Flint resident, Ali Cleaves, is a coach and outreach coordinator who works with young people and wants to see them win. During our conversation, “Uncle Cleaves” speaks about the pre-crisis conditions in Flint and how various resource deficits impacted the community. Ali talks about when he first started seeing problems with the water, how water quality issues impacted the community, and addresses why many residents still rely on bottled water.  He also touches on the challenges caused by privatized public services in the city as well as the need for people in Flint to organize to take what they need and make demands that will help them secure the resources required for sustainable growth.

Flint resident Dr. Benjamin J. Pauli is an Assistant Professor of Social Science at Kettering University and author of the book, Flint Fights Back: Environmental Justice and Democracy in the Flint Water Crisis. During our conversation, Ben shares his path to political science and interest in community studies. He addresses the purpose and the impact of emergency manager laws in Michigan as well as how the implementation of this law in Flint contributed to the city’s water crisis. Ben also shares his concerns with the settlement offered to Flint residents and sheds light on the difficulties the city continues to encounter throughout its recovery from this public health disaster. 

Flint native and city planner, Brian Larkin, has played various roles within Flint’s city government in recent years. During our conversation, he talks about how years of deferred maintenance, poor management systems, and the state’s habit of balancing its books on the backs of its cities created a tipping point in Flint that led to the city’s water crisis. Brian discusses the impacts of racist systems and perspectives on the built environment, noting the importance of adequately identifying and addressing how these systems perpetuate the unequal distribution of resources in cities.  Brian also expresses the need for capacity-building investments and policy interventions that can meet the challenges facing cash-strapped cities over the long-term.