Created Equal

Created Equal, Season 2: Dimple Chaudhary and Eric Schwartz

Dimple Chaudhary is senior attorney and managing litigator at the National Resources Defense Council. She is the lead counsel in cases against both Flint and Pittsburgh for their lead water crisis. Eric Schwartz, Assistant Professor of Marketing at The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan He is one of the researchers that developed an algorithm to determine what neighborhoods most likely have lead pipes in Flint.

Lindsey Smith is Michigan Radio’s Investigative Reporter. Her 2015 documentary about the Flint water crisis, Not Safe to Drink, won the station a national Edward R. Murrow Award, an Alfred I. duPont - Columbia University Award, and a Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Award.

Melissa Mays is a mother-of-three-turned-activist after her and her sons became greatly impacted by the lead in Flint’s water and now takes 18 separate prescriptions to stay alive. She is the founder of Water You Fighting For and filed one of the first lawsuits to force Michigan to replace lead-infected water lines in the City of Flint.

Marc Edwards, a civil engineer and University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech conducted the research confirming that lead was poisoning Flint’s water. His work on the “Lead Crisis” in DC led to publication of a landmark paper documenting harm to DC’s children resulting from government agency negligence. He also created the Flint Water Study, an independent research team from Virginia Tech (VT) that volunteers their time, resources and expertise to help resolve scientific uncertainties associated with drinking water issues being reported in the City of Flint.

Virg Bernero was the 51st Mayor of Lansing and is currently CEO of Bernero Hannan LLC. Bernero put pressure on the Lansing Board of Water & Light to remove lead lines. Lansing is one of two cities in the county to completely have all lead lines removed.

Flint-area native with more than 16 years of experience in journalism including print, television and digital media. She has worked for The Detroit News, NBC25, Fox and MLive Media Group/The Flint Journal, where she covered the city of Flint. Jiquanda discovered that the community needed a news publication focused only on Flint, Mich so she launched Flint Beat on March 13, 2017 to fill that need.

S2E6 Thomas Sugrue p.120. Thomas Sugrue is a Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at NYU. A specialist in twentieth-century American politics, urban history, civil rights, and race. He is the author of The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit.

Among the first journalists covering the Flint Water Crisis, Guyette went door-to-door searching for the truth about Flint water. “Page 54 of What the Eyes Don’t See”

Long-time friend of Mona Hanna-Attisha and former EPA water quality expert suspected Flint water was not safe in spite of government reassurances and spoke up. “Page 30 of What the Eyes Don’t See”

Flint native and Congressman Dan Kildee details how the system failed the citizens of Flint, and his efforts to make Washington understand. “Page 131 of What the Eyes Don’t See”