The ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan has quickly captured the attention of the entire country, and pushback has been coming far and wide. Graphic pictures of brown water, laced with lead and other toxic contaminants, sparked immediate national outrage, to the point that President Obama declared a state of emergency for the entire city of 100,000-plus people, of whom over 9,000 children have already tested positive for lead exposure.
Activists and citizen groups have been collecting drinking water for the people of Flint, with their efforts being bolstered by celebrities like Meek Mill, Pearl Jam, Cher, Diddy, Mark Wahlberg and Michael Moore (whose classic film “Roger and Me” introduced Flint to a national audience in the 1980s. Some are donating water directly, while many others (like Jimmy Fallon) are providing cash to buy water.
Northeast Florida has plenty of water to spare, of course, and some of it will be heading to Flint this Friday, January 29, in a caravan being organized by the Kemetic Empire and Urban Geo-Ponics. Diallo Sekou co-founded these organizations several years ago to help highlight the political and economic disparities affecting the urban areas of Jacksonville, while drawing attention to the practical solutions being developed in response.
For him and his colleagues, the situation in Flint only reinforces concepts that he and his colleagues have been stressing locally for quite some time. “The community has to play a more important and vital role when it comes to day to day business of their lives,” says Sekou. “For poor people there are several issues affecting us all. starting with our own self-interest and not wanting to operate as a collective to change these types of conditions. Ownership and control of our areas is the key to shifting the paradigm.”
Water and supplies can be dropped off at the Ethio Discount Store on Main Street and 16th, or people can call Sekou or Ishmael Muhammad directly. All donations are tax-deductible.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1693550497589311/1693558050921889/
http://www.thekemeticempire.com/operation-flint-get-clean-water-to-the-people/
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