HIGHLAND PARK, MI — Over and over, Michigan state government has failed to do what it was designed to do: act on behalf of the people and protect the people. In fact, it has been the very government itself which has hurt the people and, much too often all for the sake of profit, protecting not the people but the corporations that feed off the people. From the poisoning of Flint and the failure to make our neighborhoods whole to the millions of gallons of water that Nestlé is allowed to drain from our Michigan lakes for virtually free all for the sake of a dollar.
State involvement forced the closing of our water plant in Highland Park, in suburban Detroit, but with no state involvement in the upkeep or restoration of what it was instrumental in destroying, crippling the city, pitting us against our suburban counterparts, and making us the excuse for its increased costs and water issues.
Mostly recently it was discovered that one in seven children in Highland Park has lead poisoning. Lead levels higher than anywhere in the nation in a city that covers only 2.9 square miles and has a population decreasing from just 9,000 people who are mostly low income, elderly, and disabled. It appears not important because it was not the government that came and informed the citizens here, it was the news media that broke the story. No word from our leaders has been heard as to what they plan to do to remedy the situation and help the ones poisoned.
As troubling as that sounds, it has become the norm in communities of lower incomes and different skin tones and, while the places and faces may change, the story and patterns remain the same. From our small city to as far away as Ireland, the governments in place are failing to care for the needs and interests of the people who they were elected to represent. So, what do you do when the ones who are supposed to have your best interest at heart continue to fail you? I say fight back. Your very existence and that of the ones you love the most depend on it.
