The water crisis is a classic example of environmental racism. Oftentimes it manifests itself in a new power plant polluting a town's air, a road bringing more traffic to a street, or dirty water affecting drinking and cleaning habits, such as in Michigan.
Much of America first learned of the water crisis in our communities through Mari Copeny, an 11-year- old Black girl from Flint, Michigan, better known as Little Miss Flint, in 2014. But why did she have to be the voice for this community?
Flint’s water crisis began after the main water source was switched to the Flint River, which resulted in nearly 100 people becoming critically ill and 12 initial deaths from drinking the lead contaminated water.
In 2016, President Obama infamously took a sip of filtered water from Flint in an attempt to assure Black residents that the water was safe to drink. However, years later, there’s still no safe water. So how can we help?
Donating money to local Black owned and led organizations fighting the water crisis is a start. Donating water bottles and filters to communities is another great way to help. We can get through this together just as we have through every other crisis in our history.