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Tag: flint

  • Toxic Legacy: How Lead in Schools Is Silently Harming Black Kids

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    Dionna Brown was two weeks shy of her 15th birthday when her world turned upside-down. An outstanding public high school student in Flint, Michigan, with a report card most of her peers would envy, she suddenly began to struggle in the classroom for no obvious reason. 

    “I was in AP and honors classes — straight-A student,” she recalls. “Then all of a sudden, I couldn’t remember things. I couldn’t concentrate.” 

    Rushed to the hospital, doctors pinpointed the problem: tests revealed elevated levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin, in Brown’s blood. In high enough concentrations, lead can cause permanent brain damage, lower IQ, learning disabilities — and even death. 

    Without knowing it, Brown became one of the many young victims of the Flint water crisis. But her story is being repeated in cities across the country.

    For generations, America’s crumbling infrastructure has quietly poisoned its most vulnerable populations. From peeling paint in public housing to unsafe water pipes beneath city streets, lead has lingered long before and after its federal ban in 1978. 

    But while the government has taken action against lead exposure in homes, experts say its impact in our schools remains overlooked.

    In January, the issue made headlines again when a child attending a Milwaukee public school tested positive for elevated lead blood levels. The discovery triggered emergency inspections and forced at least four other schools in the district to close temporarily. 

    Subsequent data found that children in cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Chicago also face disproportionately high levels of lead exposure in schools. Cleveland topped the list, with nearly 9% of children under the age of six showing signs of elevated lead levels in their blood. 

    “Once a child is exposed to lead, the impacts are irreversible,” says Dr. Denae King, Associate Director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University. “There’s not a lot you can do to undo that damage — and it’s still happening.”

    These cities share more than aging infrastructure: they also serve large Black K-12 student populations, often in racially segregated neighborhoods. And even Flint, whose water crisis made national news, still hasn’t fully established safe drinking water for its children.

    While Milwaukee’s crisis may feel like the beginning for some, the poisoning of Black communities by lead — especially in schools — began long before 2025.

    Today, Brown, now the National Youth Director of Young, Gifted, & Green, a non-profit organization, has spent years fighting for environmental justice. But what still haunts her the most is how little has changed.

    “That was over a decade ago,” she says. “And we’re still here. Kids are still being poisoned in our schools and communities.”

    Schools Built to Fail?

    Nationwide, more than 38% of public K-12 schools were built before 1970, well before the government banned the use of lead-based paint. Many of the schools were built to serve Black students in underfunded, segregated neighborhoods, and these aging buildings often contain lead service lines, contaminating the water that flows into cafeteria faucets and hallway water fountains. 

    According to a 2022 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Black children face higher levels of early lead exposure. The report found that exposure was linked to significantly lower standardized test scores in fourth-grade reading and math compared to their white peers.

    “Most of the Black kids we’re talking about attend schools built before the ban,” King says. “That means many of them are still walking into buildings that are not only failing structurally, but failing them academically, too.”

    The Educational Cost 

    King explains that the root of the lead crisis in schools often begins underground, with lead service lines — city-owned pipes that deliver water from municipal systems to homes, businesses, and schools. 

    “Most cities still have lead service lines,” she says. “So it’s no surprise students are being exposed. She adds that even if a school updates its internal plumbing, “students remain at risk” if city pipes aren’t upgraded. 

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even low levels of lead exposure in children can cause irreversible damage, including reduced IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, and behavioral problems. 

    “The data is very consistent when we think about learning and cognitive ability with lead exposure in children ages zero to six,” King adds. “By the time you get to first or third grade, you start to see the results of that early exposure.”

    Just as striking as the exposure itself is the uneven response. 

    In wealthier districts, King says, active parent-teacher organizations (PTOs), can quickly raise money for water filtration systems. Unfortunately, that’s not the case in predominantly Black or low-income communities, where PTOs and other resources are underfunded or absent altogether. 

    Who Should Be Held Accountable?

    Cleveland, Ohio, currently leads the nation in childhood lead exposure, with more than 8% of children younger than age 6 testing positive for elevated blood lead levels. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) serves a student population that is 64% Black.

    When asked about lead in students’ blood, CMSD told Word In Black they’re “concerned” about the health hazard and will “continue to strongly support the work done by the City of Cleveland and the Lead Safe Coalition to identify and remediate lead in our neighborhoods.”

