#LITTLE MISS FLINT FULL#

With nearly 100,000 followers on social media, Copeny’s advocacy work has received global attention over the years as the water crisis drags on, reminding the world that anyone can make a difference in their community. She uses bottled water to wash the vegetables and as part of the recipe during the cooking process. Mari produced a video demonstrating how difficult it is to cook a meal without safe water. And any level of lead in the water is too much. Some areas are still experiencing elevated levels of lead in their water. Although the water has tested at normal levels, Flint residents don’t trust that it is indeed safe. Flint is working on replacing the damaged pipes, but that will not be complete until 2020. The city is also more than 50 percent African American.įive years after the crisis began, many residents of Flint still don’t have access to clean water. More than 40 percent of people there live below the poverty line.

“But that was the moment that she knew her voice had power, when the president responded to her.”įlint is one of the poorest cities in the country. “Mari has always been the type of kid that if she sees something wrong, she wants to do something about it,” Brezzell said. As he set her down, she placed her hands firmly on her hips, looked him in the eye, and said, “You know, I wrote to you!” Mirroring her pose, he responded, “I know! That’s why I decided to come.”Īlthough the federal government had limited authority in the water crisis, Obama authorized $100 million to help rebuild the pipes.

#LITTLE MISS FLINT FULL#

When she saw the president, she ran to him at full speed, and he lifted her up. President Obama came to visit Flint in direct response to Mari’s letter. “Mari answered, ‘I know, but it doesn’t hurt to try.’” He gets millions of letters every day,” explained her mom, Loui Brezzell. “I told Mari, you’re not going to hear anything back. She has become an outspoken activist, drawing attention to the plight of her community.Īt age 8, she wrote a letter to President Barack Obama to ask him to help with the Flint water crisis. “And they never did fix it so I said, ‘Welp, you have to listen to me because I’m a kid.’”Ĭopeny decided to take matters into her own hands, and started holding weekly water distribution events for thousands of Flint residents with limited access to clean water. “I wanted to speak up and say, ‘Hey, the water is bad … someone please fix it?’” Copeny said. The water corroded Flint water system pipes and exposed the residents to dangerous levels of lead.Īfter Flint’s water source was switched to the Flint River, nearly one hundred people became critically ill, and 12 people lost their lives after drinking the contaminated water. Although residents complained that the water was brown and smelled, authorities claimed it was safe. In 2014, the state of Michigan caused the water crisis in Flint when, to save money, they switched the city water supply from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department service to the Flint River. For the past five years, Mari has been relentless in her determination to get clean water for all residents of Flint, Mich.Īmariyanna ‘Mari’ Copeny, better known as “Little Miss Flint,” rose to national fame for her advocacy work and became a voice for her community amid a devastating and ongoing water crisis in Flint, Mich., despite being only 11 years old.

Little miss flint