A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan
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0:01 - 0:04So, in 2016,
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0:05 - 0:08I was commissioned
to produce a photo essay -
0:08 - 0:11about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
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0:12 - 0:14And that's been going on since 2014.
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0:16 - 0:17And I accepted the commission
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0:17 - 0:22with the idea that I would photograph
three generations of women -
0:22 - 0:25dealing with the crisis on a daily basis.
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0:26 - 0:30I was fortunate to meet two best friends,
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0:30 - 0:35artists, activists and poets
Amber Hasan and Shea Cobb, -
0:35 - 0:37who took me around Flint.
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0:38 - 0:41As a school bus driver,
Shea Cobb became the central figure -
0:41 - 0:43of the photo essay,
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0:43 - 0:44along with her mother, Ms. Renée,
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0:44 - 0:47and her eight-year-old daughter, Zion.
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0:47 - 0:51I obsessively followed
Shea's school bus routes. -
0:52 - 0:55And when Shea wasn't driving the bus,
-
0:55 - 0:58she would be watching over Zion,
making sure she was studying. -
0:59 - 1:04I embedded myself in every
intimate facet of Shea's life. -
1:04 - 1:07When Shea took me to Zion's school,
-
1:07 - 1:11and I saw the water fountains
covered with signs that said, -
1:11 - 1:14"Contaminated. Do not drink,"
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1:14 - 1:17I couldn't pick up
my camera to photograph it. -
1:17 - 1:21It rocked me to the core
to see that in America, -
1:21 - 1:25we can go from fountains
that say "Whites" or "Blacks only," -
1:25 - 1:28to today seeing fountains that say,
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1:28 - 1:31"Contaminated water. Do not drink."
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1:31 - 1:34And somehow, that's acceptable?
-
1:35 - 1:39The residents in Flint
have been forced to drink with, -
1:39 - 1:42cook with and bathe with bottled water,
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1:42 - 1:45while paying the highest
water bills in the country -
1:45 - 1:50for water that is infected
with deadly legionella bacteria. -
1:51 - 1:53It was natural for me to go to Flint,
-
1:53 - 1:58because industrial pollution,
bacteria-contaminated water -
1:58 - 2:04were all too familiar for me growing up
in my hometown, Braddock, Pennsylvania, -
2:04 - 2:07where my mother and I battled cancer
-
2:07 - 2:10and autoimmune disorders like lupus.
-
2:12 - 2:15Our 14-year collaboration,
"The Notion of Family," -
2:15 - 2:21was created out of our struggle
to survive environmental racism, -
2:21 - 2:23healthcare inequity
-
2:23 - 2:26and chemical emissions
that were being deregulated -
2:26 - 2:30and released from the United States
Steel Corporation, -
2:30 - 2:37making Braddock the town with the highest
asthma and infant mortality rates -
2:37 - 2:38in the country.
-
2:39 - 2:43From the Monongahela River
to the Flint River, -
2:43 - 2:46in the words of W.E.B. Du Bois,
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2:46 - 2:52"The town, the whole valley,
has turned its back upon the river. -
2:52 - 2:55It has used it as a sewer, as a drain,
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2:55 - 2:58as a place for throwing their waste."
-
2:59 - 3:04General Motors has been cited
for dumping chemicals in the Flint River -
3:04 - 3:05for decades.
-
3:07 - 3:11When my photo essay "Flint is Family"
came out in August of 2016, -
3:12 - 3:13it was released to remind America
-
3:13 - 3:17that although Flint
was no longer headline news, -
3:17 - 3:19the water crisis was far from over.
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3:20 - 3:21And, of course, I knew
-
3:21 - 3:26it was going to take more
than a series of photographs on my part -
3:26 - 3:29to bring relief to the people
in Vehicle City. -
3:32 - 3:34Shea and I bonded
over our mothers and grandmothers. -
3:35 - 3:38Amber and I bonded
over our battles with lupus. -
3:38 - 3:41Together, we decided to remain
in each other's life -
3:42 - 3:44and continue our creative efforts.
