Flint water crisis focus of panel discussion

Film screening also planned for event

Alma College will host a threeperson panel discussing social justice, while using the Flint water crisis as a case study, as part of its continued 2020-21 Presidential Speaker Series.

Anna Clark, Claire Mcclinton and Cedric Taylor will gather live, on Zoom, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, March 18 for the discussion, entitled “Working Toward Justice: A Panel Discussion on the Flint Water Crisis,” which is open to the public.

Clark is a journalist and member of the faculty for Alma College’s Master of Fine Arts program. Her 2018 book, “The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy,” won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism and the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award.

Mcclinton is an activist involved in the Flint water crisis and civil rights for all residents of Michigan. A native of Flint, she is a retiree from General Motors and proudly served in various po

sitions at the United Auto Workers Local 659.

Taylor is a Jamaicanborn filmmaker who works as an associate professor of sociology at Central Michigan University. He is the writer, director and co-producer of the documentary, “Nor Any Drop to Drink: Flint’s Water Crisis,” that has been screened throughout the country and internationally.

Prior to the panel discussion on March 18, Alma College will host a screening of “Nor Any Drop to Drink,” at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 11, which will also be open to the public and broadcast online. The events, which are co-hosted by the Alma College Spiritual Life and Diversity and Inclusion offices, will be capped off by a question and answer session with Rev. Andrew Pomerville, chaplain and director of spiritual life, and Donnesha Blake, director of diversity and inclusion.

“It’s so important for our students to consider not just their course of study, but also their place in our world,” Pomerville said. “We’re thrilled to be able to welcome three people from different walks of life — a writer, a documentarian and a social activist — who can show our students how to use their own perspectives and address issues in their communities.”

As part of the 2020-21 Presidential Speaker Series, Alma College previously hosted former Michigan Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley, nonprofit organization founder Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, nationally recognized author Ibram X. Kendi, and a group of alumni chief executive officers, who reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective environments.

For more information, including how to register for these events, visit alma.edu/live/ forms/435-1