Editor’s note: The ACLU of Michigan documentary, “Here’s to Flint,” produced by journalist Curt Guyette and filmmaker Kate Levy, was shown in March at the Woodside Church in Flint. The film depicts the ongoing struggle of the grassroots leaders (water warriors) in exposing Flint’s toxic water— and the toxic system of undemocratic Emergency Manager government behind it. Below are excerpts from comments made after the film showing by some of the grassroots leaders.– The Editors
 ‘It is a real honor to be in the room with all of you. I have one thing to say: it’s the power of documentation. Document injustices in your community. It was such a pleasure to do the work of this film with Curt and the people in this room—it was their documentation.” — Kate Levy |
 “We wanted to show that this was a community driven action. It is inspiring that so many people came together and fought together. Kids were poisoned. The people who are responsible need to be held accountable. Democracy was taken away from the people. We cannot allow that to happen again. – Curt Guyette |
 “I’ve been sitting down with people, trying to figure out how to move forward on the health care crisis—how to get them to hear us. It is very much about the children; also about the adults and teenagers that have been poisoned. We’re making progress but it’s not happening fast enough. So it’s up to us to light that fire and start holding people accountable for what we need here in our city.” LeeAnn Walters |
 “This war started in 2011 with Public Act 4, the emergency manager law that took our democracy away. They tried to still our voice. I thank God for each and every one that walked up and down these streets all over Michigan with a petition to sign saying we did not want emergency managers. We know that the only cities that have emergency managers are predominantly those of color. They wanted to use Michigan as an example. We’re showing them we will not stand for it.”—Bishop Bernadel Jefferson |
 “I grew up in Flint. I didn’t expect this. I would love Flint to come back again, together as a whole. GM is gone. That left some very, very, strong soldiers and warriors here. There is no Black, white, green, red, yellow. We are Flint, and we are bad, and by bad I mean good. I love you Flint, I love you. There is no color here, this is a big red heart and we all carry it.” — Tony Paladino |
 “Thank you for coming out today. We in this city are suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome. There is no daylight between this poisonous toxic water and emergency management. And, the political model here isn’t going to stay in Michigan. I hope this event, and others, will be a marker, and history will look back at this as an eventful moment that helped turn the tide and reorganize society in the interests of humanity. That’s what this is all about—it’s a revolutionary effort.” —Claire McClinton |
View the film and the series of People’s Tribune articles on Flint at peoplestribune.org/
