FLINT, MI -- Residents picked up water from a hallway outside the sanctuary area Sunday, Jan. 17 at Heavenly Host Full Gospel Baptist Church in Flint, while a water resource team flanked by Michigan State Police handed out items at homes down Dartmouth Street.
Inside the sanctuary, Rev. Jesse Jackson and several others joining him behind the pulpit let flow some strong words about the city's water crisis and steps that should be taken to remedy the situation.
"This is a disaster zone, not just an emergency," he said. "Maybe there should be (police) tape around the city of Flint, because Flint is a crime scene."
Jackson, a civil rights leader and founder/president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, said the water crisis in Flint is on par with Hurricane Katrina.
"In New Orleans, the levies that was a man-made disaster too, because they would not put money into the levies," he said. "People are overwhelmed, people cannot bathe, cannot drink water, cannot cook properly."
He was joined by Bishop Neal Roberson, pastor at Heavenly Host, Flint resident Melissa Mays, state Rep. Sheldon Neeley, Genesee County Clerk-Register John Gleason, former Flint Mayor and state Rep. Woodrow Stanley, community activist Quincy Murphy and Gerald Kariem, director of UAW Region 1-D for the rally.
Jackson said the emergency managers "bear some of the responsibility, their names are on the dotted line."
"The people of Flint have been betrayed," he said, while urging President Barack Obama to declare a disaster area in Flint. "They've been given poison water and told it was pure and healthy when it was corrosive and sick."
The president has signed off on an emergency declaration, freeing up $5 million in aid and allowing for the Federal Emergency Management Agency over the next 90 days, but many in the crowd felt it wasn't enough.
Mays, one of the most vocal advocates on the water issue in the city, said there is still a need for infrastructure to be replaced and for whole home filtration systems to be installed.
"This has been a citizen strong movement, because I know my family is not the only one," she said, with her water and child tested months ago and showing high levels of lead and copper. "We came out in the forefront because our doctor didn't deny our testing."
Others at the church called on officials to a step-up to the work on the Karegnondi Water Authority water main and for immediate work to begin on lead service lines in the city.
"I have not seen one truck yet digging in the ground, replacing one service line," said community activist Quincy Murphy. " We need to be talking to our elected officials, our president, our governor, anybody that is talking about the city of Flint, a state of emergency or Genesee County; we need them to be bringing in bulldozers, going in that ground, digging those lines up."
Neeley requested $200 million to start to help triage in the city and an end to emergency manager-type laws he called "a bastardized law."
"I told the governor if these types of laws like the emergency manager law is allowed to stand we're going to have to rewrite our pledge of allegiance to insert the word allegedly before you say liberty and justice for all," he said.
Dave Murray, press secretary for Gov. Rick Snyder, said in a statement "Political statements, inflammatory rhetoric and finger-pointing from people who are not involved in finding solutions for Flint only distract from the effort to solve this crisis.
"Governor Snyder is focused on protecting the health and welfare of the people of Flint and plans to devote a large portion Tuesday's State of the State address to the efforts," said Murray.
Twenty teams of volunteers traveled door-to-door over the weekend, said Murray, with bottled water, filters, replacement cartridges and testing kits "all to ensure residents have clean, safe water."
"We appreciate those volunteers, as well as the support of the White House and National Guard. Nearly 50,000 filters have been distributed, along with about 168,000 replacement cartridges," he said.
Jackson said the city also needs help to combat unemployment and public safety issues, while also pointing out the need for affordable housing, development and creation of an urban reconstruction policy.
"The water just highlights the rest of the issues," he said.