What The Eyes Don’t See Main Ideas

Community Action

After they have successfully made their case to change the water source, Hanna-Attisha sends a memo out to her residents, with a quotation from Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Hanna-Attisha’s group is small. She and Jenny LaChance have obtained and gone through the data, mostly on their own. But there were other people who worked on other facets of the project. Batanzo was the one who first got Hanna-Attisha involved, and she got Hanna-Attisha in touch with Marc Edwards. Edwards, who had experience in the DC water crisis, knew what to look for and spent his own money to start the project. He met with LeeAnne Walters. He later testified in various hearings. Miguel Del Toral got the word out by leaking the incriminating memo, and Curt Guyette got the word out further in the papers. They each have their own function, their own job.

The author also includes stories about Haji that illustrate the power of community action. In the one that begins the book, she tells how her grandfather, Haji, lost his perfume factory but, because he had so many grateful employees whom he’d believed in and built up, they each gave him a little money, which helped him to rebuild his factory. In the last story, Hanna-Attisha tells about the birds who individually couldn’t do anything but, acting together, pick Haji up and take him to the hospital. This is a metaphor for the community, working together.

Duty

At one point in the story, Hanna-Attisha’s mother, Talia, asks why it is that Hanna-Attisha must put herself at risk by doing this study, going against powerful people. Hanna-Attisha’s brother, Mark, reminds Talia that Hanna-Attisha is hadeeda—like steel. But previously, he had warned Hanna-Attisha that her life might be adversely affected. Hanna-Attisha said she was more concerned about the kids’ lives. Hanna-Attisha, after all, has the expertise to help them. Therefore, she must fight for the children. She also feels honor-bound to help them, since she told them the water was safe.

Throughout the book, Hanna-Attisha tells stories of other people who put themselves at risk to help others. One of these is John Snow. Like Hanna-Attisha, he found out about a dangerous situation. Even when people told him he was wrong, he needed to fix it, because he was the only one who could. Hanna-Attisha’s own family fled Iraq because they couldn’t not speak out about what they knew and believed, and this got them in trouble. Now, in the United States, Hanna-Attisha sees being an advocate as a duty but also a privilege, saying, “Being a pediatrician . . . means being an advocate for your patients.”

Corruption and Injustice

Hanna-Attisha tells a story of corruption and injustice, not just in telling of the Flint water crisis but also in the other stories she chooses to tell. This includes the story of the DC water crisis and especially the story of the use of lead in gasoline. She also tells of her family’s struggles against the corrupt government of Iraq. Because of this experience, Hanna-Attisha is predisposed to believe that the government of the United States is good. This is not always the case.

Hanna-Attisha explains that people are corrupt for two reasons—money and power. GM promoted lead gasoline because it was cheaper than finding something else that would prevent engine knocks. The unelected emergency manager in Flint advocated changing the water source to the clearly contaminated Flint River in order to save money and then didn’t push for corrosion control for the same reason. This helped him politically because he could say he saved money for the government. In some cases, Hanna-Attisha says, stupidity might be the reason why harm was done, and this might initially have been the case with the emergency manager. But, she says, when someone pushes back and pushes back and doesn’t try to stop their stupidity from harming people, once it’s been pointed out, it becomes corruption.

Hanna-Attisha notes that the victims of this corruption are, of course, poor people and Black people. The people in power view them as expendable or think they won’t find out about the problems. Since lead delays development and causes loss of IQ points, ADHD, and violent behavior, allowing lead in the water can have the effect of keeping these people down so they’re unable to better themselves. This is the injustice Hanna-Attisha and her team try to prevent.