    While the school district did not directly address the problem, Dr. David Margolius, the city’s director of public health, says school systems aren’t entirely to blame.

    “This is the fault of the generations of disinvestment in housing and public infrastructure in poor communities — which leads to exposure in the first place,” he says. 

    However, both King and Brown say the problem is nuanced.  

    “There are different levels of accountability that include the municipality and homeowners,” King says. “But on the school side, they are responsible for ensuring their campuses are safe. You send your child to school expecting they’ll be protected, not poisoned.”

    She also adds that parents are often left in the dark.

    “Many parents have shared that they are concerned that their children are not learning at the same level as other students in their classes,” she says. “And I am surprised that schools don’t do a better job of educating parents about the risk of lead exposure and that they don’t provide wraparound services once a child has been exposed.”

    Brown agrees: “Schools still have a responsibility. Kids spend 8-plus hours in school buildings every day.”

    Moreover, federal programs intended to address the crisis have faltered. While the Biden administration’s Infrastructure and Jobs Act was designed to fund the replacement of lead service lines, access to the resources remains inconsistent across cities, often leaving underfunded and de facto segregated school districts behind.

    “There’s no agency that owns the problem,” Margolius adds. “There’s no one taking ownership for how to fix this at the federal level. That’s the real issue.”

    Making matters worse, the CDC recently laid off its entire childhood lead poisoning prevention staff, shifting responsibility to the newly formed Administration for a Healthy America under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Experts are concerned about whether the federal government is prepared to meet a crisis of this scale. 

    Communities as First Responders

    Houston offers a glimpse of what’s possible. There, the Bullard Center and community groups are training parents and neighborhood leaders to identify lead hazards and demand answers from school officials.

    King also encouraged students to write letters to the district. She said systems have begun to respond.

    Community groups “did all the education themselves,” she says. “We trained them on what lead looks like, how it’s affecting their children, and then they got out there and educated others. The community stepped up where the system failed.”

    Back in Cleveland, Margolius hopes to see a similar momentum, but on a national level. 

    “Keeping these stories alive in the media and community discussions is essential. Without sustained attention, the crisis will quietly continue.”

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    Quintessa Williams, Word in Black

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  • ‘We the Poisoned’: Flint water scandal uncovered in explosive new book

    ‘We the Poisoned’: Flint water scandal uncovered in explosive new book

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    Courtesy of Jordan Chariton

    Investigative reporter Jordan Chariton with his new book, We the Poisoned: Exposing the Flint Water Cover-Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 Americans.

    A decade after the Flint water crisis began, a new book chronicles the devastating impact on the city’s residents and how local and state officials covered up the disaster.

    We the Poisoned: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover-Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 Americans was released Tuesday, and the 296-page book by investigative reporter Jordan Chariton features new bombshells that raise serious questions about the handling of the health disaster.

    The book also demonstrates that the catastrophic impact of the poisoned water continues today, even after local and national reporters have virtually stopped covering the crisis.

    Chariton calls the Flint water disaster “the biggest government cover-up this century.”

    One of the biggest revelations is that state officials, including then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, knew that the water was tainted long before alerting residents. The book also features exclusively obtained, confidential testimony from Snyder, who claimed under oath that he couldn’t recall details of the crisis and contradicted his congressional testimony.

    Chariton, an independent investigative reporter, also alleges in the book that Snyder lied about not knowing about the deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak.

    The book also explores Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s controversial decision to “shitcan” the criminal investigation involving city and state officials accused of covering up the crisis.

    Chariton, a frequent critic of corporate media, also casts blame on local news outlets for repeatedly failing to adequately cover the crisis. He writes that reporters often regurgitated local and state officials’ false claims while ignoring evidence that the water was poisoned.

    Chariton is a former producer for Fox News and MSNBC, and says he visited Flint 21 times; interviewed countless residents, and local and state officials; and combed through tens of thousands of records to write the book. At the time, he was writing news stories about Flint’s water for The Guardian, The Intercept, Vice, and Metro Times.

    “I didn’t even think about writing a book until about two years ago,” Chariton tells Metro Times. “I was getting frustrated because I had written several major stories about the cover-up. But it wasn’t really getting the reach that I wanted. I got so much information, and frankly I believe bombshell after bombshell of blatant corruption, so I thought the best way to tell this was through a book.”

    Chariton says the book is more than a retelling of a catastrophe.

