What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

What the Eyes Don’t See is the story of city and state government officials poisoning the residents of Flint and then lying about it. Dr. Mona’s focus is on the impacts lead exposure from drinking water has on the most vulnerable population: children. The reasons for this are twofold. The first is to raise awareness that this truly is a serious public health issue for children. The DC water crisis exposed this, yet, because it was not part of the larger public discourse, many citizens and public health experts alike were not aware of the problem. By continuously centering her argument on Flint kids and the fact that lead poisoning perpetuates inequality, Dr. Mona also invokes an emotional response in the reader.

Greater prevalence of lead exposure in children are found in low-income and minority neighborhoods, which contributes to the racial-education gap that we see in the US. Email evidence supports that some government officials knew lead was poisoning Flint kids, but they did not put resources into the problem because the community was poor. By the end of the book, it becomes clear that people need to take a stand collectively against injustices, including lead exposure from drinking water, because our government might not be fulfilling its duty to protect its citizens.