If you go
• Hanna-Attisha speaks about the Flint water crisis and her book, “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City”
• 6:30-9:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 27.
• Stagecrafters, 415 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak.
• Tickets are $45.
As a first-generation Iraqi-American immigrant, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha knows the pain of discrimination. As a pediatrician, she knows children must be protected for the sake of our nation’s future.
That’s why this crusading doctor brought the crisis in Flint to national attention when she learned that poor children there were being poisoned by lead in their city’s tap water.
Hanna-Attisha, who practices at Hurley Medical Center in Flint and is a Michigan State University associate professor of pediatrics, took an oath to protect children.
“When you take care of kids, you’re not only taking care of them today,” she says. “Part of being a pediatrician is making sure they’re healthy tomorrow and next year and years from now. That’s what I love about pediatrics — it’s not just about today. It’s making sure those kids have the brightest potential possible.”
During a social occasion, a friend who is a water expert and former Environmental Protection Agency employee described top her causes of lead in drinking water. Until then, Hanna-Attisha was unaware the city’s water pipes contained lead, and that without corrosion control the water picks up lead.
The doctor decided to dig deeper and see if lead was in her patients’ water. She knew the dangerous effects of ingesting lead.
“Lead is a well known neurotoxin,” she says. “It impacts children’s thinking and behavior. We already know that a lot of kids, especially poor and minority kids, have disproportionate burdens of lead exposure. When I heard, as a pediatrician, about the possibility of lead in the water, it became a professional, moral and ethical obligation to see what was happening with our children and advocate for them.”
She alerted the public at a hospital press conference in 2015, but state officials sought to discredit her. Hanna-Attisha continues the fight as director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative and in a new book, “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City.” She is on a book tour and spoke with Terry Gross on the NPR show “Fresh Air” on Monday.
Hanna-Attisha will appear at Stagecrafters in Royal Oak on Wednesday, June 27, at a fundraiser for Flint kids. Proceeds will benefit The Flint Child Health and Development Fund, created by Hanna-Attisha and her partners. Sponsored by Michigan Radio, the event features a conversation with Michigan Radio journalist Lindsay Smith and celebrates release of Hanna-Attisha’s book.
The book tells how Hanna-Attisha used science to prove Flint kids were exposed to lead. As a story of hope, it shows we all have power to make a difference in our communities. It also contains elements of Hanna-Attisha’s personal story with context from her family history.
Her immigrant identity plays a huge role in who she is, in her values and how she sees the world.
As a pediatrician, Hanna-Attisha understands that her profession stands at the cusp of preventative medicine. She finds joy in helping others, and says she gains optimism from the children she cares for and interacts with daily.
“It’s their resilience and leadership that pushes me forward and pushes me to work even harder to make sure their needs are being met,” she says.
• Hanna-Attisha will speak from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, at Stagecrafters, 415 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak. Tickets are $45. Learn more about the Royal Oak event and purchase tickets at eventbrite.com. Monahannaattisha.com and flintkids.org has additional details.
• “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City” is on sale everywhere, including Amazon and monahannaattisha.com. You can follow Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha on Twitter at @MonaHannaA.