He interviewed Dr. Mona onstage at Detroit’s Osborn High School auditorium for the Michigan Humanities Great Michigan Read (GMR) program. I will present some talking points from the interview below. But first, let me introduce you to the GMR program and Dr. Mona.
Michigan Humanities’ Great Michigan Read of 2019-20: What the Eyes Don’t See by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
Michigan Humanities’ Great Michigan Read creates a statewide discussion around the humanities themes of a selected book. Through partnerships with libraries, schools, book clubs, and a wide range of other non-profit organizations, the Great Michigan Read facilitates statewide reading and programs to bridge communities around a common conversation.
— Great Michigan Read
The 2019-20 Great Michigan Read was announced on April 24 at the Flint Public Library. The new title – selected by six regional selection committees representing all corners of Michigan – is What the Eyes Don’t See, by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. The Great Michigan Read kicks off in September, 2019 and will conclude in fall 2020.
Find additional details on the GMR events and tour dates page.
About Dr. Mona
Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, FAAP is a pediatrician, scientist, activist and author. She has testified twice before the United States Congress, was awarded the Freedom of Expression Courage Award by PEN America and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for her role in uncovering the Flint Water Crisis and leading recovery efforts. Dr. Mona has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, BBC and countless other media outlets championing the cause of children in Flint and beyond. She is founding donor of the Flint Child Health and Development Fund (flintkids.org).
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha (aka Dr. Mona) received her Bachelor’s and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Michigan and her medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She completed her residency at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, where she was chief resident. She is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development and a C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University.
The Interview:
The interview was a fluid conversation between Dr. Mona and Russ. She sometimes answered questions before they were asked and at times gave the floor to Russ to share information from his political research and former position at the Detroit Water Department.
What Happened in Flint
Dr. Mona summarized the story of the Flint water crisis as “the government poisoning people and then lying about it.”
Dr. Mona said that when mothers first began to come to her asking if it was okay to bathe or feed their children with the water in Flint, she trusted that our government officials were telling the truth that the water was safe. This is America, after all, the richest country that has the means to take care of all and with a reputation for being the birthplace of democracy. However, as quoted above, she is credited with being one of the first to question Flint’s water safety. As she began to research the situation, she discovered things that caused her to fight for environmental and social justice.
What’s in the Book
Dr. Mona’s book, What the Eyes Don’t See, is the inspiring true story of how she gathered a team of researchers, parents, friends and community leaders to discover how the people of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water. When she spoke up, she had to battle her own government and bore a brutal backlash when she tried to expose the truth to the world.
In the end, she discovered that the state-imposed Emergency Manager was a dictatorship that took away the people’s democracy. And, she says, when the voices of the people are silenced, their ability to get their needs met is taken away. This silencing happened when Michigan voters repealed the Emergency Manager law in 2012. It was then replaced by the Legislature with a new Emergency Manager law within days of the election.
On page 93 of her book, Dr. Mona makes the connection between the lead water crises in Washington, D.C., and Flint and inadequate political representation.
Dr. Mona reminds us that the Flint water lead poisoning crisis is not an isolated event. It is a situation that is repeated across the United States, but it is concentrated in poverty-stricken areas.
Throughout her book, she explains the connection between race, deprivation, disenfranchisement and injustice.
On page 23 of her book, Dr. Mona reports that a newborn baby in Flint will live fifteen years less that a baby born in the suburbs. When asked about that, she said that a shortened life expectancy is common not only in Flint but in other cities where there is poverty and minority communities. This is due in part to environmental degradation.
Lead poisoning injures neurological development in the earliest years of life, causing lower i.q. and behavior disorders that can lead to crime. This was according to multiple scientific studies that Dr. Mona discovered in her research.
Today, people in Flint are still standing in long lines for clean water, and yet water is being shut off to those who cannot pay the rising prices that are being imposed upon them.
What Good Has Come Out of This?
Dr. Mona stresses that out of this particular crisis, the fight for justice, self-determination and the right to build a better society for all of our children has had awesome consequences for the better.
First and foremost, the replacement of Flint’s water pipelines are now greatly accelerated. Only three American cities have completely replaced their pipelines. Lansing was the first. The replacements have been slowly occurring since the Lead and Copper Rule was established in 1991 to keep lead and copper out of drinking water. The EPA is now revising the standards for the Rule, no doubt inspired by the Flint crisis.
Because of what happened in Flint, Dr. Mona founded and directs of the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative and model public health program in Flint, Michigan.
Dr. Mona said that there has been a percentage of lead in water judged as acceptable for drinking up until this crisis. It is now clear that no amount of lead at all is safe for human contact. She mentioned that it has been allowed in cosmetics as well, which I touched upon in my post “Is Your Lipstick Killer in More Ways Than One?”
What Can Be Done?
Dr. Mona concludes that you can make a difference by voting and getting out the vote with others as well. The more voice, the more power people have over what happens to them.
She also pointed out that reporters helped to get the word out about what happened in Flint.
Dr. Mona said that lead is colorless, tasteless and odorless so you cannot tell if it is present without testing. But rather than getting blood tests for your children to see if you have lead in your water, she advises that you test your environment. Babies and small children explore and put things in their mouths, inside the house and out. You can test the paint, plumbing fixtures and pipe joints in your house. And you can get the water service lines that come into your house tested as well as the soil outside. There could even be lead at demolition sites in your community.
For those who have been affected by lead poisoning, she says there is hope. She advises good nutrition and learning programs to help bodies and minds heal. In fact, there are now food banks and learning programs in place to help the families in Flint.
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Lifelong Health, Social Concerns
Books, Health and Wellness, Making a Difference, Public Health
Angie, Thank you for writing about this important topic. The healthful effects of clean, pure water on the quality and longevity of our lives can not be underestimated.
You are so right! There must be a basic human right to clean water. Otherwise, we go back to the age of pestilence, disease and death. Ultimately, for my readers, I want to stress the need for vigilance for the sake of a healthy long life. And I know my followers care deeply for the health and welfare of their grandchildren as well, maybe even more. What I like is how Dr. Mona is an example of how much good can come of speaking up and questioning things. Rather than continuing to trust the government and even the scientists in the governmental departments, she worked with people around her to research the facts. That’s the only complete way to know the truth in light of the corruption in our society today. I care, and we can make a difference.