    “I believe the book outlines very meticulously a pretty sinister conspiracy between public officials, Wall Street banks, and the state government,” he says. “I believe it really reveals in a timeline format the biggest cover-up this century. I don’t mean to be dramatic. I don’t know anything else that has killed so many people.”

    Chariton also scoffs at the state’s official claim that only 12 people have died as a result of the poisoned water.

    “It is unknowable how many people died from this because it has caused so many different health problems, from kidney and liver failure to cancer, which is surging right now in Flint. Legionnaires’ deaths could be in the hundreds,” he says.

    As he knocked on doors to interview residents, Chariton said he began to notice an unusual number of deaths of people in their 50s and 60s.

    The book, he says, is bigger than Flint.

    “In the broader psyche of America, when you think of a government coverup, a lot of older people think Watergate,” he says. “But I believe the Flint water cover-up makes Watergate look like child’s play. I say that because Watergate was a bunch of numbskulls screwing around. It didn’t kill anyone. Whereas with this, you have government officials, as it’s detailed in the book, knowing the water is unsafe while telling residents the water is safe. You have a governor who is aware the water is unsafe but is not taking action.”

    One of the still-unraveling tragedies, Chariton says, is the children who have been impacted from lead poisoning. Lead is highly toxic to the brain, nervous system, and other organs, especially in infants and young children. Even at low levels, lead is linked to reduced IQ, ADHD, irreversible brain damage, classroom problems, and even criminality and poverty. Lead can also cause headaches, hearing loss, and hyperactive behavior.

    There is no safe level of lead, and even a small amount can cause irreversible damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    Despite the government-caused disaster, residents are not getting the help they need because there’s no access to free medical care, Chariton says.

    “There definitely is a lost generation,” Chariton says. “There are people dying slowly without the necessary health care because they can’t afford it. It’s really jarring. I saw people I’ve met in 2016, and I saw them two years later, and they looked like they had aged 10 years.”

    Chariton cautions that the failure to hold anyone accountable for Flint sends a dangerous message.

    “If the people who are responsible for this get away with this, it’s the playbook for everywhere else,” Chariton says.

    The forward to the book is written by Erin Brockovich, an American legal clerk and environmental activist who became famous for her role in building a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993.

    “Maybe we got comfortable, maybe we became complacent, or maybe we bought into the illusion that some Superman was out there about to fly in and save us all,” Brockovich writes in the forward. “But now we are seeing that there is no wizard coming to our rescue. In reality, it’s up to us to find our courage, to use our hearts, and to think for ourselves.”

    The Flint water crisis began when the city, while under state emergency management, switched its drinking water supply to the Flint River to save money in 2014. The decision created one of the nation’s worst public health disasters in decades, contaminating drinking water with dangerous levels of lead.

    State officials ignored signs of serious health hazards in the predominantly Black city and failed to implement corrosion-control treatments, causing lead, iron, and rust to leach from aging pipes into the water supply.

    In 2018, Chariton launched Status Coup, an on-the-ground, investigative journalism company on YouTube. It has nearly 200,000 subscribers.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • K.Dot’s “Euphoria,” Acho’s Book, and Reproductive Justice With Nourbese Flint

    K.Dot’s “Euphoria,” Acho’s Book, and Reproductive Justice With Nourbese Flint

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    Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss the drop of Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” and the evolution of Drake throughout the years (15:03), before reacting to Emmanuel Acho’s latest project, Uncomfortable Conversations With a Jew (49:17). Nourbese Flint then joins them to talk about how the political landscape is impacting Black women in America (1:09:15).

    Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay
    Guest: Nourbese Flint
    Producer: Ashleigh Smith

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher

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    Van Lathan

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  • Flint funeral home goes quiet after judge orders release of Councilman Mays’s body

    Flint funeral home goes quiet after judge orders release of Councilman Mays’s body

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    City of Flint

    Flint City Councilman Eric Mays.

    A judge ordered a funeral home to release Flint City Councilman Eric Mays’s body to his only son Monday, but that didn’t happen.

    Mays’s son Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays arrived at the Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home in Flint on Monday evening with a hearse, expecting to move his father to a new funeral home in Saginaw.

    But no one was at the Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home, and its attorney refused to comply with the order, Mays’s lawyer Joseph Cannizzo tells Metro Times.

    A man who answered the phone at the funeral home declined to comment Tuesday morning.

