To: Michigan State Legislature

Demand Justice & Real Solutions for Flint

All families and communities deserve access to clean water, no matter where they live, how much they earn, or what color their skin. We call on you to do the following:
1) Replace all public water infrastructure at no cost to residents or businesses.
2) Refund all water bills since the switch to the Flint River water supply. Create a fund to repair property damage caused by toxic water.
3) Launch an independent state and federal investigation into what happened in Flint. Lift executive immunity from the Governor’s office and release all communications.
4) Create a Flint Citizen Civilian Core to train workers to repair infrastructure.
5) Create a holistic medical care facility in Flint to offer therapies and other methods to treat lead poisoning.

Why is this important?

As parents, we do all we can to keep our kids healthy. And we rely on our government to make sure we have access to essentials like clean water. That shouldn't change depending on what color we are, our income level, or where we live.

That's why we're beyond mad about the lead contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan.

Earlier this month Governor Snyder finally declared a state of emergency in Flint, OVER A YEAR AND A HALF after the problem began. Residents are now being told to use water filters and/or bottled water, and no one knows how many of the city's almost 100,000 residents have been affected by lead, and to what degree. What we do know is that ingesting high amounts of lead can have devastating and log-term effects on children, the elderly, and the sick. Current estimates are that it could take as much as $1.5 billion to fix the problem.

Would officials have ever been so careless about the drinking water if over 50% of Flint's residents weren't black, and over 40% live below the poverty line, making Flint one of the most impoverished cities of its size in the US? The appointment of an emergency manager in Flint, one of several Black cities across the state to have their elected officials replaced by an appointee from the Governor, is at the center of this crisis.

We must do better. Join us in speaking out, on behalf of families and parents in Flint.