Switch to the mobile version of this page.

The Scene

        
Tweet

Email

Print
Share

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

The Scene

Tunde Olaniran writes about the Flint water crisis in Washington Post

Posted By Lee DeVito on Tue, Apr 17, 2018 at 11:52 AM

Jacob Lewkow
Tunde Olaniran.

Following Tunde Olaniran's recent viral Twitter rant about the Flint water crisis, the Washington Post gave the singer and performance artist some page space to flesh out his thoughts further.

Olaniran writes about why he decided to stop paying for the polluted water, which has been linked to rashes and hair loss. "As time stretched on, I became more and more unwilling to pay for water I was afraid to drink or even let touch my skin," Olaniran writes. "So I stopped."

After six months of not paying — and an accumulated bill of $1,500 — the city cut off his water. Fortunately, Olaniran was able to weather the shut-off by staying with a family member in a nearby suburb.

Meanwhile, Olaniran's water shut-off incident occured at the same time as two other headlines related to water in Michigan:

A few days later, the state of Michigan announced it was ending bottled-water distribution in Flint, four days after it approved Nestlé’s permit to pump 500,000 gallons of freshwater per day from its well in the state. Nestlé will pay $200 annually for this permit. Nestlé is taking advantage of the fact there are no strict regulations in Michigan for water that is below ground; it is not really considered a public trust, and so the state has no explicit rules to protect it for the people like it does for surface waters.

For years, Flint residents have been lining up to get packs of Ice Mountain bottled water for cooking and bathing and drinking while a Swiss corporation has a giant straw sucking freshwater out of the ground in Michigan for next to nothing.

The bad optics were not lost on Olaniran:

My water lines were replaced, but I am still waiting for reports from two water studies. My annual water bill is nine times as high as what Nestlé pays, and Nestlé bottles that water and sells it to people nationwide — who raise money to buy packs of it and donate it to Flint residents.

I know Nestlé did not cause this crisis, but its actions raise questions that cannot be ignored. What are the basic things humans have a right to in their own communities? How much control of essential natural resources are we willing to leave in the hands of private corporations?

Olaniran also called for free health care for all Flint residents for life, as well as a no-shut-off policy and water bill cap. You can read the full story here.

Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.

Tags: Tunde Olaniran, Flint, Flint water crisis, Nestlé, Washington Post, Image

We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Detroit Metro Times. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Detroit Metro Times, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.

Email us at letters@metrotimes.com.

Support Local Journalism.
Join the Detroit Metro Times Press Club

Local journalism is information. Information is power. And we believe everyone deserves access to accurate independent coverage of their community and state. Our readers helped us continue this coverage in 2020, and we are so grateful for the support.

Help us keep this coverage going in 2021. Whether it's a one-time acknowledgement of this article or an ongoing membership pledge, your support goes to local-based reporting from our small but mighty team.

Join the Metro Times Press Club for as little as $5 a month.