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You definitely need to install the Disqus plug-in. I immediately shared this post once I read it. I'm thinking of posting it to my site when time permits. Powerful, descriptive writing... thought provoking and ultimately another sad addition to the mounds of literature being created about a horrifying situation. 

Now, you make a point that I often talk about when people spend time posting about the problems of the world and why I don't typically get into the idea of sending help abroad. There are more than enough issues right here to tackle that everyone avoids. When Flint happens, before I moved to Cali, we had a place here in the Mid South called Sugar Ditch. What has happened Flint barely holds a candle to what was happening there and what continues to happen in many small Southern towns. Hell, I can drive out to parts of Memphis right now and see imagery that isn't too far removed from the shanties. I'm sure we could all do this and there lies the dilemma. How do we analyze the world when self analysis creates paralysis and temporary amnesia in the minds of fellow Americans? 

Excellent post.

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CDBurns, I agree wholeheartedly, so much help is needed.  I am almost paralyzed with the thought of it.  You are correct, this situation in Flint is NOT singular!  I just hope that I can make people feel the way I feel when I see humans suffer.  The feeling for humanity should supercede race, class, and zip code.  Perhaps if we can eliminate the apathy, we can eliminate the issue?  I dont fully know, but I will keep searching.

I thank you again for the feedback; I am steadily seeking growth and betterment. 

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Art, writing, music, creativity is a way of fighting and this post you've written is powerful. It's a start. Sometimes the only thing we have are our words and as much as people want to think that the pen or song isn't powerful enough to make a difference, I know that reading or hearing something can turn the switch on for the person who is receptive to the words. Keep writing and sharing, get the website better and better and continue sharing, that's the best we can do sometimes. It's action and it's just as powerful as pulling a dollar out of your pocket, or going and building a wall. One action of purpose does not mean more than another. 

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What happened in "the Fly N T" (as locals call it) is probably happening in cities all over the nation, it was just EXPOSED in Flint.

I don't live in Flint but I do live in the Detroit area just about an hour from Flint. I've been there several times to see first hand what's going on.
The media is being deceptive about the aid being provided.

The sad fact is with all the love and charity people around the nation are giving the city of Flint....it's not enough.

It's not enough because the problem will cost BILLIONS of dollars and YEARS to fix properly and no one person in this country has the amount of money and resources to fix it.
I personally don't even think the city of Flint and state of Michigan combined has the money to fix it.
Only the Federal Government has the money and resources to fix this problem.

I've been saying for weeks now that we need to bring in the Army Corps of Engineers to fix the problem and provide temporary housing for people.

Hell, why should an American city rely on CHARITY and fund raising when the Federal Government is currently spending billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan?


Perhaps this crisis could be a turning point in this nation to help rebuild our infrastructure.

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It would be nice to have the infrastructure rebuilt and redesigned. The power grid, high speed rails, the water systems, etc. will continue to go unchecked. I hate to sound pessimistic, but nothing will be done. There will be temporary patches put in place to satisfy the issue enough to make it go away. What we are dealing with is possibly beyond repair of pipes even. Water is officially a commodity that will soon be traded on the stock exchange like gold and oil. The WHO is aware of the problem of overcrowding in the world and if every country can slowly decimate it's population through "various problems" it helps overall.

That's about as conspiracy theory as I get, but it's the truth. We are not bold enough to put a ban on childbirth as they did in China and we are not so disadvantaged that we can get away with allowing the spread of diseases ala Ebola, Zika, (insert your virus). We can't kill thousands as they are doing in the middle east through war so what can the US do in regard to overcrowding? You see it in Flint and you see it in the incarceration rate of Black men. 

(I just reread this and it's clear I've been watching too much X-Flies.)

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I don't think it's the size of the population that's the problem, it's the INFRASTRUCTURE that's the problem.

This is the problem in Flint, Detroit, New York, and cities all over the Western world.

The Western world is old, decaying...and doesn't have the desire to "renew" itself through massive building projects like Franklin Roosevelt's plans of the 1930s and 40s.

With only about 40 square miles, Flint could COMFORTABLY house atleast 2 million residents if the city was built with a proper infrastructure and advanced planning.
Also the educational system would help by teaching young people how to live with and get along together in groups instead of the current Western mindset of fearing strangers.

The problem isn't in the ability, it's in the desire.

I personally believe that the leaders of the Western world see it as collapsing and they've given up on saving it and are just trying to get as much wealth and enjoyment out of it as they can.

It's up to those of us living in the West with VISION to come up with new ways for architecture, urban planning, housing for huge populations in limited space.


China is building cities every year that can hold millions of people, why can't we?

I say professional Black people and Black youth are in an excellent position to show forth their creativity and determine FOR THEMSELVES the type of housing and society they'd like to have instead of being forced into someone else's limited ideaology.

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Man, really bad decision to use China as an example of sustainability. Remember China put a cap on the amount of kids a family could have which has literally wiped out an entire generation of people. The men are now leaving China and marrying women in Africa and other places simply to propagate their lineage. Also China is choking itself to death. It's air pollution is causing so much damage that it can't be measured.

