A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan | LaToya Ruby Frazier
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- Опубликовано: 18 дек 2019
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Artist and TED Fellow LaToya Ruby Frazier spent five months living in Flint, Michigan, documenting the lives of those affected by the city's water crisis for her photo essay "Flint is Family." As the crisis dragged on, she realized it was going to take more than a series of photos to bring relief. In this inspiring, surprising talk, she shares the creative lengths she went to in order to bring free, clean water to the people of Flint.
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Hello from Flint Michigan 😀 this is only part of the problem. People are very sick here and most are poor AF. Most don't have a car or can't afford insurance for car and no way to get such heavy water home. Nobody seems to care that people can't get to it or get it home. Plus we're FORCED to pay for the poisonous water even if you have water turned off!! Every home is charged almost 50 dollars per month for sewer even if you've been shut off. If you don't pay this extortion fee they take your property!! Plus the pipes in my house are on my tab apparently. The corrosion is awful and I have no money to fix my shower which I can't use now. Filters don't seem to be very good as animals drinking it are having seizures. Its alot more than just putting a building somewhere that gives water...we need access to it!!! We need help with repairs..we need help.
Long live Donald trump.
Shocking how the world doesn't know a part of America doesn't have clean water supply for its PAYING PEOPLE. I'm from the UK and I hope you lot get a government that will help you. Government in England is just as bad and all about profit. Local council here are complete scum shutting local services while still putting up charges not reducing them....because of there wages and pension that local council/police are on. Study you will see local police are paid way to much for the hrs they put in....and pension... Here is 50% more than normal pension. True scam on the public.
As I'm someone from a developing country, I've almost shocked by what the photojournalist has shown -- in the United States of America, there are people don't have an access to clean water!
Constantly praying for you folks
That is the criminality and incompetence of big government, the same big gov't that democrats only want to grow. The same democrats that would take away your self-defense weapons and ability to protect your property from seizure from the same big gov't that has no right to charge for worthless or non existent service.
Maybe working together makes things better for everyone.
I've been wondering why this issue fell off the radar when we first heard a few stories about it 5 years ago. Thank you for what you've done. It is a shame and it is hard to watch our world go down like this.
Because the government wants to hide their crimes against humanity and the media is complicit.
I was living a couple hours from Flint when the water crisis started. It's hard to believe that this is still going on. I don't have much faith in the government, but I thought that this would be something that would be taken care of sooner than this. I remember people driving two hours, buying hundreds of dollars in water at the Wal-Mart I worked at, because closer stores were out of water. I remember the people who could *afford* to move did so quickly, or quickly ran out of money to do so. We had a lot of people move to Midland from Flint. There were a lot of people with their whole lives on their back when I flew out of the Flint airport to leave the state.
To think I've been through so many major life events, and Flint is still suffering is ridiculous. How could anyone blame the people of Flint, when they didn't ask for this, and can't afford to run away? When this is their home? Access to clean water is a basic right.
👑 Thank you for everyone involved for Flint, Michigan
I was born and raised in Flint. I know first hand how bad the water situation was and still is. Five years ago, 2014, after the water source changed from the Detroit pipeline to the Flint River, I was using a Britta water filter on my faucet and my fridge had a PUR filter for water and ice dispensing too. The city of Flint sent out several water safety letters assuring residents that the water quality met Federal safety standards. Shortly thereafter brown sludge began coming out of our faucets. We were told not to drink the water -- DUH! My water filters got clogged and I had to replace them. Filters are not cheap! And after we were told that the water was safe again my water filters continued to get clogged with sediment. I bought a Britta filter jug but it didn't do any good because the water still tasted weird. Soon thereafter Flint residents started to get free water filters and cases of water distributed in their neighborhoods, at churches, Fire stations, and in large parking lots where semi-trailers could be parked. Meanwhile, contractors began to replace old lead pipes and install new water meters.
