#Flint water crisis

[politijohn]

Source

A complete disgrace for the residents of Flint

[metalheadsforblacklivesmatter]

-fae

[mixedmessaging]

>>>> Sign up link <<<<

HEY THIS IS HUGE

[kaydub80]

[angelindiskies]

I was wondering

[sustainableprosperity2]

Flint Water Crisis Cover-Up Makes “Watergate Look Like Child’s Play"

[ausetkmt]

Flint Water Crisis Has Become Absurd Disaster

[thoughtlessarse]

Ten years ago, on April 25, 2014, state and local officials assembled at the water plant in Flint, Michigan to celebrate as Mayor Dayne Walling pushed the button that switched the city’s water source from treated Lake Huron water to the caustic and untreated water of the Flint River. The fact that the river water being pumped into the homes of 100,000 residents wasn’t properly treated was known only to an elite inner circle of officials. But shortly after the switch, the residents of Flint began protesting against the move. It was common knowledge that the river was rife with industrial waste. The bad taste, disturbing odor and abnormal color of residents’ tap water were the first indicators that something was wrong. Scientific studies proved, more than a year later, that Flint had dangerously high levels of lead in its water. One indicator was the fact that the number of children with alarmingly high levels of lead in their blood had doubled. The official response was to conceal and flat-out lie. The protests were answered with the claim that all health protocols were being followed and the water was safe to drink. It was a full 18 months before the city reverted back to its original water source. [...] No accountability, no justice The question, “How could this have happened?” remains to a significant extent unanswered to this day. The decisions leading to the catastrophic degradation of the city’s drinking water were the outcome of a conspiracy of officials, many of whom are known—most prominently then-Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, and then-state Treasurer Andy Dillon, a Democrat—and many who have yet to be identified. There is no mystery here, as no serious investigation of the lead poisoning of the largely working class city has been conducted, and none of the perpetrators has been prosecuted. Investigations launched at both the state and federal levels were cover-ups. In 2016, the Republican attorney general of Michigan, Bill Schuette, proclaimed that “the families of Flint will not be forgotten.” He continued, “We will provide the justice they deserve. And in Michigan, the system is not rigged.” Then, during the 2018-2019 transition to a Democratic state government, the attorney general’s office offered seven key defendants plea bargain deals that made them legally untouchable and prevented pursuit of the chain of command because of double jeopardy protections. The mantra of the incoming Democratic prosecution team was “justice delayed is not always justice denied.” Repeating ad nauseum that the Democratic administration of Governor Gretchen Whitmer would follow the evidence wherever it led, in November, 2023 it ignominiously announced the ending of all efforts to prosecute the officials who aided and abetted the poisoning of Flint’s water. A derisory settlement of $626 million for the people of Flint was awarded by a US district court in November 2021, after months of deliberations. To this day, not a single dollar has been disbursed to residents, while some $64 million has already been paid to various legal firms out of their approximately $200 million legal bill. Meanwhile, many impacted residents have died or left the state, having received nothing.

read complete article

[pantherclawz]

Still no justice for Flint

[allthingsfli]

This is exhausting at this point. It's safe to say that the city of Flint will probably never see justice for this horrible atrocity.

[larstoomars]

i have such bittersweet feelings about my hometown. So much of my family, life, and memories are here, i love each of them deeply. my city is big, it sure isn’t small, 12th biggest city in my state. i remember jumping off my play house as a child trying to fly and walking down a broken sidewalk with my friends while hearing sirens and gunshots. i loved to camp, fish, and swim while nearly drowning again and again and eating cold Koegels. Walking around late at night but never alone and location tracking on. Always having a roof over my head but always being afraid of it being taken away from me, by weather, law, nature, or robbery. i finally graduated in 2020 with terrible ending, not even a year later my high school diploma is destroyed by water damage. i have friends everywhere but also if things get rough, i can just as easily start over again here bc the city is big enough for multiple people. it’s not slow and boring like the country and it’s not as bustling with citizens walking, biking, or riding to where they need to get in a big city. it’s the same boring places but somehow the people around me find the most interesting events and things to do. we had the biggest pride our city had seen in june and yet everyday i hear homo and transphobia.

it takes, on average, four generations to get out poverty in the united states, in 2016 the percent was still rising at 45%, now its at 35% but i don’t have hope for it to keep sliding down. two cities in my state are on the list for top 10 poorest cities in the united states.