I feel you though. When you talk about sustainability and better cities, we backed a Kickstarter a few years back for a project called a garden tower. We even ordered a newer version and then gave away our old one because the concept is amazing. You can grow a variety of veggies in the tower which teaches the fundamentals of farming. This is only a small change, but imagine if everyone owned a garden tower. That would be powerful.

I know it seems that I'm making light of the situation, but I'm not. I honestly think there are forces at play here that are systematically diminishing the population. I do agree though that we have a generation of people who won't have jobs available so they will have to be creative in how they attack employment so this is the perfect time for new technology to emerge.

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CD

Chinese men would have PLENTY of women to marry if they didn't give so many of them away to White men....lol.  Go to any college campus and most of the Asian women I see are dating White men while the male Asian students are usually by themselves.  For years White men have been going to Asian nations literally buying women.

If you think a garden tower was pretty imaginative, me and some of my partners have dreamed up plans for entire greenhouse districts in the middle of cities.  Especially for cold places like Michigan where you can't naturally grow most edible plants all year round, we have to have some sort of way to grow enough to feed a massive population.



There are forces who would like to diminish the population no doubt, but I say we shouldn't give them any excuses to do it.

What I mean by that is, when I drive through Detroit, Flint, parts of Chicago, Milwaukee and other mostly Black communities and see so many of our people just doing NOTHING but laying around consuming.....it makes me frustrated for 2 reasons:

1. There is a lot of creativity in thier minds but they aren't expressing it because they're too busy waiting on a green light or go ahead from a White person to ENCOURAGE them.

2. If I as a Black man can look at the inertia and shiftlessness among so many of our people and find it distrubing....I can only imagine what most NON-BLACK people are thinking.

So if there is a plan to diminish or move Black people out of the inner cities and take over the land, many would actually see this as a LEGITIMATE move because the current occupants aren't doing anything with it anyway. So why not just move them out (or worse) and put the land to valuable use?
This is the mentality of a LOT of people.

So like I said, we shouldn't give people who think along these lines an excuse to justify thier inhumane ideology of putting profit over people. We should busy ourselves to start building with a new vision.


The situation in Flint would be an excellent opportunity for Black professionals to come together with plans to initiate something rather than waiting on wealthy White men to build it and then come running and begging for a place at the table.

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Very, very good analysis. The garden tower is a small attainable vision. I don't ever look at things in their totality. I look at manageable chunks that can be tackled quickly and efficiently. Before you teach a baby to run they have to walk and before that crawl... and before that, the conception has to occur. If you look at the greater picture and attack there first you can spend a lot of time missing the grassroots movement that can be initiated immediately. Instead of looking at the big picture, quite possibly start with placing the small things into action and then remaining consistent. The garden tower is an attainable, easy project that will inevitably lead to community gardens once people see how easy it is to begin a farm on a small scale. 

I am pulling for your creativity and thoughtfulness to come to fruition. I backed a local Kickstarter last year for community gardens here in Memphis. It's something that I could see taking shape. Conquering the world is always on a street level, then local, then it expands, but the great idea can start anywhere.

Oh on the Chinese men I actually wrote something about that on my blog, but this isn't the place. Just know that I am in complete agreement with you.

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CD

Yeah, I know when it comes to practicality it's all about the detail.
I think some people are just naturally better at detail while others are best imagining things in their entirety.
This is why TEAM WORK is so important, bringing these skills together so everyone can work in harmony doing what they are good at.

Personally, I've found that when it comes to many of our people you have to first SELL them an idea with the method of big and broad visionary description so they can get a clear picture of what you'd like to accomplish before they decide to contribute.

I can walk up to a group and say let's build entire districts of greenhouses growing millions of tons of produce a year. 
But I just leave it at that; people would scratch thier heads and ask "what the hell for?"

But when I give it to them in the context of helping to feed a massive city of millions with a dense population so that they can be more self-sustaining, then it begins to make more sense as to why we should build an entire neighborhood of high-rise greenhouses.



 

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Sara

While I am skeptical about some of the social analyses presented by CD and Pioneer, I am so proud of them for being 'doers' and not just complainers, for being creative parts of the solution rather than the problem.

Thank you.
For  a long time I WAS just a complainer.

But as I found my self getting older, I wanted to see a change while I was young enough to enjoy it....so I got busy.

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Originally posted my comment on @Chasitie 's Blog post "Home

Creed's Director Ryan Coogler is hosting an All-Star Benefit #JusticeForFlint at Whiting Auditorium on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. ET. - Coogler says the benefit is aimed at "gifting Flint victims with "a night of entertainment, unity, and emotional healing."

The #JusticeForFlint Benefit is organized by Coogler's Blackout for Human Rights activism group 

http://www.blackoutforhumanrights.com/

 

Streaming LIVE on February 28, 2016 at 5 PM EST on REVOLT TV https://revolt.tv/

Edited by Mel Hopkins
update with viewing info
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  • 2 weeks later...

MOST older cities are being poisoned, not just Flint.

The spot light was on Flint because the corrosive water started melting the rust off the pipes and turning it strange colors and THAT'S when tests were done and the high levels of lead were founded.
But after they switched back to Detroit's system, the water is clear but the lead levels are STILL as high as ever....which means they were being poisoned years before the initial switch.

As I've been pointing out in another thread, they are finding extremely high levels of lead in multiple cities all across this nation....some are higher than Flints!

This is a nation wide problem.

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