In Flint, Michigan, residents pay the highest water rates in the country (an average $140/month) for lead-tainted water unsafe for human consumption. How did this happen? Decades of systemic disinvestment and a law that disenfranchised low-income residents of color, imposing austerity measures with no regard for its impact on the health and welfare of its community members. In Flint– a poor, majority black city–children were poisoned to save money.

Residents are uniting to fight for their community. The Center for Popular Democracy's Director of Training and Leadership Development Art Reyes grew up in Flint. As the crisis unfolded, he returned home to help build Flint Rising, a coalition of community groups working to empower Flint’s struggling communities to take back their city. With the goal of enlisting directly impacted residents to lead the work, volunteers knocked on over 8,000 doors in February. They found community leaders and collected powerful stories along the way that highlighted the desperate needs of marginalized communities.

Many of these recruited leaders traveled to D.C. to attend the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on the crisis. Others raised their voices at the Michigan State Capitol, demanding Governor Snyder fix what he broke. Residents of Flint have also met with presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, relaying their stories and bringing Flint’s water crisis to the forefront of the presidential race. And Flint Rising successfully petitioned Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to meet directly with impacted families, visiting their homes and seeing the impact of this crisis firsthand. 

Flint, a city that has been in economic distress for decades, now faces a public health crisis born of shocking negligence and abuse by elected officials. Dealt this further blow, there is nothing else to do but plan for a stronger tomorrow: unite and fight for justice.

If you’d like to donate to Flint Rising, you can contribute here.