in 2014 the michigan governor changed my cities water source, killing 12 people. our state government said they would fix the lead pipes, change them out by 2020 in 2017. the programs giving residents bottled water who were affected have stopped at the beginning of 2023. Residents still do not have clean water. technically Flint is under the amount of lead allowed in water federally and state-wise sitting at 9 parts per billion (below requirement of 15 ppb (personally i think it should be zero)) but, consider the following! Water pipes and lines have continuously burst over and over and over again, this has been happening of years, multiple times a year. forcing flint residents unable to drink water, clean, do laundry, be hygienic for days or weeks depending on where or how long the water break is.

my mom tells me things were getting bad in Flint when we moved away when i was 6/7. we moved to New Mexico and only stayed for a year before moving back home, i have mixed feeling about that place too. my best friend past away that year due to a shooting accident with immediate family. details are unimportant but right around then is when family members of my own started to pass away.

while in high school two teachers also passed. one had a heart attack and didn’t come to work so another teacher went to his home to check on him during the school day. everyone found out at the same time at he died, i wasn’t close to him. the other, she had muscular dystrophy, she was in an electric wheelchair and had a working dog, she also worked at the school. she had uterine surgery but there were complications and she didn’t make it.

after a slew of bad news this year, this september, my graduating class lost one of our alumni. his name was Johnny and he had just turned 21. i didn’t actually get to graduate with him because of covid, our ceremony was broken up into four parts in the same day, so i only graduated with a fourth of the 2020 class. i don’t look at high school fondly but, johnny was kind, funny, and smart. he worked so hard to make Flint a better place and prove all sorts of people wrong. He died defending his girlfriend, so many went to his funeral and brought our graduating class back together. to what cost though? his friends and family lost his life, he lost his life. he loved to fish, his favorite color was yellow, his lucky number was 44.

His murder was killed by another man. a couple days after another young man shot and killed at 18 years old. GM strikers were ran over in a hit and run. My dads truck was stolen right out of his driveway. A KFC was ran into by a police officer. A staff member in Flint schools had a ceramic chair thrown at their head and sent to the hospital. Ethan Crumbley, a teenager who killed four in a school shooting may be sentenced to life without parole from Oxford.

so much of my life is here, my memories, my family, biological or not. i always thought i’d move away from here. sometimes i still think i might. im not sure. i don’t know what to do to feel safe. i don’t think there is a safe place for any of us. was there ever?

[ausetkmt]

The excitement of the draft has truly permeated the city, bringing energy and enthusiasm that extends far beyond downtown festivities and the general passion for football. Importantly, this event has also shone a light on something less expected but deeply significant: urban agriculture. As the city celebrates new team picks and enjoys its moment in the sports spotlight, community gardens and urban farms are gaining recognition as vital elements of urban life. 

It is all too common for underprivileged communities to endure substandard conditions that shouldn’t even be an issue, such as access to clean food. Likewise, our veterans, who have sacrificed immensely for the US, are frequently neglected. Despite the sensitivity of this issue, it reflects our reality. This has spurred a number of grassroots organizations, policies, and nonprofits, both locally and politically, to take action. Among them is the NFL and S.H.I.E.L.D 1, a nonprofit founded by NFL players aimed at boosting economic mobility in underserved areas. They showcased the Green Boots Veteran Community Horticulture Gardens and Marketplace for their community ribbon-cutting event on the city’s westside, which features a GroShed. GroSheds are hydroponic gardening sheds designed for cold climates, allowing year-round access to nutritious, non-toxic, affordable whole foods, thereby addressing the seasonal gaps in fresh produce availability in these communities. 

The excitement behind the draft have touched down in the city but it goes beyond the confines of downtown and the fun times and the love of football, this has placed a spotlight on urban agriculture. 

Green Boots not only offers nutritious food choices for the local community but also provides a therapeutic outlet for veterans like its founder, Travis Peters, to engage in gardening and improve their mental health. 

PHOTO: Travis Peters, Green Boots Community Horticulture Gardens and Marketplace

“My mission was to sustain myself, my family, and my community through urban agriculture without leaving our veterans out of the picture,” said Peters. “This place is a multifaceted space where we focus on urban agriculture basic training for our veterans and community along with horticulture therapy and protocols to help bridge the wellness gap.” 

“The GroShed will allow us to produce food at a higher rate, a faster and a more economical rate” Peters said. “This space has no city municipalities connection whatsoever. We run on solar power and rainwater, I rely on nature and just what the earth gives us.” 

