On the 10-year anniversary of the Flint Water Crisis we were joined by filmmaker and Flint native, Michael Moore, in a sold-out final evening production of The Poisoner. Afterward, he shared a wonderful talkback with the audience on Flint and a broad set of social justice issues.
We'd like to thank Michael for his insight, empathy, selfless political courage over many decades, and encouraging words for the storytellers of The Poisoner.
The full talkback with Michael is linked above and below, and a short version can be seen on Instagram, here. Below are some quotes he shared.
With deepest gratitude as we reflect on this somber April 2024 10-year anniversary.
Michael Moore on The Poisoner
"Wow. I'm really still recovering from the last 20 minutes... I was in tears and I didn't want to interrupt. I'm okay now. And for any of us from Flint… all those 17 majority black cities in Michigan, most of them.. taken over by the governor [who] put these emergency managers in to run things… [with] people who were not elected…making decisions… You really nailed it… [You're] not from there and yet you nailed it"
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"Number one - to me, from the very beginning, this was an ethnic cleansing... I've never referred to it as the Flint water crisis. It is as your title says… the Flint water "poisoning.” And it was done knowingly... As you point out in the very first scene, he whips out the a hundred dollar bill. That is what this is about… The way that as the economy collapsed in Michigan... and the governor.. when he got word, when they knew something was wrong, very early on with the water, very early on, the goal became the cover up"
…
"The fact that they got away with it, the fact that as you point out the phosphates, the chlorine… they didn't put in that little chemical... How much would it have cost, per day, to put in the [phosphates] that wouldn't have corroded the pipes? That wouldn't have put lead into 10,000 children… ? Any lead consumed by a 6-year-old or younger never leaves their brain for the rest of their lives. There's no way out… Science doesn't know how to get it out. So these children are poisoned forever"
THE POISONER is a fictional play based on the Flint water crisis. Many thanks for all the talkbacks with talented artists like Michael Moore – filmmakers, visual artists, fashion designers, photojournalists and community advocates who contribute to democracy, water justice, and beauty, in Flint and beyond.
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