    Mays’s son filed a lawsuit last week against the funeral home and his four siblings last week. The lawsuit accused the funeral home of holding Mays’s body “hostage” by refusing to turn it over to the son. The lawsuit also alleged Mays’s four siblings conspired to seize control of Mays’s body and profit from “their fraudulent scheme” by soliciting donations from the community for funeral services.

    Judge Brian S. Pickell of Michigan’s 7th Circuit Court said the son, as next of kin, had the right to make funeral arrangements, not Mays’s siblings.

    After the ruling, Mays arranged for the body to be transferred to the Paradise Funeral Chapel in Saginaw.

    Mays, a passionate and sometimes combative councilman and TikTok sensation, died at his home on Feb. 24 but didn’t leave behind a will, according to the suit.

    The suit alleged that two of Mays’s siblings lied to the Genesee County Medical Examiner’s Office by saying the councilman had no children. A third sibling, who is an employee of the funeral home, falsely claimed that he had legal authority to authorize the release of the body, the suit claimed.

    Mays’s son also filed a lawsuit against city officials on Friday, claiming they engaged in “a cruel act of retaliation” by withholding information about his father’s insurance benefits.

    Flint officials countered that the city could not turn over the information because Mays did not list a beneficiary with the city’s insurance companies. When no beneficiary is designated, “the policy is payable to the Employee’s estate,” Flint Human Resources Director Eddie Smith said in a statement, citing the city’s benefit policies.

    City officials said they are awaiting a probate court to designate a personal representative of Mays’s estate.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • Legal battle halts funeral plans for late Flint Councilman Eric Mays

    Legal battle halts funeral plans for late Flint Councilman Eric Mays

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    City of Flint

    Flint City Councilman Eric Mays.

    The siblings of deceased Flint Councilman Eric Mays cannot move forward with a funeral for their brother this week amid a lawsuit over who has the rights to his remains, a judge ruled Thursday.

    The decision comes several days after Mays’s son, Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays, filed a lawsuit that alleges the Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home in Flint is holding his father’s body “hostage.”

    The lawsuit accuses Mays’s four siblings of conspiring to unlawfully seize control of the former councilman’s remains and profit from “their fraudulent scheme” by soliciting donations from the community for funeral services.

    Judge Brian S. Pickell of Michigan’s 7th Circuit Court declined to make a final decision on the lawsuit because all four of Mays’s siblings have not yet been properly served. But Pickell said the siblings cannot hold a funeral until further notice. The judge also said Mays’s son has a right to view his father’s body.

    “Though I am disappointed that this dispute will continue, I believe we are one step closer to giving my father the proper funeral service and burial I know he wanted,” HaKeem Deontaye Mays said in a statement. “I am anxious to see my father’s remains to ensure he was properly cared for by the Moon Funeral Home since the day he passed away. I would like to thank everyone in the Flint community and across the country who has supported me while I’ve been forced to fight the kind of fight no son wants to have to fight after losing his father.”

    The judge recessed the hearing until Monday.

    “We are hopeful that when we are before Judge Pickell again this coming Monday, March 11, we will be able to resolve this dispute in favor of our client and begin preparations to lay the late Councilman to rest,” the son’s attorney Wayne Pollock said.

    Mays, a passionate and combative councilman and TikTok sensation, died at his home on Feb. 24 but didn’t leave behind a will, according to the suit, which claims only his son has next-of-kin rights to handle the remains.

    The suit alleges that two of Mays’s siblings lied to the Genesee County Medical Examiner’s Office and said that Mays had no children. A third sibling, who is an employee of the funeral home, falsely claimed that he had legal authority to authorize the release of the body, the suit claims.

    Now the funeral home is refusing to turn over Mays’s body to his son, even though Eric Mays provided the company with the required documentation to release the remains to him, according to the suit.

    Mays’s son is asking the judge to order the release of his father’s remains to a funeral home that he chooses.

    Mays was a popular and quarrelsome councilman who often posted his clashes with the council on his TikTok channel, which had more than 220,000 followers. His followers appreciated his unfiltered advocacy for Flint residents.

    First elected to the council in 2013, Mays was one of the first public officials to voice concerns about the water crisis that began in 2014. While other state and city officials downplayed the crisis, Mays was an unwavering advocate for residents.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • Outspoken Flint Councilman and TikTok sensation Eric Mays dies

    Outspoken Flint Councilman and TikTok sensation Eric Mays dies

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    City of Flint

    Flint City Councilman Eric Mays.