Now, 5 years later free water is still being dispensed from donations from generous people and organizations since the state doesn't finance the water distribution anymore. Nor does it condone the free water. In fact, the new governor practically insists that Flint city residents are overreacting since the water is now safe to drink since most of the lead pipes had been replaced and the water supply changed. I heard that somebody challenged the Governor to drink the water but she declined by calling it a political stunt. If the governor won't drink the water, why should the people? To this day I don't know of any government official that will publically drink a glass of unfiltered Flint water. Would you? I wouldn't feed my dog or cat unfiltered water! How's that for a reality check on the current water situation?
Your comment is one of the most attractive)
the biggest problem w/ Flint's water is an incompetent government.
Yup!
You get what you vote for.
Send some to them.
With Trump in power you have a hostile government.
@@Tanath you must not be American if you think Trump governs Flint Michigan.
I loved her final line and the whole structure of her talk. Pretty cool :D
Thank you for inspiration and good works.
My people in Hamanskraal, South Africa needed to hear this
Into Arabic, I've translated this video for Arabian audience, and I wish to be useful for all of them, especially those have no longer an easy way to get water across the Arabic world and the whole world. Thank you TED.
But, As I'm someone from a developing country, I've almost shocked by what the photojournalist has shown -- in the United States of America, there are people don't have an access to clean water!
see it potential, at an area which people kill each other for water control, and gasoline is much cheaper than water.
Thank you for caring and letting us know this. God bless you and all the people of Flint!!!
The above video mentions the Atmospheric Water Generator but didn't say anything about how it had been vandalized by persons unknown:
"FLINT, Mich., Tuesday, August 13th, 2019 - An Atmospheric Water Generator brought to Flint from Texas by Moses West was vandalized Tuesday.
The atmospheric water machine filters and produces clean drinking water as fast as it is emptied into jugs and other containers.
This eliminates the wait for new clean water to filter through.
West says that the vandals damaged repairable things.
"They let out the coolant, changed the frequency on an inverter, they damaged the onboard generator and so we are using external generators right now," West said.
For safety precautions, 500 plus gallons of water had to be unloaded from the machine.
West said the machine has provided clean drinking water to hundreds of people.
Flint residents came out to help West repair the machine that gives the city water for free.
While you would think the damage to the machine would upset West, he says it's just a new challenge.
"Nothing frustrates me. It's only an opportunity to do better. No problems, only opportunities." West said.
West does not accept money, he encourages people to donate to The Water Rescue Foundation."
And, in a TV interview West asserted that the vandals were very knowledgable and knew exactly what to do to cause the most damage. He also decided to raise the Atmospheric Water Generator on a tall stack of cement blocks to make future vandalism more difficult. The man deserves a medal for his efforts!
Yes Ms. Frazier! Thank you for your service.
I feel Thurnderf00t is coming...
This real art
If I lived there, I would do whatever I can to move out
Love isn’t only love, sweetheart. It’s hard work, and trust, and tears, with even a few glimpses of devastation. But at the end of each day, if you can still look at the person at your side and can’t imagine anyone else you’d rather have there, the pain, the heartache and the ups and downs of love are worth it.
314مشترک
@@takharplus1278 so what?
WTF does this have to do with the topic of this video? This was NOT about choosing a significant other.
And trump says other countries are a shithole... never thought this was possible in America...
It hurts.
Great initiative! Very curious what they did to deal with the hazard to people drinking water that has been produced from condensation (often called distilled water) which the machine would be producing?
Australia could benefit from this technology as well, being about two thirds desert. Droughts have been ongoing for so many years right now that farmers simply can't struggle any more. The fires are so much worse because of it. We do have a lot of humid areas (that NEVER see snow), so this may help. I can't see our government doing anything about it because, hey, CAPITALISM.
Nice channel
All The underground pipework in america is the same that was used in flint. The difference is that with new building projects and developments these pipes are usually replaced and brought up to code over time. So in these once flourishing industrial factory cities back east like areas of Chicago, ohio etc where mass amounts of people suddenly left...I hope the local govt isn't dropping the ball with them also 😳😪 cannot believe this is still happening while we waste tax dollars on foolish things like a 5 billion dollar funding to the national endowment for the arts agency. 🤦♀️ so frustrating!!!!!
