A Word … With Jason Johnson

The Fight for Water Justice

With Jackson, Mississippi’s crisis making headlines, water access rises as a racial justice cause.

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Episode Notes

On today’s episode of A Word, host Jason Johnson discusses how the recent water crisis that struck Jackson, Mississippi has become an everyday consequence of inequality in many rural Black communities. His guest is MacArthur “Genius” Catherine Coleman Flowers. She is the author of “Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret.” They talk about environmental justice and how access to safe drinking water is an issue throughout the nation.

Guest: Catherine Coleman Flowers, author of “Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret,” and a winner of a 2020 MacArthur Genius Grant. She’s currently helping to lead a project to survey problems with the nation’s water system.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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About the Show

America doesn’t need another conversation about race. At least, not the kind we’ve been having … the ones that are sparked by a crisis and move quickly from shock to empty promises to forgetting. No. What America needs are REAL conversations about race—ones that shine a light on the facts, the history, and the reality of how race plays out in our politics and society. That’s what Slate offers each week on A Word … with Jason Johnson. A veteran political commentator, Johnson will bring his incisive wit to thoughtful discussions with leaders, journalists, and other change-makers who will tell the truth about America’s challenges around race and offer ideas on the way forward.

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