    Eric Mays, a passionate and combative Flint City Councilman and TikTok sensation who became one of the most outspoken supporters of residents during the water crisis, has died, city officials announced late Saturday.

    Mays was 65.

    His cause of death wasn’t immediately clear.

    First elected to the council in 2013, Mays was one of the first public officials to voice concerns about the water crisis that began in 2014. While other state and city officials downplayed the crisis, Mays was an unwavering advocate for residents.

    During council meetings, Mays’s passion often manifested as combativeness as he clashed with others on the board. On more than a few occasions, police escorted Mays out of council meetings for clamoring with his colleagues.

    In December, Mays was suspended from the council for 90 days for making “constant frivolous motions” and using “racist rhetoric,” according to a council motion. Mays planned to file a federal lawsuit against the council, saying the suspension violated his First Amendment rights and left his constituents unrepresented.

    In January 2023, Mays called other Black council members “handkerchief-head Negros,” “Uncle Toms,” and “Sambos.”

    Mays often posted his clashes on TikTok, where he garnered more than 220,000 followers who appreciated his unfiltered advocacy for Flint residents.

    click to enlarge Human rights activist Sam Riddle (left) with Flint City Councilman Eric Mays. - Courtesy of Sam Riddle

    Courtesy of Sam Riddle

    Human rights activist Sam Riddle (left) with Flint City Councilman Eric Mays.

    Sam Riddle, a longtime friend and supporter of the councilman, says Mays was popular among residents because he zealously fought for them.

    “Eric Mays raised hell and irritated people, but his behavior moved leadership and mis-leadership up the ladder of consciousness one rung at a time,” Riddle, political director of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, tells Metro Times. “He had a unique ability to make people angry because he was so right analytically, so people would hate on him rather than take on the issues he raised. Like the rest of us, he had personal flaws, but they paled in comparison to his astute political abilities.”

    The Lento Law Group, which represented Mays in numerous legal matters, said the councilman stood up for his residents when no one else would.

    “We are heartbroken by the sudden, tragic death of our client, Councilman Eric Mays,” Lento Law Group wrote in a statement to Metro Times. “Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and constituents. Councilman Mays was a man devoted to public service. His unrelenting advocacy on behalf of his constituents gave them a voice in a government body that often seemed interested in silencing voices that did not agree with the majority.”

    The law firm added, “We will continue to fight for those constituents and the City of Flint in Councilman Mays’ name and memory, including against those individuals whose gracious statements concerning his passing stand in stark contrast to the actions they took against him while he was a public servant. Rest in Peace, Councilman Mays.”

    Flint Mayor Sheldon Neely, with whom Mays often clashed, spoke warmly of the councilman in a written statement.

    “This is a tremendous loss for our community and a shock to all friends and family,” Neeley said. “As our community grieves during this difficult time, on behalf of Councilman Mays’ family, we ask that community members respect their privacy and allow them time and space to mourn. We continue to lift the family in prayer.”

    Citing Mays’s “bold and courageous service,” city officials said in a statement that the flag at City Hall would be lowered to half-staff in his honor Monday.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • Flint mayor Neeley warns Democrats of Black voter exodus

    Flint mayor Neeley warns Democrats of Black voter exodus

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    Michael A. Naddeo/City of Flint

    Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley.

    Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley is sounding the alarm on the Michigan Democratic Party, saying it’s alienating Black Democrats and taking African American voters for granted.

    The longtime Democrat, who previously served as chair of Michigan Legislative Black Caucus and is the current chair of Black Mayors of Michigan, says the party “needs to have a courageous conversation” about disenfranchisement.

    “It’s really leading into the original sins of this country of exclusion and oppression,” Neeley tells Metro Times. “It looks different but it feels the same. This is the sentiment that I know is being spoken about in Michigan.”

    Polls show an increasing number of Black voters are pulling away from the Democratic Party. Among Black voters nationwide, the Democratic Party’s advantage over Republicans in party preference has dropped by nearly 20 percentage points over the past three years, a recent Gallup poll found.

    In Michigan, 92% of Black Michigan voters cast a ballot for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, according to exit polls. But Biden’s support among Black voters has fallen to just 62% in a January EPIC-MRA poll.

    That could spell serious trouble for Biden as it becomes increasingly likely that he will face Donald Trump in the November general election.

