What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

By the heroic pediatrician who rallied a community and brought the fight for justice to national attention, the powerful first-hand account of the Flint water crisis, the biggest environmental disaster of our time.

In the heart of the world’s wealthiest nation, one hundred thousand people were poisoned by the water supply for two years--with the knowing complicity of their government. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the brilliant child of Iraqi immigrants who chose to practice pediatrics among one of the country’s most vulnerable populations, first became aware of the problem when mothers came to her asking if it was safe to make formula from the brown water coming from their taps. Then she observed other problems--physical and cognitive--among the children she treated. She suspected lead had gotten into the water supply, but the government stonewalled her inquiries. With the help of volunteer researchers, courageous parents, and her own dramatic undercover investigations, she exposed the government’s cover-up and blew the whistle on one of the emblematic environmental disasters of our time.

Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha rallied a community with her findings and bold action, and blew open the horrific reality of how a botched austerity policy, government ineptitude, and bureaucratic indifference placed the lives of 10,000 children at risk. The book is a medical and scientific thriller, and simultaneously the story of an incredible woman, immigrant, doctor, and scientist for whom environmental and social justice activism have been lifelong commitments. Just as importantly, it will tell the larger story of Flint, of a proud people caught in the midst of economic change, industrial and environmental decline, and governmental neglect, and the injustices, vulnerabilities, and risks borne by such poverty-line populations in our country. It captures a timely and essential story of how communities can come together to fight for social justice, even in opposition to their own governments.