Little Miss Flint Steps In After Governor Steps Out: 5 Things

FLINT, MI — There’s no stopping “Little Miss Flint,” the plucky child activist who charmed President Obama in to visiting Flint in 2016 to see first-hand how residents were coping with lead-tainted water crisis. Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny, now 10, has raised more than $27,000 in under two weeks to provide bottled water to residents of her city after the Michigan governor said earlier this month that free water distributions would be suspended.

The public health crisis that gripped the city for four years is especially dangerous for kids like Mari, for whom exposure to lead can cause a host of lifelong problems, from lower IQs to antisocial and violent behavior.

Though the free water distributions have ended, replacement of the lead pipes at the source of the problem haven’t all been replaced.

That spurred Mari into action with a GoFundMe campaign, prompting the crowdfunding group to call her “a true community hero” who constantly inspires. Each dollar raised in the campaign will provide 11 bottles of water for Flint residents.

This isn’t her only fundraising accomplishment or activism effort. Last year, she raised $18,000 in a partnership with a nonprofit to throw a Christmas party for 500 Flint kids. Thousands of toys were given out. She also obtained more than 1,000 copies of “A Wrinkle In Time,” a science fantasy novel written by American writer Madeleine L'Engle, to instill the love of reading in Flint kids. Her “Don’t Forget Flint” T-shirt campaign helps raise money for her projects.

The Flint water crisis, which has been called one of the worst man-made disasters in modern history, began in 2014 when the city started getting its water from the Flint River as a cost-saving move while the cash-strapped city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. The switch was intended to save money, but the water's corrosive properties caused lead in the city's aging pipes to leach and expose thousands to dangerously high levels of lead.

Here are five things to know about Little Miss Flint:

She wants to be president: When she was 8, Mari wrote Obama and asked if she could stop by the White House and meet him and the first lady while she was in Washington, D.C., to attend congressional hearings on the Flint water crisis. That wasn’t possible, but Obama was so charmed by her letter and said he would travel to Flint “to make sure people like you and your family are receiving the help you need and deserve.” It will be another 25 years before she’s old enough, but Mari has already told the world that she wants to be president when she grows up. “But until then, I will fight for #FlintKids,” she said in a tweet in February. In that tweet, she also said, “In April, I will have been living through the #FlintWaterCrisis for 4 years.”

She lifts up other kids every chance she gets: With the help her mother, Loui “Lulu” Brezzell, and a cousin, she organized a GoFundMe campaign In February to help several hundred underprivileged kids see the “Black Panther” movie and return home with some merchandise promoting the movie. Mari told The Washington Post that “kids need to see themselves as superheroes” and that “black kids are seen as victims — and we’re not.” Brezzell said her daughter went to homeless shelters and worked with boys and girls clubs to find kids who wouldn’t otherwise be able to see the movie. “How many times do kids of color get to see themselves as the superhero on movies and on TV?” she told Shondaland.com's Katie MacBride in March. “It means so much to be able to have a hero you can relate to that looks like you. Representation matters and it matters even more to kids from inner cities and places like Flint.”

She already has a college scholarship: Central Michigan University called dibs on Mari last fall, saying a $25,000 scholarship had been reserved in her name. “I am proud that you are a member of our CMU family and represent us in such an impressive manner,” university President George E. Ross, a Flint native, said when the scholarship was awarded last fall. “Mari, your achievements serve as a leadership example to our entire university, the state, the nation and beyond. Thank you for putting your stamp on the world.”

She wants you to know it’s not just Flint kids who don’t have clean water: In the interview with MacBride last month, she noted that the media remains focused water quality issues when there is breaking news, but “there are water crises all over the country.” What makes Flint different, she said, “is we had no say in being poisoned because Flint was under state control,” she said. “I want people to know the Flint water crisis is not over and that residents here are dealing with the long-term effects.”

She’s a normal kid, too: Although she’s know around the world for lending her voice to the Flint water crisis, Mari isn’t all that different from other kids. She told MacBride that she likes American Girl Dolls, video games and comic books. A cheerleader and tap dancer, she is also artistically inclined and enjoys music of all kinds. “I love to draw. I love to read. I love to eat. I love spending time with my friends,” she said.

READ MORE

• Finally, Something To Cheer In Flint Dirty Water Crisis
• Flint Free Water Ends, But Lead Pipes — And Worry — Remain
• Child’s Email Spurs President Obama to Visit Flint
• ‘Little Miss Flint’ Charms a Visit from President Obama

Photo: Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, speaks during the “Stand Up to Trump” rally outside the White House April 13, 2017, in Washington, DC. Youth activists from around the country gathered to protest President Donald Trump's immigration policies. (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)