    Biden is also hemorrhaging support from Michigan Muslims and Arab Americans because of his refusal to call for a ceasefire as Israel continues to massacre Palestinians. A campaign called “Listen to Michigan” is urging voters who disapprove of the Biden administration’s backing of Israel’s war in Gaza to select “uncommitted” on the ballot to pressure Biden to push for a ceasefire.

    It’s no wonder that a recent poll showed Biden trailing Trump in Michigan by four percentage points.

    In an op-ed in the Michigan Chronicle on Wednesday, Neeley laid out his concerns that the Michigan Democratic Party was taking Black voters and leaders for granted.

    “It seems a glass ceiling has resurfaced to block experienced and well-qualified Black Democratic candidates from reaching elected office at the federal level,” Neeley wrote. “This translates to Black voters feeling taken for granted and ignored by the Democratic party. At this critical juncture in our country’s political trajectory, far too many qualified Black elected officials are being boxed out of elections for higher office and left wondering whether they still have a place in this ‘big tent party.’”

    Neeley pointed to wide support among Democrats for newly drawn state legislative districts that diminished the influence of Black voters. A panel of federal judges recently ordered Michigan’s redistricting commission to redraw more than a dozen Detroit district lines because they weakened the political empowerment of Black voters.

    Neeley also said the Michigan Democratic Party failed to engage Black elected leaders when U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee announced he won’t seek reelection in 2024 for a seat that covers Flint and Saginaw, two cities with a large African American population. While the open seat is a good opportunity for a Black leader, the party isn’t showing a desire to elect an African American, Neeley said.

    The only Black member of Congress from Michigan is a Republican.

    “These developments should serve as a wakeup call to all Democrats,” Neeley wrote. “Instead, it increasingly appears as though some in the party are choosing to ignore these glaring warning signs that the Black electorate is being ignored and disrespected.”

    Sam Riddle, political director of the Michigan National Action Network, a civil rights organization led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, says Black Democrats are becoming more dissatisfied with the party.

    “I have spoken with Mayor Neeley and share the mayor’s concerns,” Riddle said in a statement. “I have been involved in Michigan and national campaigns for more than fifty years. I have never seen more dissatisfaction with Dems other than the Vietnam War Era.”

    Riddle added, “President Biden’s unwillingness to force a ceasefire in Gaza and the racist arrogance of Michigan Democrats is a perfect storm for Dems losing Michigan in November.”

    Neeley said the party has to begin addressing concerns among Black voters.

    “If we keep doing what we are doing, we risk losing the support of talented elected leaders of color, and soon, the voters who supported them,” Neeley wrote. “The Democratic Party must not squander the trust of loyal Black voters and the candidates they trust to represent them.”

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    Steve Neavling

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  • Flint water crisis charges dismissed against ex-Gov. Snyder

    Flint water crisis charges dismissed against ex-Gov. Snyder

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    FLINT, Mich. — A judge dismissed criminal charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the Flint water crisis, months after the state Supreme Court said indictments returned by a one-person grand jury were invalid.

    Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. He was the first person in state history to be charged for alleged crimes related to service as governor.

    Snyder also is the eighth person to have a Flint water case thrown out after the Supreme Court’s unanimous June opinion.

    Genesee County Judge F. Kay Behm signed the order Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Senate approved her nomination to become a federal judge in eastern Michigan.

    “The charges against (Snyder) were not properly brought and must be dismissed at this time,” Behm wrote.

    Only one case remains pending in the water scandal, which not only exposed children to toxic lead but was blamed for nine deaths linked to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Activists who believe crimes were committed are frustrated that no one has been locked up.

    The Michigan attorney general’s office has desperately tried to keep the cases alive but so far has lost at every turn. Prosecutors have argued that the indictments could simply be turned into common criminal complaints in district court, but Behm and another judge have rejected that approach.

    Flint’s water became tainted with lead after city managers appointed by Snyder began using the Flint River in 2014 to save money while a new pipeline to Lake Huron was built. The water wasn’t treated to reduce its corrosive qualities, causing lead to break off from old pipes and contaminate the system for more than a year.

    The Michigan Civil Rights Commission said it was the result of systemic racism, doubting that the water switch and the brush-off of complaints in the majority-Black city would have occurred in a white, prosperous community.

    Flint residents complained about the water’s smell, taste and appearance, raising health concerns and reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems. Snyder didn’t acknowledge that lead was a problem until 17 months after the water switch, in fall 2015, when he pledged to take action.

