Comedian George Lopez makes his debut at Gilda's LaughFest 2015 during the fifth annual community-wide festival of laughter. (MLive.com File Photo)
FLINT, MI - Comedian George Lopez said it's important for everybody to be conscious of what's going on in Flint's water crisis.
Lopez is headed to Flint this weekend along with fellow comedians Eddie Griffin, Cedric the Entertainer, Charlie Murphy and D.L. Hughley for the Sunday, Feb. 21 "The Comedy Get Down" tour stop at the Dort Federal Event Center.
All proceeds from the show will go towards the Flint Child Health and Development Fund established at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to aid in the crisis response, from early childhood education to nutrition education and other needed areas.
"The one thing about us guys is we're very conscious about what's going on in each of our communities," said Lopez on Tuesday, Feb. 16 during a phone interview with The Flint Journal. "Nothing socially relevant is getting past us."
Lopez was able to get together several comedians, including Hughley, Murphy, and Cedric the Entertainer to hold a benefit show to help complete a statute honoring the late Richard Pryor in Peoria, Ill., which ultimately served as a launching point for the tour.
He noted show business can be "a very selfish business," with some people not reaching out to help but "then some do more than their fair share."
"I think as comedians we're more out there than an actor," said Lopez, based on differing obligations. "An actor can do a play, but he can't break from the play, or if they're on TV, the network tells them I don't think you should be involved in this. There's a lot of kind of things to jump through. When you have a network show, they don't want you to get political and all off that."
In adding the Flint stop to the tour, Lopez said "For us, it was kind of a no-brainer that we would do this" while calling Detroit one of his favorite places to travel and noting the city's struggle with political corruption and economic downtown.
"But there's one thing that every person has in common is that our bodies are made up of mostly water," he said. "When you can't get proper water or children are being affected, tainted and poisoned, elderly people as well, then you have a duty, forget about celebrities, you have a duty as a human being to reach out and try to help."
Another part of the situation that made him upset was some people being turned away early on without identification while going out to pick up cases of bottled water at local resource sites.
"When I saw that sign that really kind of started it (for me)," said Lopez, who plans to take some time to drive around the community while in the city to take a look at the situation taking place and possibly connecting with some Flint residents on social media to share their stories. "This is ridiculous."
In regards to who is ultimately responsible for the situation, Lopez pointed towards Lansing.
"The governor of Michigan has to take responsibility. It doesn't seem like it to me that he's accepted responsibility," he said. "You don't want to see a governor pointing fingers. He needs to accept the blame and say he's going to make it better and not point fingers."
Snyder has apologized on several occasions, as well as taking some steps to provide funding to Flint for water resources, as well as applying for a federal waiver to help provide expanded health care benefits for residents and lead abatement in the city.
During their visit to Flint, Lopez said "We intend to make people laugh like we always do."
"Laughter is a great relief for tension and stress, but this is going to be a problem beyond when we leave, but people are aware of it and change will come and people will get better," he said. "We just want to go to be able to help. You can't turn a blind eye to this."
When asked what message he would send to the residents of the city of Flint, Lopez thought for a moment before providing his response.
"I would say that they are not going to be forgotten, things will get better and that we're not helping anybody because of the color of their skin," he said. "We're helping people because we're human and it's the compassionate thing to do, the right thing to do, and you cannot forget your brothers and sisters when they are in need."
Tickets are still available online for the Feb. 21 "The Comedy Get Down" show at ticketmaster.com.