While people wasting water keeps unpunished this will happen again all over the world. And I'm talking every citizen, not only companies, we are all responsible for not appreciating what we have.
It's criminally astonishing that the Governor, state and local officials who were responsible for this calamity and injustice to its citizens, have not gone right to damn jail. It's totally disgusting that the Federal government can look on and also do nothing to fix the problems. It's racism and disrespect for the poor as well, as was perpetrated upon the good people of New Orleans and the surrounding area after the major hurricane hit there. The people in charge there are pure evil and psychopaths who don't care about anything except themselves, profit and power. That's what is wrong with the government of the US as well. We need a President and Congress that respects its citizens and will serve and protect as bound by law and common human decency.
What are you talking about? People REFUSED to leave New Orleans. You can't help people that refuse to be helped, nor does a hurricane have anything to do with racism. Everything else you say is wishful thinking and not based on reality. The gov't doesn't fear the people, they are actively trying to infringe on your self-defense rights.
@@remyllebeau77 Man, what planet are you from?! What a diatribe of nonsense! I was living right next door to all of the happenings there at the time and a lot of people were trying to leave. A lot of them were locked up in the stadium with little or no sanitation and food! It's not the hurricane that is racist fool! I have ambivalent feelings with people like you, grow up and wake up!!
@@mach1gtx150 Don't speak nonsense, and maybe you won't consider replies to be nonsense.
I am not talking about after the hurricane was already gone. I was talking about before when people refused help by refusing to leave.
The people in the stadium are at fault for trusting the gov't and not being self-sufficient. Although being locked up is false imprisonment, I admit.
@@remyllebeau77 I thought you were saying people refusing help after, okay. But the government was extremely late in helping people in need. Just check out the difference in response times when New York city got hit some years ago vs. New Orleans. Tragic. And we have to admit, there are a lot of people who just aren't self-sufficient by nature or can't be, like old people who cannot get around, people in nursing homes, hospitals. And when a venue opened up for limited help by the government, it needs to be trusted. But, me, I don't trust ANY government and depend on myself. But there are people out there who need help and should get it if need be. Sorry, I don't mean to be cross with you, I was out of line.
The machine produces 2,000 gallons of water per day, free of charge. 🙏🏾
84مشترک
lol, you don’t know what free means. 🤦🏼♂️
@@takharplus1278 We speak in english here.
Alexander James It’s very expensive to run as dehumidifiers are very energy intensive - water produced by this machine would come with a massive energy bill, costing several times the amount of shipping water in by trucks.
absolutely incredible .
WATER IS LIFE
Amazing how all of this taking place in a country so rich and so proud of it's technological advances and not in some third-world junkyard (or is it?)
bc it has been running by the same incompetent and corrupt demon-rats
got me teary eyed !! lol why are we all not demanding Moses West's invention in every home/community across america ??!!?!?! WHY ARE WE NOT DEMANDING THISSSSSS ??? there's NO REASON for us to EVER pay for water again !!
🦋it’s so important to open our eyes to the world problems. Imagine if you SW that sign & were thirsty
moses did a great work.....a scientitst in my view
No.1
Wow👍🏼
But how are we gonna pay for it?!
*throws money into the military money-hole*
Go to Ann Arbor, convert the Big House from a stadium to a reservoir. Fill it with the tears of all those Michigan fans. Install the pipeline to Flint. THE Ohio State University has just solved the Flint Water Crisis. You're welcome.
C’mon TED, you can do better than this.
A single semi truck can carry over 10,000 gallons compared to this machines 2,000 a day (when humidity levels are optimal) and is a much more cost effective solution - large scale dehumidifiers are very energy intensive and expensive to run. Although I have little faith in government to be budget conscious and to do the right thing, perhaps this is why they weren’t so quick to adopt Moses’s machine.