    Snyder acknowledged that state government had botched the water switch, especially regulators who didn’t require certain treatments. But his lawyers argued that criminal charges were the result of “political persecution” by the attorney general’s office.

    Michigan prosecutors typically file charges in a district court after a police investigation. A one-judge grand jury was rare and had mostly been used in Detroit and Flint to protect witnesses who could testify in private about violent crimes.

    State prosecutors, however, chose that path in the Flint water saga to hear evidence in secret and get indictments against Snyder and others.

    But the state Supreme Court unanimously said a one-judge grand jury can’t issue indictments. The process apparently had never been challenged.

    Judge Elizabeth Kelly in October dismissed felony charges against seven people, including two senior health officials from Snyder’s administration, Nick Lyon and Eden Wells, who had been charged with involuntary manslaughter in nine Legionnaires’ deaths.

    A former Flint public works official, Howard Croft, still has misdemeanors pending with a different judge.

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    Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez

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    This version corrects that the misdemeanors were for willful neglect of duty, not misconduct.

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  • Mother seeks further investigation into death of sons who died after firefighters failed to properly search burning home | CNN

    Mother seeks further investigation into death of sons who died after firefighters failed to properly search burning home | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The mother of two boys who died following a house fire in Michigan earlier this year is pushing for an independent investigation after two firefighters were accused of lying about properly searching for survivors.

    Zyaire Mitchell, 12, and his brother Lamar, 9, died soon after a fire at their home in Flint on May 28.

    Several weeks later, an investigation led by the fire department found two firefighters tasked with the initial search of the room the children were in lied about properly sweeping for victims. Almost seven minutes later, the children were found by other firefighters. Both later died at a hospital from smoke inhalation, their mother said. State fire investigators ruled faulty electrical wiring caused the fire.

    In his July report, Flint Fire Department Chief Raymond Barton determined the two firefighters — Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek — should be terminated from the department, “due to the nature of the incident in question, and the actions or lack of action possibly contributing to the loss of life of two victims.”

    But instead, the city accepted the resignation of one of the firefighters and a second was “disciplined,” Barton said in August, without elaborating on what disciplinary actions were taken. On Friday, the city provided CNN with a copy of a letter sent to Zlotek dated July 28 detailing his two-week suspension.

    Barton refused to comment further on the investigation or its outcomes when contacted by CNN on Saturday.

    Attorney Robert Kenner, who is representing the boys’ mother, said he thinks there is an indication of racial bias in the way the investigation has been handled because the children were Black.

    “I can’t say in good faith that these firemen intentionally failed at their responsibility because these boys were African Americans, I would never say that,” Kenner said. “I think the way it was handled subsequent to the boys being found was a disparity in how others have been treated.”

    Speaking at a press conference Friday, the boys’ mother, Crystal Cooper, said, “Only if I could just give six minutes, my babies would still be here with me. I just want justice for them. They didn’t deserve this. Every day is a struggle knowing that I won’t see them anymore.”

    Kenner accused the city of a coverup and on Friday called for another investigation.

    “There was an investigation by a Chief Raymond Barton and, what he found, was that two firemen — Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek — fabricated and lied on a report and said that they checked the room,” Kenner said. “Based on what they said, the chief did his own investigation and what was uncovered was they couldn’t have checked the room, they didn’t even mention anything about a bed, the location of the bed, the location of items.”

    “No parent should ever have to go through this,” the attorney added. “No parent. So, what we’re calling for, we’re calling for a thorough investigation, an earnest investigation, no cover-ups, no change in documents. We’re calling for the truth.”

    Kenner on Saturday told CNN the decision not to terminate the firefighters came from the office of Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley.

    A representative of Flint Firefighters Local 352 told The Flint Journal that the two firefighters are being scapegoated in the matter because they failed to search a small room on the second floor of the home due to extreme heat and low visibility.

    CNN has reached out to the union for comment.

    “The mayor is in a hotly contested race right now and made the decision not to terminate based on political reasons,” Kenner claimed. “He’s tied to the fire union and didn’t want to upset the union or other constituents.”

    Neeley is facing former Mayor Karen Weaver in the election on Tuesday.

    Neeley, the mayor, told CNN, “There is absolutely no truth to the allegation that there is a cover up.”

    “We continue to lift this family in prayer, and we are sad to see their pain shamefully exploited,” he added.

    CNN has attempted to contact Zlotek and Daniel Sniegocki for comment.

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