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AtPeace Makita, a single mother of five children who turned to activism after her water was shut off by the Detroit Water and Sewage Department, talks with Dennis Trainor, Jr. about the Detroit Water Brigade and what it is like to living during the current push for the privatization of the water supply.
Only the Polar Ice Caps contain more fresh water that The Great Lakes.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, The Great Lakes are the largest surface fresh water system on the Earth, providing 84% of North America’s surface fresh water and 21% of the world’s supply.
AtPeace Makita is at the center of a growing wave of activism fighting what the UN has called a clear violation of human rights: “Disconnection of water services because of failure to pay due to lack of means constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other international human rights,” U.N. officials said in a news release. “Because of a high poverty rate and a high unemployment rate, relatively expensive water bills in Detroit are unaffordable for a significant portion of the population.”
“If Detroit can be used as a prototype,” asks Makita “why can’t it happen in LA, Chicago, or New York? On top of the bankruptcy, on top of the foreclosures, on top of the mayoral issues and emergency manager, on top of all of it – now you want to take our life source?”
About the guest |
AtPeace Makita is the Creative Director of The Detroit Water Brigade. A mother of six children, she is a native Detroiter and an honorable veteran of the U.S. Military.
Tags,
Detroit water, Detroit Crisis, Detroit water shut off, Emergency manager, Protest, Detroit water Brigade, People’s Water Board, AtPEace Makita, Dennis Trainor Jr, Acronym TV
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Dennis Trainor, Jr. is a writer, host and producer. His documentary on the Occupy movement, American Autumn: an Occudoc, garnered critical praise from The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more. He also wrote and directed Legalize Democracy, a documentary short about the Movement To Amend the Constitution. Trainor was an embedded YouTube personality/media advisor on the staff of Dennis Kucinich’s 2008 presidential campaign and his work is regularly published on The Huffington Post, Truth Out, The Real New Network, Popular Resistance and several others