Democracy Now! reports on "Flint: As Two Unelected Emergency Managers are Charged over Water Poisong, with Gov. Snyder be Next?"
Host Amy Goodman's guests included Curt Guyette of the ACLU of Michigan*, and Nayyirah Shariff, director of Flint Rising, a coalition of activists and advocates working to fix the Flint Water Crisis.
Shariff made the "Water Is Life" connection between Flint and Standing Rock:
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Nayyirah Shariff, you just went from Flint to Standing Rock in North Dakota. We just have a minute, but why? What do you see is the connection between what’s happening in North Dakota and Flint?
NAYYIRAH SHARIFF: Well, we’re in this nascent stage of these water wars. And hopefully, what’s happening at Standing Rock—we have the same corporations and the same ideology that is pushing for DAPL. It’s the same ideology that created the emergency manager law, this thing for austerity and privatization and resource extraction for short-term gain, without the impact—without humanity being in that equation. And I felt like I needed to have my body on the ground there as a show of support.
Watch the entire interview here.
*Guyette helped bring the Flint lead poisoning debacle to national and even international attention through his reporting. He was awarded the Hillman Prize for Web Journalism in recognition, as well as being voted Michigan "Journalist of the Year" by the Michigan Press Association. Guyette previously reported at Detroit's Metro Times, including on Beyond Nuclear and other anti-nuclear efforts in Michigan. Guyette serves as investigative reporter for the ACLU of Michigan. His work focuses on emergency management and open government. His recent article for the ACLU of Michigan is titled "Charges Against Emergency Managers Underscore Folly of Shortsightedness That Created Flint Water Crisis."