Wayne Lawrence

National Geographic: Flint Water Crisis

  • “I’ll start out saying that if somebody would take a survey, there hasn’t been a ray of hope on what you see coming across the news. And it’s generally been mass hysteria, fear and worry about this or either that. My spirit has been that there need to be a ray of hope. I found out last night on the internet, there is a cure for this lead poisoning. But the guy that’s got the cure can’t practice here. He’s practicing down in Mexico. In fact Charlie Sheen got the treatment from him. That was on the news. So I did email him out to see would his foundation be willing to come here just to show that there is some hope here.” – Pastor Ernest C. Martin, Flint, Michigan, January 31, 2016.
  • Antonio Abram(13), with his sisters, Julie Abram(12), and India Abram(12), collect their daily allowance of bottled water from Firhouse #3, Martin Luther King Avenue, Flint, Michigan, January 27, 2016.
  • Sherry Joy stops for a portrait on her way to collect her daily allowance of one case of bottled water from Fire House #3, Martin Luther King Avenue, Flint, Michigan, January 27, 2016.
  • Trisha Smith and Tyler Harger pose for a portrait before picking up their daily allowance of bottled water, Martin Luther King Avenue, Flint, Michigan, January 31, 2016.
  • {quote}When we did figure out that the water was bad, people like me that have sickle-cell disease, it affected me real bad. From having my iron too high, blood count off, having to do days in the hospital. You know it's just, paying water bills and can't use the water. The water breaking you out when you wash up with it. I got an eleven-year old daughter and a three year-old daughter. Give them a bath they be itching like they ain't even been washed up, the water so bad. Make them break out and everything. They're scratching their skin to where it's turning to sores now from the water.{quote} - Reil Skinner on his way to collect a free case of bottled water distributed to Flint residents by the Army National Gurad, January 28, 2016
  • Clint Williams and a few friends who were all raised at River Park Apartments in Flint, Michigan helped distribute free cases of bottled water to community residents, January 30, 2016. - 810-922-5028his organization is called MEGA
  • “Well, this water situation, I don’t understand it, I don’t know why it’s happening. I don’t know why this couldn’t be fixed in the first place. If the pipes are already messed up why they wasn’t changed in the first place? You know It’s a lot of people, a lot children getting sick from this water. Even me and my children taking baths in it, we have little bumps, itchy bumps on our arms and stuff and, you know, if they knew this all along, why they didn’t do anything or warn the public ahead of time?” – Teresa Terrell – 810.336.4820
  • The hardest part about dealing with this water situation is having to do everything with the water. Bathing, cooking, washing, everything has to be done with bottled water. Everything down from making coffee to washing our babies’ bottles. Our dogs’ don’t drink the water here. Our dogs drink bottled water. We brush our teeth with bottled water. We have to heat up water on the stove to give our kids baths. Not to mention, bottled water is only a temporary fix. We can’t continue to bathe our kids with bottled water for the rest of their lives or until they’re 18. That’s just not feasible. It’s hard but we make do.” - Brian Contreras at home in Flint, Michigan, January 30, 2016. “There’s people out here that feed their kids formula. They’re feeding their babies and stuff with this water. They have no choice because they don’t have a car to get out and go get the free water that’s being given you know. They don’t have the money to afford it and these kids are getting sick.” – Nisa Lanoue, at home with husband, and children, Flint, Michigan, January 30, 2016.
  • I’ve been living in Flint, Michigan for 65 years. The water sent me to the hospital cause my stomach was hurting me so bad. And uh they said it had to be something about the water because I never did stop drinking the water. I kept making Kool Aid cause I’m a Kool Aid lover. Until they finally came out and put a sign on the street to stop drinking the water. That’s when I stopped but by that time I had consumed a lot of it you know. It’s just not right the way they don’t wanna really do nothing about it. I paid the price cause it really got to me. I’m just now getting better you know. Every once in a while I’ll still have a bout with my stomach messing up and stuff. In ’09 I got sent to the hospital for a test, and they said I was a walking time bomb. I stayed up there from August the 23rd til two days before Thanksgiving. They had to put a life support on me, inside me to pump my heart where I could be alive and I had to plug up at night to a machine to stay alive. And I had to run off of batteries during the day. That happened in 09 and then in 2011 a heart came in that matches me and my heart is now 4 years old, going on five and I’ve been doing pretty good. Except when that water, the water held me back. You know you get over one hump and then is always something to throw you back you know. But I’m just thankful to God. He got my back. He had my back back then. I’m a strong black woman, you can’t knock me down cause I’m gonna keep right on moving. – Janet Webb, at home in Flint, Michigan, January
  • “I have the lessionaires disease in my hand. About sixteen months ago it’s even on my genitals. You know what I’m saying. It’s crazy man. I didn’t even know what it was when I went to the doctor. He gave me some cream to put on it. I went to see the dermatologist and everything. Then I find out that’s what it is now.” It’s crazy man. And them giving us bottled water, man they putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. That’s all they’re doing man. They need to fix it. You know I’m not gone point no fingers at who’s responsible but I know in my heart and they all know that they’re wrong and they been knowing about this for the longest. You know how many babies here is affected now man, for the rest of their lives? And to my understanding and my little research it’s irreversible once you get lead poison in the brain. It’s nothing you can do about it. And it’s like giving a whale a tic tac for bad breath man, giving us a case a water a day. You know, how we supposed to bathe man? How is a woman supposed to sit in that tub? You know what I’m saying? And I got a wife, and I got a daughter here? You know, they’re afraid. I need way more than one case of water now. The people in charge need to take responsibility for what they’ve done to this city man! People out here are mad as hell man, and I’m one of em.” – Alvon Leighton, Flint, Michigan, January 28, 2016.
  • “When the water first switched over I remember taking a shower and I’m like, it smells so funny in here. I’m like, it’s not me, it’s the water. The water got switched today. Told mom, mom this water its not right. And I remember probably like a few months after that I started getting rashes, all around my neck mainly. My neck would turn a bright red and it would just be stinging and burning and then it would dry up and start getting flakey and just still burning. Then I went to my dermatologist, and she’s like we don’t really know what it is. All we can do is give you these creams and hopefully something’ll clear it up. And I’m thankful that something did clear it up but it was painful to go through those rashes. Now I know not to stay in the shower more than five minutes. Probably two minutes, do what I gotta do, jump in and hop out.” - Keonna Miles with mother Kionna Miles and nephew Kirk, at home in Flint, Michigan, January 30, 2016.“Several of my family members have been affected by the Flint water contamination. For months we had city officials tell us that it was ok to drink the water. Even showed us that they were drinking the Flint water. We all had different types of illnesses going on but we never thought it was from the water. I done had several upper respiratory infections. I done had skin rashes, hair loss. We cooked with the water, we bathed, I’m worried about two, three years from now, what else is gonna come up. Cancer. I’m worried about how it done affect the inside of my body that haven’t come out with the different tests yet.” – Antonette Miles, with daughter Keonna Miles and grandson Kirk, January 30, 2016.
  • Julie Bennett stops for a photograph after collecting her daily case of water from Firehouse #3, Martin Luther King Avenue, Flint, Michigan, January 27, 2016.
  • Joseph Gibbs-Bey, poses for a portrait after collecting a case of bottled water at Firehouse #3, Martin Luther King Avenue, Flint, Michigan, January 28, 2016
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