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3:45 - 3:51In 2017, Shea and Amber cofounded
artist collective The Sister Tour, -
3:51 - 3:55whose mission is to provide
a safe space for Flint artists. -
3:56 - 3:57One year later,
-
3:57 - 4:01I mounted my solo exhibition,
"Flint is Family," -
4:01 - 4:05here in New York City
at Gavin Brown's Enterprise -
4:05 - 4:07on West 127th Street.
-
4:08 - 4:11As the audience approaches
the facade of the building, -
4:11 - 4:13they see a 30-foot billboard.
-
4:14 - 4:17The 30-foot billboard is made
of three large color negatives -
4:17 - 4:20with the message "Water Is Life,"
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4:20 - 4:24spelled out in Nestle water bottles
by The Sister Tour. -
4:24 - 4:29Nestle, the largest water-bottling
company in the world, -
4:29 - 4:34pumps 400 gallons of water per minute
out of aquifers in Lake Michigan, -
4:34 - 4:36nearly free of charge.
-
4:36 - 4:40The company also extracts
millions of liters of water -
4:40 - 4:42from First Nation reservations,
-
4:42 - 4:46while they have no access
to clean water at all. -
4:47 - 4:51This is a fundraiser print
that I used to raise money -
4:51 - 4:54to send The Sister Tour
to different venues -
4:54 - 4:57to educate people on the ongoing crisis.
-
4:57 - 5:01I also continued to keep it
in the public eye -
5:01 - 5:02by producing countdown flags
-
5:02 - 5:06that were raised on institutions
across the country. -
5:06 - 5:10This past June,
Amber emailed me with the news -
5:10 - 5:13that Michigan's attorney general
dropped all criminal charges -
5:13 - 5:16in the Flint Water Crisis investigation,
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5:16 - 5:19where eight state and city employees
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5:19 - 5:23were facing charges
as serious as manslaughter. -
5:24 - 5:26I could no longer idly stand by
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5:26 - 5:30and wait for the government to do its job.
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5:31 - 5:34Justice has been delayed,
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5:34 - 5:36and justice has been denied.
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5:36 - 5:38It's been five years,
-
5:38 - 5:42and we're still waiting on justice
for the men, women and children in Flint. -
5:44 - 5:47I asked Amber, "What can I do?"
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5:47 - 5:53She told me about a man named Moses West
that she met in Puerto Rico, -
5:53 - 6:00who invented a 26,000-pound
atmospheric water generator. -
6:00 - 6:05Amber took Moses to elected officials
in the city of Flint. -
6:06 - 6:11None of them seemed interested in bringing
the machine for relief to Flint at all. -
6:13 - 6:17Amber needed to get the machine
from a military base in Texas -
6:17 - 6:19all the way to Flint.
-
6:20 - 6:23Nobody in Flint had
that kind of money lying around. -
6:23 - 6:27And it was at that point that I decided
-
6:27 - 6:31to take the proceeds from my
solo exhibition "Flint is Family," -
6:31 - 6:37along with the generous match grant
from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, -
6:37 - 6:39and sent it to Moses West.
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6:40 - 6:42This past July,
-
6:42 - 6:47Moses West and his atmospheric water
generator arrived to Flint, Michigan, -
6:47 - 6:52on North Saginaw
between Marengo and Pulaski, -
6:52 - 6:55and is actually still there
right now, operating. -
6:56 - 7:00This community that sits
three miles from downtown -
7:00 - 7:03has been stripped of its schools,
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7:03 - 7:06access to healthy grocery stores
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7:06 - 7:07and clean water.
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7:07 - 7:11Socially, it's viewed
as a violent, poor community. -
7:11 - 7:14But I see something completely different.
