When the disastrous decision was made 10 years ago today to change Flint’s drinking water source from the Detroit system to the Flint River, city residents knew instantly that it was an abysmal move. And they said so, loudly, and fought back relentlessly.
But it didn’t matter when they complained that their water was brown, smelled, and tasted terribly. Or that many suffered from hair loss and strange rashes that could not be cured. Or that they endured boil water notices to combat e-coli outbreaks followed by months of exposure to elevated levels of a carcinogen, created by the overuse of bacteria-killing chlorine. Or that people died of Legionnaires disease, women miscarried at extraordinary rates, and 30,000 school children were exposed to lead and the severe harms a minute amount can cause.
Although the people of Flint, in the majority-Black city, were ignored – again, again, and again – they kept fighting back. And continue fighting back, today.
We have had the honor of fighting alongside them. View our timeline of the past 10 years.