A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • The dramatic story of the Flint water crisis, by a relentless physician who stood up to power.“Stirring . . . [a] blueprint for all those who believe . . . that ‘the world . . . should be full of people raising their voices.’”—The New York Times“Revealing, with the gripping intrigue of a Grisham thriller.” —O: The Oprah Magazine Here is the inspiring story of how … —O: The Oprah Magazine
Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, alongside a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water—and then battled her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. Paced like a scientific thriller, What the Eyes Don’t See reveals how misguided austerity policies, broken democracy, and callous bureaucratic indifference placed an entire city at risk. And at the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself—an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family’s activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice.
What the Eyes Don’t See is a riveting account of a shameful disaster that became a tale of hope, the story of a city on the ropes that came together to fight for justice, self-determination, and the right to build a better world for their—and all of our—children.
Praise for What the Eyes Don’t See
“It is one thing to point out a problem. It is another thing altogether to step up and work to fix it. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a true American hero.”—Erin Brockovich
“A clarion call to live a life of purpose.”—The Washington Post
“Gripping . . . entertaining . . . Her book has power precisely because she takes the events she recounts so personally. . . . Moral outrage present on every page.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Personal and emotional. . . She vividly describes the effects of lead poisoning on her young patients. . . . She is at her best when recounting the detective work she undertook after a tip-off about lead levels from a friend. . . . ‛Flint will not be defined by this crisis,’ vows Ms. Hanna-Attisha.”—The Economist
“Flint is a public health disaster. But it was Dr. Mona, this caring, tough pediatrican turned detective, who cracked the case.”—Rachel Maddow
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This is a very important book and very easy to read. It helps to understand that sometimes people can’t depend on the institutions that are supposed to protect them and have to fight for basic rights. It can happen right her in the US.
This was a book club choice, otherwise I may not have read it. This book is so much more than a scientific literary work.
The author effectively combines her personal life, her dedication to her profession, area history, politics, and scientific research into a powerful read. Page after page she peels back the layers of the cover-up, the unconscionable acts of corruption that resulted in a Federal State of Emergency, and the resulting aftermath.
So well written, it pulled me in and kept me emotionally invested in the lives of the people of Flint, and those who worked diligently to bring this tragedy to light.
This book will stay with me for a long time.
What the Eyes Don’t See is a riveting read. Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician at Hurley Hospital in Flint, MI. Her narrative of how she discovered rising levels of blood in her pediatric patients and her battle to bring justice to the disenfranchised people of Flint is inspiring and maddening.
She describes her anguish and determination to save the children of Flint, how it disrupted her private and family life, and the brick walls and rejection she faced. Thankfully, she was stubborn and determined.
The callousness of political leaders toward the people of Flint as unimportant and expendable is despicable.
Flint falls right into the American narrative of cheapening black life.~from What the Eyes Don’t See by Mona Hanna-Attisha
Readers are given a history of Flint’s rise as an automotive manufacturing hub, and when jobs left, its decline to becoming one of the state’s most impoverished cities.
The budget-cutting changes implemented under an appointed Emergency Manager explains how the lead-poisoned water came to be and how officials lied about the poisoned water.
If I had to locate an exact cause of the crisis, above all others, it would be the ideology of extreme austerity and “all government is bad government”.~from What the Eyes Don’t See by Mona Hanna-Attisha
Dr. Hanna-Attisha called out Senator Debbie Stabenow as an early and important supporter of her goals. The daughter of a nurse, and a former social worker, Senator Stabenow has a commitment to public health. She was part of a team that brought federal aid to Flint and the availability of premixed infant formula so Flint mothers did not need to use the lead-contaminated water.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a local heroine. I am proud to say that she was a graduate of Royal Oak Kimball High School, my alma mater. Her family came to Michigan for education but remained in exile from their homeland after the takeover by Saddam Hussein and the Iraq wars. Dr. Hanna-Attisha first became an activist with a Kimball environmental group.
I read an ebook through the local public library.
Wow. Absolute masterpiece. Absolutely heart-breaking situation that is still ongoing in Flint, but so blessed that this wonderful woman and her team were there to do the right thing. Disclaimer: you will cry. Dr. Mona is a beautiful soul, empathetic-intelligent-good-to-the-core-soul that is a masterful writer and incredible activist. Just wow. Everyone should…must read this book.
The Maryland Book for 2019, What the Eyes Don’t See is an epidemiological procedural about the Flint water crisis which reads like the greatest of thrillers. I read it in bits and pieces over the course of a month and, as it should require thought, would not anticipate less than a week of reading time.
I remember hearing a little bit about the Flint water crisis in the news, but assumed their water agency would fix the problem. A year or so later, I heard about it again and wondered why on earth it was still a problem. After all, this is America, and everyone gets clean running water, right? Wrong. I read this book out of curiosity and could not put it down. My heart broke over and over for the Flint residents who were drinking and bathing in poisoned water, and for the doctors who kept trying to get the government officials to do something about it. I highly recommend this fascinating, well-written book!
Wonderful in depth story of the woman who broke the Flint water crisis.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is the brave pediatrician who blew the whistle about the dangerous levels of lead in the Flint, Michigan water. Her memoir deals not only with the harrowing 9 months between her realization that the CDC and the Health Department and the state government had all lied about the problem, but also her own journey as an Iraq immigrant to American citizen to activist. This is an important book.
Looks at what happened in Flint with the water crisis, and how the government tried to cover it up. Very engrossing.
Everyone should read this book! I think the average American has no concept of the severity of the Flint water crisis. Dr. Mona’s story weaves her personal journey with the importance of citizen action in a community. She is an inspiration!
What the Eyes Don’t See is a book written by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha about the Flint, Michigan water crisis. As a pediatrician and Community Health Residency Director at Hurley Center in Flint. Dr. Mona (as her tiny patients refer to her) learned from a high school friend, an environmental scientist, that she should be concerned about lead in the water in Flint. She was surprised. The Flint authorities told everyone the water was fine to drink. Like most of us, she expected the people “in charge” to protect the public. Isn’t that what government is for? But, Dr. Mona’s friend said no — it is not safe. That began an 8-month odyssey that grew from a conversation between two friends to a consortium of doctors, scientists, activists, and parents who exposed the cover up and righted a huge wrong. Dr. Mona knew all too well what lead exposure does to developing children.
I highly recommend this book for its depth, its fluid story development, and its educational value for every adult in the U.S. and for the sake of every child. I read it over two days, hardly able to put it down. See Dr. Mona on the web.
Exposure to high lead levels as infants and children can cause irreversible damage to their brains and other organs. Gray matter in the brain is eroded so that the child has problems with attention and impulse control; it affects white matter in nerves that carry signals in the brain; it is suspected of having epigenetic effects – changing a child’s DNA which means it can be passed to future generations. People exposed to lead as children show higher rates of crime and addiction as teens and adults. Lead in the body can erode eyesight and affect other organs.
Dr. Mona encapsulates the story in 1) the political policy — austerity; 2) the socioeconomic history of the city and those most affected by the lead poisoning — an environmental injustice; 3) the U.S. practice of requiring the victim to prove harm first rather than using the Precautionary Principle: when danger is suspected, move with caution, using science to understand the risk.