On The Flint Water Crisis: Day # 1826: By Water Crisis Activist Melissa Mays.

By Purple Walrus Press contributor Melissa Mays of Flint.

Well, I never thought I would write this, at least I hoped not to...
Day #1826 in the #FlintWaterCrisis: 5 YEARS OF HELL AND WE ARE STILL FIGHTING BACK
Yep. 5 years ago today a handful of City and State employees made the decision to switch our water source without proper testing, precautions or even heeding the warnings of the Water Treatment Plant Supervisor. They pushed a button to push us onto a profitable (for them) pipeline that wasn't even ready so SURE, pipe that untreated, corrosive, unclean Flint river into our homes and bodies. Make sure we give it to our kids! What a "treat!" (Note the MASSIVE sarcasm)

Over the past 5 years we have watched these same agencies and officials (whose job it is to protect public health and safety) lie to our faces, cover up innocent lives being lost, cover their own asses and swear the poison coming through our taps was/is safe. Here were are today, hearing the SAME PR lies based off of improper and incomplete testing that should be tossed out and then the insinuations that Flint is just uppity and wanting too much because we don't "trust."

The State told us to trust the water from Day 1. Then people died and were irreparably harmed. I personally find it DANGEROUS and IRRESPONSIBLE to trust water that has not been thoroughly or properly tested ESPECIALLY while tainted infrastructure remains unchanged!

It's not that we are just a community that lacks trust, we are a community you lied to, poisoned, ignored and are STILL pulling the same damn PR BS trying to wrap up this disaster as cheaply as possible, not caring about the health and lives of your innocent victims. Always trying to downplay and deny the disaster you force ACTUAL Flint residents to live in. We KNOW the water can't truly be safe for every person until the pipes, fixtures and appliances that YOUR DECISIONS DESTROYED are all replaced. We KNOW too many people do not have healthcare to get the treatment they deserve to recover from YOUR poisoning of our trust, bodies and futures. WE found out the hard way that when YOU say the words "safe" or "trust" they have a way different meaning for you ($$) than our reality in Flint.

So, until you show me that you have replaced every piece of contaminated infrastructure and INDEPENDENTLY AND ACCURATELY tested for every dangerous contaminant across the city, you can guess where you can stick your "trust." And to quote myself from today's New York Times article,
“I used to be a lot more optimistic and cheerful,” she said, “but now I’m literally just pissed.”

You want Flint's trust?
*FIX WHAT YOU BROKE
*STOP LYING TO US
*STOP TRYING TO SILENCE US
*STOP FIGHTING BACK AGAINST WHAT WE NEED TO ACTUALLY RECOVER. (Yes, that would require listening to US and especially the Medical Community.)
Try doing that (the right thing) and then come ask us about "trust."