I will say though, this machine could be useful on islands that have been devastated by a hurricane or other natural disaster which caused their drinking water to be contaminated - something like this actually might be more cost effective than shipping drinking water from elsewhere, especially if the island is particularly remote.
Hello downriver Michigan here, I’m happy flint is getting attention again but why is it taking so long to get these human beings proper living conditions? “justice has been delayed and denied ,” but why? “ man made water crisis” if the government can control the weather for god sake why can we not get these people clean water? The solution shouldn’t just be a generator although I’m thankful for them to have it now
AMEN
It’s because of the demographics...
The last time that Flint had a Republican Mayor was 46 years ago. (But hey, who's counting.) The LOCAL politicians and the people that willingly voted for them have everything to do with this tragedy. It is truly sad. Sad that people stopped thinking, stopped getting involved, and stopped recognizing the obvious flaws with their elected "leaders".
Take some of the $783 billion defense budget.
The US has enough money to fight pointless wars in foreign countries but apparently helping their own middle and lower class out isn't as important.
True, but blues won’t be very happy if we stop supporting them and giving them money.
like they can purchase this equipment for every town in deserts absolutely.
👏
Drinking water from what is essentially a air dehumidifier is a bad idea
You don't think they would know about whatever problems you are eluding to?
9:17 pretty sure it is the Meth and not the lead.
What happens to all the pollutants and are they mostly carbon? If so there will soon be a tsunami of demand for carbon in the high tech sector.
They got all that money government grants, state money tax payer money.
Let's be an artist or poetry and leave science for others
people are just not important enough
Free?
This is the type of technology that should be used in Haiti and the Haiti water crisis. God bless everyone in Flynn! 😁
and syria and ethiopia and india.
Lol
Maan subject ha bass
Boicot Nestle
An unfortunate half measure. Where are the millions GM should give to create a water system.
9:21 Тепер самогонку будуть гнать на чистій воді
Environmental racism ? Someone explain this ?
the less fortuned and minority classes live in highly polluted areas--which are chosen by elite and policy makers
They dump waste and build plants in these areas, contaminating the water, air, soil etc...
@@iamace3993 thx nick
It is another myth the demented leftists dreamed up as a way of blaming their own problems on white people or rich people. You will know it when they are long on claims, and short on evidence.
There's a new movie about contaminated water called Dark Waters go see it
#MniWicony
Thank u but gods dead
Here's a solution for flint....🤔
9:10 i'm sorry but it's not just caused by bad water
Free market economy>peoples lives.
Hold the drain commissioners accountable to some one. KWA pipeline.
Meanwhile, everyone is worrying about CO2 - a plant food. It's all about misdirection.
It takes on man to fix a problem and one woman to alert people that those you elect to lead you are corrupted by the dollar bill!
African situations in America.
Tim Braeckman They ain’t African
Until the government sent it's goons to flit and destroyed the machine beyond repair.
Trump should fix this. 😠
It's a human problem. Not a woman problem, not a man problem and not a race problem. Her approach destroyed her credibility
Injustice in areas with larger populations of minorities is something that has happened time and time again in America. Flint is one of these areas. It is a race thing.
@@professional_silent_trumpe1540 when you treat human beings differently that continues racism. Equality is treating all human beings the same. If it's happening to anyone it's a problem for everyone.
Beating a dead horse to death on this water issue
Who ever signed to build water plant should be in jail. Let’s see the signatures
Wood Work not how that works, chief.
John Carter should be
if you want me to believe this is a dire emergency, showing me a pictire of the "victims" watching cable news on their 38" hd flat screen with their 2 swords in the foreground isn't very convincing
Maybe they bought that stuff when they still thought they had clean water. Why does people having nice things excuse the government for letting lead come out of their faucet?
@@Heybuditsme i get the feeling your definition of government is ill-defined.
No matter what you say, EVERYONE should have a right to clean water. Period.
@@getfreemazes my definition of government? What are you talking about?
The government changed water sources to an inferior source to save money, then lied about it when they found out they were poisoning people. The government is clearly at fault.
haha 3:20