Mona Hanna-Attisha

What the Eyes Don't See , by Mona Hanna-Attisha, is the story of the Flint, Michigan drinking water crisis a few years ago. I initially thought I knew enough about the mishap, and initially passed on reading this book, but after hearing the author speak recently, I decided to give the book a try. And I'm very happy I did.

The author, Mona Hanna-Attisha, is a pediatrician in Flint, who noted a rise in lead levels in her patients shortly after the City of Flint, in an effort to save money, switched the water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River.

Dr. Mona and a small team began to research and then confirm the problem, but her efforts to have the city officials take action fell on deaf ears. She proved to be heroic in her determination to protect the children in Flint, and stood strong against State, County and Local Health and Water Department officials who rejected her findings and disparaged her at every turn. Despite being dismissed by those in power in Michigan, she found the strength to stay strong and push back, believing science is stronger than cover-your-@ss politics. Ultimately, she was proven to be right, and a number of those in power and responsible for covering up the problem lost their jobs or were criminally prosecuted. Really an impressive story.
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This is the inside story of the Flint water crisis from a pediatrician who saw it from the inside and fought to bring it to attention.

As a book, it's a little messy; it loops between scientific detection, politics, and a memoir of the author and her family (her parents are Chaldeans who left Iraq for the US). But her narrative voice is compelling. Dr. Hanna-Attisha is committed to justice for her patients, and she's passionate about the failures that allowed Flint's water to be poisoned.

The politics here are as sobering as the science. They led to the disenfranchisement and abandonment of a majority minority city; to the decay of its infrastructure; to the starvation of its finances; and finally, to the poisoning of its children. There's a larger story here, about our politics and our belief in governmental competence, and I hope other books will go further into the putrid details of it.… (altro)