Standing alongside community members and local media were NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Senator Debbie Stabenow, New Orleans Saints Linebacker Demario Davis, NFL Cornerback Josh Norman, and NFL Legend Alex Lewis. 

“Travis is an extraordinary man and I’m proud to be here on behalf of the NFL,” said Goodell. “I’m also inspired by our players. There are two players here that have really led the way. Damario Davis and Josh Norman. For the last 4 or 5 years I’ve heard about this concept and their desire to make this happen and they have worked to make this happen. It has been their undying support to bring this into fruition not just here in Detroit but also in Buffalo. These men are not just great professional athletes, they are stand up men.” 

PHOTO: New Orleans Saints Linebacker Demario Davis, Travis Peters, NFL Cornerback Josh Norman, Senator Debbie Stabenow, United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

This event is part of the NFL’s Inspire Change social justice initiative. Inspire

Inspire Change is designed to reduce barriers to opportunity, especially in communities of color, demonstrating the collective efforts of the NFL family—current and former players, teams, owners, and the league office—to foster positive change. The initiative operates at all levels within the league, with a mission to showcase their commitment to social justice and community improvement. 

This GroShed initiative all started when Davis took a trip to Flint, MI a few years ago and realized there was a need for clean water. At the time he witnessed truckloads of water bottles being dispersed throughout the city, but he had an epiphany regarding his charity work, “What’s going on with the water system? That’s when we moved from doing just the charity work to finding sustainable solutions in the community.” 

“This is a continuation of our work that we’re doing in other cities,” said Davis. “We are committed to bringing sustainable solutions to communities that have traditionally been marginalized. This work touches me personally. It brings our hearts joy.” 

The NFL is collaborating with the White House on the “Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities” initiative, highlighting this effort at the event. 

Amidst the backdrop of steel and concrete, a transformation is quietly taking root—a healthy mindset. Spearheaded by Peter and powered by the enduring strength of the local Black community, this initiative isn’t merely about planting vegetables; it’s a reclaiming of urban spaces, turning them from symbols of decay into beacons of hope and growth. These community gardens are not just places to grow food; they are sanctuaries of empowerment, where residents, burdened by economic hardships and societal neglect, find a powerful form of expression and control over their lives and environment. 

Peter’s movement is leveraging a rich yet underrecognized legacy of Black horticulture expertise, challenging the stereotype that urban communities lack the green thumbs or know-how. Each garden plot and GroShed serves as a testament to resilience and innovation, with every plant sown echoing the community’s deep-rooted connection to the land and their ancestors wisdom. This isn’t just about horticulture; it’s about cultural heritage, community, a bridge connecting past generations who tilled the soil for sustenance to a modern movement for food sovereignty and social justice. 

“I started a number of years ago putting in place opportunities and extra support where veterans can go into farming,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow and chair of the agriculture, nutrition and forestry committee in Washington D.C. “We now have veteran organizations and veteran farmers around the country with the largest group in Michigan.” 

Absolutely, agriculture transcends the rural boundaries we often confine it to; it’s very much a vibrant part of urban landscapes as well. Urban agriculture is about more than just growing food; it’s about building community, fostering sustainability, and ensuring access to healthy, affordable meals. Echoing this sentiment, Senator Debbie Stabenow said, “This is about providing healthy food in a sustainable way right here in our urban communities.” 

This movement reshapes the concept of what it means to be a community. It’s a collective effort where city dwellers reconnect with their food sources and with each other, breaking down the isolation that urban environments can sometimes foster. Urban agriculture initiatives make it possible for fresh produce to travel just a few yards from soil to table, drastically reducing food miles and providing a stark contrast to the impersonal nature of mass food production. 

Moreover, these initiatives are a testament to the adaptability and ingenuity of urban communities. Each space cultivated is a step towards a more sustainable urban existence, proving that the heart of agriculture isn’t found solely in wide-open spaces but wherever there are people willing to plant the seeds of change. 

“The Greenboots community displays the real work,” Davis said. “You guys are the heroes and deserve the brightest light to be on you all. They are on the ground doing the work, it is people that are in the trenches that really keep the game going. So, thank you for your work.” 

[kaydub80]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by seasters jones. (@seastersjones)

Miscarriage of justice and fuck Dana Nessel as she attempts to become governor in 2026.

[warm-mangoes-with-chai]

[your-local-asexual-loser]

Michiganders tasting water and automatically knowing it's from Flint

New York is a beautiful city

[xo-tough-love-xo]

Still another day no justice for Flint and no compensation