Michigan State University Professor Sara Fingal (Lyman Briggs College) moderates, "The Flint Water Crisis: A Panel Discussion." Panelists include Dr. Susan Masten, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MSU, Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, of the Faith Deliverance Center Church and the Democratic Defense League of Flint, MI, Jennifer Carrera, professor of Sociology and Environmental Science at MSU, and Melissa Mays, founder of "Water You Fighting For?" of Flint, MI. Masten presents a timeline of events surrounding the crisis and discusses the chemical imbalances and additives currently found in the the Flint water supply. Jefferson discusses the decision by the city of Flint to move from using the Detroit water supply to water from the Flint River, and the community coming together to fight the switch. Carrera examines the sociopolitical issues surrounding the crisis, the legal environment that allowed the crisis to arise in the first place, and the importance of the struggle as an example of the power of organized communities to bring change. Mays discusses lead and copper poisoning, organizing citizens to fight government injustice, and bringing the Flint struggle to national attention. Fingal is introduced by Anne Ferguson, co-director of the MSU Center for Gender in Global Context. Panelists answer questions from the audience. Co-sponsored by the MSU Center for Gender in Global Context, the MSU Gender Justice & Environmental Change Program, the MSU Department of Community Sustainability, and the MSU Lyman Briggs College. .
Read