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7:15 - 7:20Moses, an officer, Ranger, veteran,
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7:20 - 7:25was very clear about his
water rescue mission: -
7:26 - 7:30Bring relief of free, clean water
to the people in Flint. -
7:30 - 7:33Teach them how to use the machine,
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7:33 - 7:34teach them how to take care of it,
-
7:34 - 7:38and most importantly,
take ownership of the machine. -
7:39 - 7:43Tell everybody across the city
to bring all their containers -
7:43 - 7:47and come and take as much water
as they can stock up on, -
7:47 - 7:49especially before the winter season hits;
-
7:49 - 7:53the machine doesn't extract moisture
in freezing temperatures. -
7:54 - 7:59This technology pulls air
through a high-volume air filter. -
8:00 - 8:03It mechanically creates condensation,
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8:03 - 8:08which produces 2,000 gallons
of water per day. -
8:09 - 8:11Residents are free
to walk up to the machine -
8:11 - 8:16anywhere between 9am and 8pm daily
-
8:16 - 8:17and take as much as they want,
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8:17 - 8:22alleviating them from standing
in long lines for bottled water. -
8:22 - 8:25I've been at the machine,
interviewing people, asking them, -
8:25 - 8:29"What does it mean to see Moses
and his machine in [your] community?" -
8:29 - 8:33And, "What has it been like
living without access to clean water?" -
8:34 - 8:36Alita told me,
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8:36 - 8:41"It's a miracle that God gave Moses
the knowledge and technology -
8:41 - 8:45to provide us with pure drinking water."
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8:46 - 8:49She also told me that
prior to the machine coming, -
8:49 - 8:50she had severe headaches,
-
8:51 - 8:53and the water made her
so sick to her stomach, -
8:53 - 8:55she couldn't eat.
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8:56 - 8:59Tina told me that
the lead-contaminated water -
8:59 - 9:01made her hair fall out.
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9:02 - 9:05Usually, she's weak and very light-headed.
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9:06 - 9:11Since using the machine,
she's had energy and strength. -
9:13 - 9:18David, he was overwhelmed with joy
that someone from Texas cared. -
9:18 - 9:21When he tasted the water,
he thought to himself, -
9:21 - 9:24"Now, this is the way
God intended water to be." -
9:26 - 9:29He brings three seven-gallon
containers to refill -
9:29 - 9:31to use at his barbecue stand.
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9:33 - 9:37Through creativity and solidarity,
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9:37 - 9:40Amber Hasan, Shea Cobb,
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9:40 - 9:43Tuklor Senegal, The Sister Tour,
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9:43 - 9:46myself, the people of Flint,
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9:46 - 9:51Dexter Moon, Moses West
and his atmospheric water generator -
9:51 - 9:57have been able to provide 120,000 gallons
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9:57 - 9:58of free, clean water.
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9:59 - 10:05(Applause)
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10:05 - 10:09The people in Flint deserve
access to clean water. -
10:09 - 10:11Water is life.
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10:11 - 10:13It is the spirit that binds us
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10:13 - 10:16from sickness, death and destruction.
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10:17 - 10:21Imagine how many millions
of lives we could save -
10:21 - 10:26if Moses's machine were in places like
Newark, New Jersey, -
10:26 - 10:27South Africa
-
10:27 - 10:28and India,
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10:29 - 10:33with compassion instead of profit motives.
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10:34 - 10:36I loaded my camera,
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10:36 - 10:37I locked my focus,
-
10:37 - 10:40and I placed my finger
over the shutter release, -
10:40 - 10:45as Shea and Zion went to take
their first sip of clean water. -
10:45 - 10:47When the shutter released,
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10:47 - 10:52I was overcome with a deep sense
of joy and righteousness. -
10:53 - 10:55When I sent Shea some of the photographs,
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10:55 - 10:57she wrote,
-
10:57 - 11:01"Thank you again for the light
that you bring to my city." -
11:01 - 11:04I immediately replied,
-
11:04 - 11:06"The light was already there within you."
-
11:09 - 11:14It's been four years
since I've been photographing in Flint, -
11:14 - 11:19and finally, I've been able
to render a poetic justice. -
11:20 - 11:24No matter how dark a situation may be,
-
11:24 - 11:30a camera can extract the light
and turn a negative into a positive. -
11:30 - 11:32Thank you.
-
11:32 - 11:36(Applause)
- Title:
- A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan
- Speaker:
- LaToya Ruby Frazier
- Description:
-
Artist and TED Fellow LaToya Ruby Frazier spent five months living in Flint, Michigan, documenting the lives of those affected by the city's water crisis for her photo essay "Flint is Family." As the crisis dragged on, she realized it was going to take more than a series of photos to bring relief. In this inspiring, surprising talk, she shares the creative lengths she went to in order to bring free, clean water to the people of Flint.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:49
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan | ||
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Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan |