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Architects of Change: Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha — Transcript

by Maria Shriver · 5,524 words · 765 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00okay welcome to architects of change
0:03live conversations with change makers
0:06who are moving humanity forward and
0:08that's what we're doing this morning
0:09we're talking to a change maker a big
0:11deal one who's got a new book out it's
0:13called what the eyes don't see dr. mona
0:16hanna-attisha is the author of this book
0:19The Whistleblower of the Flint water
0:21crisis and a change maker architect of
0:24change on the front lines still to this
0:27day and I'm really excited welcome Thank
0:30You Marie great to be here
0:31we've honor we came up in the elevator
0:34together and like you go girl you're a
0:36ball buster look at you thank you my
0:39jobs I'm doing well no you took your job
0:41to another level and so what I wanted at
0:43this book which is out and you can get
0:46it on Amazon let me repeat that what the
0:48eyes don't see a story of crisis
0:50resistance and hope in an American city
0:53and so if you live in Flint
0:56this is particularly you but this is a
0:59story an American story of our
1:01generation and what you said here which
1:03I thought was so great is this is the
1:06story of the most important and
1:08emblematic environmental and public
1:10health disaster of this young century
1:13why is that tell me why that is because
1:16that's a big statement absolutely
1:18so this century is young where in your
1:2118 that started in your 14 of the
1:23century
1:24but what happened in Flint is is surreal
1:27it is mind-boggling it is it is
1:30something that you can't even wrap your
1:34mind around it it is a city in in the
1:37richest country in the history of the
1:38world in a 21st century a city that is
1:41predominantly poor predominantly
1:43minority a city that is literally in the
1:46middle of the Great Lakes so Michigan
1:48we're the mitten state which my son goes
1:50to Michigan really AM interval there's a
1:54lot of University of Michigan there's a
1:56lot of Michigan State University's books
1:57so so here's Michigan so here's Ann
1:59Arbor where your son goes to school and
2:01here is Flint and we are surrounded by
2:04Great Lakes and the Great Lakes are the
2:06largest source of fresh water in the
2:07world 20% of the freshwater in the world
2:09is here around Flint right yeah we have
2:13this population to this day that does
2:14not have access to safe drinking water
2:16because they made as you point out in
2:18here an economic decision it was a
2:20man-made crisis done for the purpose of
2:23austerity done because they wanted to
2:27run government like a business to cut
2:29corners to save money so for people who
2:31don't know about the Flint water crisis
2:34first let's say that it's ongoing long
2:36ago it was on the front page of every
2:38paper it was on the front page of every
2:40newscast and like happens in this
2:43climate media climate it just gets
2:47replaced by something else and yet still
2:50lives are being affected so what
2:52happened in a nutshell tell people you
2:55went from drinking clean water to
2:57drinking water leg with leg yeah so and
3:00that is why I wrote this book oh-o-oh
3:02started almost two years ago to remind
3:04the nation that Flint is still a story
3:06but also to remind the nation that this
3:08is way more than just about Flint why is
3:11this way more than just about because it
3:13is about the deeper crises in our nation
3:15right now Flint happened because we lost
3:17democracy we were under emergency
3:19management that people did not have
3:22elected officials in charge we see that
3:24everywhere in this nation we see
3:25democracy the decay of democracy voter
3:29disenfranchisement ring your votes here
3:32in California don't count as much as we
3:34learned in the last election
3:35so what you're saying doctor that really
3:38that they made a decision to take what
3:40was clean water and for austerity
3:42purposes for financial purposes move it
3:44to Flint River absolutely was ladened
3:47with lead and nobody said anything about
3:49it so it was done as a cost-cutting move
3:53under the state of emergency management
3:55where the focus was austerity to save
3:57money
3:57we went from pretreated awesome Great
4:01Lakes water to the Flint River but the
4:03Flint River was not polluted it was not
4:06where the lead was it was not being
4:08treated properly really something called
4:10corrosion control so that corrosive
4:12water then went
4:14to an aging distribution system lead
4:16pipes which we have led in all of our
4:19plumbing and that led leached out of our
4:22plumbing into our drinking water and
4:23into the bodies of our children for 18
4:26months yes so but basically the fluent
4:28water that came into our children was
4:30eluded yes full of lead and you started
4:33seeing this in your practice
4:35no I didn't know but a friend said I
4:38read that you were out to dinner or
4:40something and a friend told you yeah
4:41this was happening and then you went
4:43back to your practice and tried to see
4:45if exactly it right so that gets to the
4:47title of the book what the eyes don't
4:49see so we don't see let in water so let
4:51in water is clear it's odorless it's
4:54tasteless but the effects of lead we
4:56don't see it as a silent pediatric
4:58epidemic it causes intellectual
5:01developmental disabilities it impacts
5:03cognition behavior the entire life
5:06course trajectory of a child but it's
5:08asymptomatic we don't see it I didn't
5:10see this and you didn't know about this
5:12even though you live there you treated
5:14the kids and you started listening to a
5:15friend and who said to you do you know
5:18what's going on exactly it's which is
5:19why it's important to go out to listen
5:22to your friends and to have friends
5:24really that are in different areas than
5:27you who I don't have a water and you got
5:29in this and I said to myself that
5:32wouldn't have happened to me because I
5:34don't have a friend you are so spot-on
5:35Maria this is one of the lessons of the
5:37book this is a school girlfriend we were
5:39at home together reconnecting drinking a
5:41glass of wine together yes so connect
5:43with your friends connect with your
5:45girlfriends because we need to get out
5:47of our silos really often is not really
5:49important because when I was reading it
5:51I thought to myself do I have her friend
5:53knows anything about water no I don't
5:55and then I realized going through I have
5:57great friends but then I thought wow you
5:59know you if you have friends that are
6:01out and about in different areas they'll
6:04tell you scuffling and so when she told
6:06you this you then went back and started
6:09looking and lo and behold yeah so lo and
6:12behold that we found that the percentage
6:14of children with elevated blood levels
6:15had increased after water
6:17which and this was contrary to
6:19everything that was happening where
6:20children's blood levels have been coming
6:22down and when a pediatrician hears the
6:24word lead we freaked out we know what
6:27led does it's probably the most well
6:29studied neurotoxins there is no safe
6:32level of lead science has taught us so
6:34much about lead and it it alters
6:38everything that it means to be a person
6:40so let me ask you so once you discover
6:42this then you step forward and say hello
6:44hello this is what's going on and
6:46everybody shoots you down absolutely and
6:48the book goes into the kind of that
6:49rapid fast pace of what happened and I
6:52was presenting science I was presenting
6:55facts I was presenting evidence that
6:56didn't matter doctor that we had a
6:59crisis and that we needed to protect
7:01children but I was attacked my science
7:04was attacked my credibility was attacked
7:05just like everybody else in this in the
7:0818 months of the story was attacked the
7:11moms the activists the pastors the
7:13journalists the water attacked by whom
7:15by the state by the state of Michigan
7:16who dismissed and denied their concerns
7:19and so what is the lesson you think you
7:22said this is a much bigger lesson than
7:24just Flint to anybody who thinks they
7:28see something they know something they
7:30hear something what a big you know you
7:33can be a change maker that you can open
7:35your eyes so this book is about not just
7:38one it's about the people the places and
7:40the problems that we choose to not see
7:42all over all over in this country but it
7:45is about the power that we all have
7:47within us no matter who we are what we
7:49do or how we long we've been in this
7:51country I'm an immigrant I came here
7:53recently no matter where we are
7:56in this world we have the power to open
7:58our eyes to build a team around us a
8:01diverse team of varied folks and to
8:04create change the status quo does not
8:06need to be how it is we should not be
8:08content with what's happening in our
8:10children's lives right now and we have
8:11the power to make that change when you
8:13say like we should open our eyes but you
8:15also have to open your mouth you have to
8:17open your eyes it is not enough to be
8:18awake
8:19yeah you have to be awake and you have
8:20to be loud and you have to be stubborn
8:22and you have to be persistent so okay
8:23let's talk about that because you have
8:25to open your eyes
8:26you have to open you have to widen your
8:28gaze you have to open your mouth then
8:30you have to be able to stand the
8:32onslaught that's gonna come at you how
8:35scared were you in this journey yeah you
8:40know nobody couldn't you know I expected
8:42to be attacked because everybody in the
8:44story had been attacked but nobody can
8:46prepare you for when the the state
8:49attacks you and says you were wrong
8:51dismisses your research I was called an
8:53unfortunate researcher that I was
8:55causing near hysteria that I was
8:57splicing and dicing numbers and for a
9:00moment I believed them I thought yeah I
9:03thought I won and I just wanted to hide
9:05I did I hid under my sheets I'm like
9:07this needs to go away what am I going to
9:10do I just created the huge mistake but
9:14inside me I found I found an strength
9:18that wasn't there before and that
9:20strength was part of a village my
9:21village of support but that a strength
9:24was ultimately the children that I care
9:26for you know my research was was based
9:29on statistics and numbers and and
9:31evidence but but every number I realized
9:33was a child and it was probably a child
9:37that I had cared for in that last year
9:38and that is the power that was reignited
9:42in me to get back in this fight I think
9:45that's so interesting right that you can
9:47be a scientist you can have an entire
9:50career behind you you can present the
9:52facts be totally sure
9:54open your eyes use your voice and that
9:57the onslaught can sow doubt in your own
9:59mind I can begin to doubt yourself
10:02that's happened to me right didn't you
10:05start to wonder like that I make that up
10:06right am i right did I despite
10:09double-checking triple checking like I
10:10knew this was right isn't really right
10:12talk a little bit about that because I
10:13think that so many people go through
10:15that and then think like oh I don't
10:18I shouldn't say anything because I'm not
10:19really a hundred percent sure or I'm
10:21gonna doubt myself yeah so much of the
10:24story and this work and the lessons here
10:26are about about following your gut and
10:28in standing up for what's right but
10:30whenever you do that it is scary like
10:32there was a knot in my stomach that
10:34wouldn't go away I had just bought a
10:36Fitbit and I knew my heart rate and it
10:38was close to 200
10:39I was physically shaking it was such a
10:42visceral reaction to that that onslaught
10:44of attack and that uncertainty I'm but
10:47wow it it takes a lot of what is the
10:51phrase of it without without fear there
10:53is no bravery and there is no yeah there
10:55is no courage I say
10:57courage isn't the absence of fear it's
10:58having fear and doing it anyway it is so
11:00easy for us to say silent in our lives
11:03to go in and took a lot of work to clock
11:05in to clock out to be automatons to to
11:07be blinded to the injustice as that are
11:09happening everywhere but it is it is all
11:12of our responsibilities to to be scared
11:15to have our heart rate go up because
11:17then that's the only way change will
11:18happen so talk a little bit about since
11:20you know Flint was such a big story and
11:23now we don't really hear anything about
11:26it so here you come with this book what
11:27is the status of the drinking water
11:29today in Flint how difficult is it to
11:33keep this story front and center so
11:35that's absolutely one of the reasons I
11:37wrote this book because I knew when I
11:38started this over two years ago we would
11:40need a way to shine a spotlight back on
11:42Flint because our story is a long-term
11:44story so we're so this book is a story
11:47of crisis resistance it's about the
11:49activism the collective resistance it's
11:52a playbook for folks but it's also a
11:54story of hope I want people to go away
11:56with not thinking Flint equals disaster
11:59yeah but Flint is a model of recovery we
12:01are doing things right now in Flint that
12:03aren't being done anywhere else give me
12:05an example the children we are wrapping
12:07so science was denied in Flint that
12:09clear common sense science with an ID
12:12yes science ultimately spoke truth to
12:13power and we are using the science of
12:16child development of brain development
12:18of resilience to mitigate to limit to
12:21buffer the impact of this crisis we
12:23can't take it away but we are throwing
12:25everything at this to other children so
12:27we have doubled the capacity of home
12:29visiting programs we have early literacy
12:31programming which we never had before
12:33places like Flint there's one book for
12:35every 300 children imagine that one book
12:38for every 300 kids our kids by the age
12:41of three have heard 30 million less
12:42words so because of our cause the second
12:45there because
12:46it's like really we should our ears
12:50gotta absorb that a minute
12:52one look in low-income communities where
12:55every 301 children's book for every 300
12:58kids and because of that lack of words
13:01and lack of books they hear about 30
13:05million less words this is based on
13:07national research than other more
13:09middle-income children that's here in
13:12the great United States of America
13:16absolutely and so you you see evidence
13:18of that achievement gap at 18 months of
13:20age for many of these children by the
13:21time they reach kindergarten it is
13:23almost impossible to bridge any tema gap
13:25so knowing this knowing also what lead
13:28does to children's development in Flint
13:30we have made massive investments every
13:32kid in Flint now gets a book mailed to
13:34them every single month from the ages
13:36zero to five from who from a program
13:38that we started conferring kids read
13:40it's the imagination library program
13:42that really important actually started
13:44and we now our partner with that part of
13:47the proceeds of this book go to our
13:48Flint kids fund that's important when
13:50you buy the book part of the proceeds go
13:52to the fund that was started to help
13:55these children but what is the water
13:57that they're drinking so yeah so the
14:00water people in Flint cannot do this yet
14:02so we are still on bottled water and
14:05filtered water because our pipes are
14:07replaced so for 18 months we were on to
14:11this yeah we can't we can't do this
14:13so for 18 months we were on this
14:15corrosive untreated water shortly after
14:18my research was announced we went back
14:20to Great Lakes water but we went back to
14:22what they said was impossible we went
14:24back to treated water but the 18 months
14:27of corrosive water ate up our pipes and
14:29they are being replaced but that takes
14:31time so until people's pipes are
14:33replaced and we've replaced about 6,000
14:36lead pipes there's about 9,000 ago
14:38people have to remain on filtered water
14:40and bottled water so you wouldn't drink
14:43you'd only drink filtered or bottled
14:45water so what I have learned through
14:48this process is that we were never
14:50guaranteed in this nation to have lead
14:52free water the
14:53on the book the National the Federal
14:55Rules are weak water everywhere can have
14:59LED in it so if there's a pregnant mom
15:01or a young child especially on formula
15:03mixes with this water I recommend that
15:05everybody use filtered water regardless
15:09of where you live regardless of where
15:11you live if you have an older home
15:12we were stubbornly slow as a nation to
15:14restrict lead and a lot of its you yeah
15:16but especially in our plumbing it was in
15:18our pain to that paint it was our
15:20gasoline and a lot of evil led history
15:23in this book as well because we need to
15:25learn from the history to know kind of
15:27why we're at our current spots so you
15:29have you talked about in here which I
15:31like this a crying baby gives me a deep
15:34sense of mission
15:36what is your deep sense of mission you
15:39we hear so much about you know you got
15:42to have a purpose in life you got to
15:44have a mission the Sunday paper that
15:46many of you read and this will be in the
15:48Sunday paper we say it's a paper for
15:50people with passion and purpose and yet
15:53so many people say I can't find my
15:55purpose I can't find my mission how did
15:58you find your mission and a crying baby
16:00yeah so my mission are these crying
16:02babies because these are my kids
16:05these these children are no different
16:07than my children and and my babies in
16:09Flint they grow up in a zip code that
16:13almost predicts their entire life course
16:15trajectory they grow up with so many
16:18obstacles in their way we have a 60%
16:20childhood poverty rate we have a high
16:22violent crime rate unemployment racism
16:26discrimination no full-service grocery
16:28stores these kids have every obstacle to
16:33succeed and that is my mission because
16:35that's not how it should be I came to
16:37this country as an immigrant and the
16:39American dream was realized for me my
16:42family but the kids that I take care of
16:44in Flint they are waking up to a
16:46nightmare every single day and that is
16:49opening right outside our Street and
16:51it's not just fling kids it is kids in
16:53the Rust Belt and the the East Coast in
16:56the west coast and rural America black
16:58brown and white children all over are
17:00waking up to insurmountable toxicities
17:03the toxicity of led the toxicity of
17:05poverty the toxicity of lost democracy
17:07of racism and that is my mission we we
17:10need to invest in our children but what
17:12is your what is your beautifully said
17:16your alike close your eyes and make it
17:20better what would it look like I there's
17:24some tangible things I think we can do
17:26yeah I you know as a pediatrician I took
17:29an oath to protect children I my voice
17:32is there to speak up for kids and all of
17:34this work and this work I continue to do
17:36is part of my professional obligation to
17:38be that advocate for children but it's a
17:40beyond a professional obligation it is
17:42it does amoral and it does an ethical
17:43and I would argue that we all took that
17:45oath or we all should take that oath to
17:48protect children and right now in this
17:50country it's as if we are at war against
17:52our children look what's happening to
17:54the border with these kids being
17:55separated from parents that is
17:57government sanctioned child abuse look
18:00at what's happening in our schools
18:01because of the trauma because of the
18:03trauma the dress if it will cause known
18:07you know developmental issues lifelong
18:09lifelong scars look at our children
18:11being slaughtered in schools because of
18:13our inaction on gun violence look at our
18:15national childhood poverty rate there's
18:17so many issues in this nation where we
18:19do not value children that is my mission
18:21for us to to value children to recognize
18:24what does that look like so that looks
18:28like practical practical things there
18:30are people who are sitting out there who
18:31don't live in Flint but as her point is
18:34if you are a pregnant mother or nursing
18:37mother or really somebody whose health
18:40conscious rate that you should drink
18:42bottled water I think that or filtered
18:44water I think that bottled water is
18:45expensive so filtered water but what can
18:48people do who whose eyes have not seen
18:52who
18:53are frustrated and are seeking mission
18:57purpose yeah so I think it's it doesn't
18:59have to be about water and it doesn't
19:01have to be about lead it's about
19:03fundamentally how we care for each other
19:05so I talked about how we we disregard
19:08our children and and do we want to be a
19:11society that has differential access to
19:14water based on your privilege or based
19:16on healthcare services some of these
19:18things are our rights and justices so
19:21that is my mission that we we become a
19:24nation that treats children with value
19:27with with equality and it is selfish for
19:30us as a nation not to do because they
19:32they are ultimately our future so it is
19:35it is opening individual eyes it is
19:38opening your friends and neighbors eyes
19:40it's becoming civically engaged voting
19:44working on campaigns giving money to
19:46campaigns you know just being an active
19:50member of your society no and ordinary
19:52people like this book is about ordinary
19:54people who came together moms and
19:56journalists and and scientists and
19:58different folks would you know different
20:00political spectrums and different
20:02professions who came together saying
20:03we've had enough yeah because I think I
20:05think that's a good thing to talk about
20:07coming together because we're told we
20:10can't come together we're divided
20:12there's no hope and I'm a big believer
20:14that we can come together that there are
20:16many more good people absolutely
20:18oftentimes they don't yell the loudest
20:21so we don't hear them we don't see them
20:23our eyes don't see them but they're out
20:25there and how do you get people to come
20:29together since you did it yeah what's it
20:33take and and that's what this book is
20:35all about how to bring people together
20:36and I think we are so we have so many
20:39assumptions and biases like I assumed as
20:41a pediatrician that we had the monopoly
20:43on caring for children like there's
20:45nobody else who cares as much about kids
20:47as pediatricians like a water engineer
20:51from Virginia cared as much about
20:52children and obviously moms and a
20:55journalist and
20:56so we think that we are so often alone
20:59in these minutes whatever fight we are
21:00fighting but we are not alone so it's
21:02having that conversation with both old
21:04friends it's networking with folks it's
21:07it's going on social media and finding
21:09people that connect with you and they're
21:10there you aren't you people are never
21:12alone but you got to go out and find
21:14them
21:14I think also dropping assumptions about
21:17quote the other we always think don't as
21:19wrote this week and the Sunday paper
21:21don't ask people their political
21:23affiliation don't ask who they vote for
21:25just ask them what they care about
21:26exactly ask them if they want to come
21:29together and work with you on whatever
21:31issue that you find passion or purpose
21:34in and I think those so often we start
21:37with those kind of heated conversations
21:41and instead you can back them up and
21:43start with what we have in common what
21:45how we might come together and I think a
21:48lot of folks don't think that they have
21:50power or credibility right all right
21:52that nobody will listen to them did you
21:54think that um not really
21:57like I think I'm in such a privileged
21:59profession as a pediatrician like I
22:01think I always felt my voice was
22:03credible I think you said you doubted me
22:05I doubted it in that and when we came
22:07out I doubted that but so many of my
22:09messages like so many doctors now like
22:11you go into medicine because I want to
22:12do good but actors have lost a lot of
22:14their credibility in their community
22:16they just get so consumed and this is
22:18research on doctors get jaded over time
22:20and they get focused on billing and
22:21coding and seeing patients and revenue
22:23and they forget that they're an active
22:26and vocal incredible part of communities
22:27but it's not just doctors it's it's its
22:30teachers and it's journalists and it's
22:33you know it's parents and the PTA these
22:35are all credible voices but I think
22:37people they fail to think that their
22:39voice is worthy or or knowledgeable or
22:43that they have the right to speak up and
22:45they do because it makes waves this the
22:49story is almost like a domino effect and
22:52I was really the last domino in this
22:54story there were so many other folks who
22:57who made it happen to be where I was it
23:00was about a being
23:01right place at the right time with the
23:03right team right so did you see yourself
23:05as a architect of change and change
23:08maker before this so if you read the
23:11book you you know you can't learn about
23:12my role in this crisis without learning
23:14about me and I mentioned I was an
23:16immigrant we came to this country when I
23:17was four fleeing the regime of Saddam
23:19Hussein and Iraq we came to this country
23:22for freedom and opportunity and
23:24democracy and that was absolutely
23:25realized but I woke up very much no I I
23:28woke up in this country every day so
23:30lucky to be here
23:32but also feeling that yes feeling that
23:34feeling so fortunate to be here knowing
23:36but my cousins were experiencing back
23:38home but it but that gave me a different
23:41lens because I very acutely know knew
23:43what injustice was and my parents never
23:46shielded me away from from what evil
23:49regimes could do to vulnerable
23:51populations in this book I talked about
23:54the first time that I actually saw a
23:55dead baby and my father showed me a
23:57picture of a baby who was poisoned and
24:00halachah in northern Iraq and Kurdistan
24:03by Saddam Hussein it was the largest
24:06chemical weapons attack 5,000 people
24:08died and it was this beautiful baby who
24:10was cuddled by her father both of them
24:12were poisoned on the street and I had
24:15nightmares for months for months and
24:18months and I don't know if that's what
24:20pushed me to go into medicine but that's
24:22what one of the many things that pushed
24:24me to go into a career of service and to
24:27be always an activist and to always
24:30almost have that I hate and antenna for
24:32injustice knowing that there are people
24:35who are suffering disproportionately the
24:38others that's the the truth right of
24:40where we live and what goes on in our
24:42country that there are people in the
24:44apartment next to us on the street next
24:47to us at the cubicle next to us in our
24:49offices that are suffering immeasurably
24:52I found that with when I did the film
24:53paycheck to paycheck and so many people
24:55said like wow I didn't realize that the
24:57woman sitting next to me who is dressed
24:59in a nice outfit was actually struggling
25:01paycheck to paycheck because we're all
25:03masking okay we're all like pretending
25:06that you know we've got it together
25:10we're all like you know trying to prove
25:12that
25:13and and so few people actually do
25:16absolutely and it's increasingly
25:18difficult to get ahead or to make it in
25:21America right now to get out of poverty
25:23is so difficult there's a lot of people
25:25who are suffering one of the things that
25:27struck me about the Flint story where
25:29the moms moms are amazing they messed
25:31with the wrong moms the wrong mom so
25:33there's those are women who really found
25:36their passion and their purpose in their
25:38children right and fought for them and
25:41in a way found also their own voices
25:43what you learn from them oh my god I
25:45learned so much from that and and
25:46there's so much history of moms who have
25:48step up and fight for their kids all
25:50over they are all kids but like think of
25:52Erin Brokovich and Lois Gibbs like all
25:54these incredible moms who may have been
25:56like stay-at-home moms but notice
25:57something wrong and they stepped up and
25:59they created incredible change so I
26:01learned I learned from them so much but
26:04it fundamentally went back to one of our
26:06my first lessons of being a pediatrician
26:08and as a pediatrician we we are taught
26:10that moms are always right moms are
26:13always right if a mom is concerned about
26:15their kid if a mom is worried if a mom
26:16says their baby has a fever they're
26:18right the moms are always right for so
26:21and for so long the moms were dismissed
26:24in this story but the moms were right so
26:28if you're a mom out there or if you're
26:30just kind of a mom in general like I
26:33know a lot of moms who just consider
26:36themselves moms of neighborhoods it's
26:38you know moms of cities whatever you are
26:41right because don't let anybody tell you
26:43that your gut isn't right you feel it if
26:47you're experiencing it you're probably
26:49ahead of the curve you are powerful moms
26:52are powerful and use your power for
26:54change right and all of us really men
26:57and women that's - that's great yeah so
27:00I think if you buy this book what the
27:03eyes don't see you'll not only learn a
27:04lot about dr. Mona but you'll learn a
27:08lot about her story refugees stories are
27:11very front and center in our country
27:13right now here's a really great example
27:14of someone who came here fleeing a
27:17regime and woke up grateful every day
27:20and is changing our country so keep that
27:22in mind when you're reading about
27:24refugees and talking about it and
27:27railing about it and and also if you buy
27:30this book you'll help the work continues
27:33in Flint so what what is the one thing
27:37you want people to do other than read
27:39this book and buy this book to just open
27:42their eyes so we aware of what's
27:45happening in your communities it's not
27:47just about Flynn it's about really
27:49what's happening in our nation right now
27:50but don't just open your eyes don't just
27:52be awake take action get involved make a
27:55difference and you have the power to do
27:57that you have the power to be that
27:59architect of change are you proud of
28:01yourself
28:01I feel privileged I'm privileged and
28:04blessed I have been given this amazing
28:06microphone and I am gonna hold on to it
28:08as long as I can yeah to impact as many
28:11kids as I can so I recognize how how
28:15lucky I am to do this the next time I
28:17come to Ann Arbor I'm on you know that
28:22is that's a commitment I got I'm gonna
28:24go there look at what you're doing and
28:26open my eyes a little bit more because
28:29I'm fun you'll be surprised at the
28:31things that we're really doing
28:34innovative work on the children's behalf
28:36it's a place that's rolled up their
28:37sleeves and committed to not being
28:40defined by this crisis but really being
28:41defined by our recovery I love that
28:43you're not a victim no defined by your
28:47coveri by your survivor story right
28:49that's important no matter what has
28:51happened in your life don't tell the
28:54story of what happened tell the story of
28:56your recovery I'll remember that today
28:58I'm gonna tell myself that all day
29:01awesome awesome thank you so much let's
29:03repeat that what the eyes don't see a
29:05story of crisis resistance and hope in
29:08an American city and remember the good
29:11people triumphs
29:13there are more of them out there then
29:15you know then you think and you're one
29:17of them yep you're listening to this for
29:19sure you're one of them open your eyes
29:20Thanks

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