The situation in Jackson is not new, nor unexpected. As Jackson Mayor Antar Lumumba said, “We’ve been crying out for more than two years, saying that it’s not a matter of if our [water] systems will fail but a matter of when our systems will fail.”
As of this moment, the situation is predicted to continue “indefinitely.” We are calling on President Joe Biden to expeditiously authorize billions of dollars in emergency funds to address both the current humanitarian crisis triggered by the climate crisis induced flooding, and the implementation of long-term action steps to correct decades-long operational neglect of Jackson’s water systems.
Jackson is the latest crisis in that series which now includes Flint and Detroit and Newark, N.J. Clearly the referendum has voted thumbs down on Black citizenship.