El-Sayed slams Detroit for water shut-offs

Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for Michigan governor, issued the following statement regarding threats by Detroit officials to shut off water to more than 17,000 homes.

“There is no life without water. And yet, the City of Detroit shuts off water to thousands of Detroiters every year. Next month, up to 17,000 homes, countless Michiganders could lose water access. This is a public health issue and a human rights disaster.

As Detroit’s Health Director, I fought Mike Duggan on this wrongheaded policy. Michigan needs a Governor that will make access to water a priority.

In a state that is surrounded by 21% of the world’s water, every Michigander deserves access to clean, drinkable water.

Abdul El-Sayed with members of the Michigan Women's March in 2017. Photo courtesy of El-Sayed's Facebook Page. — Abdul El-Sayed with members of the Michigan Women’s March in 2017. Photo courtesy of El-Sayed’s Facebook Page.

That means we cannot allow water shutoffs to continue in a state that has suffered the greatest water crisis in Flint – or a state that allows corporations like Nestle to put their profits over the well-being of Detroiters and other Michiganders.

Our water platform guarantees every household in Michigan the basic amount of water needed to drink, clean, cook, and bathe – a ‘living standard’ – which will put a moratorium on water shutoffs.”

– Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic Candidate for Michigan Governor

Abdul has previously called for a moratorium on water shutoffs and has released a comprehensive water policy which can be found here. Detroit water shutoffs made international headlines in 2014 when United Nations officials criticized the policy.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is running for governor to make state government work for all Michiganders, and not just the privileged few. Abdul is a Rhodes scholar, physician and public health expert who, as Detroit’s health commissioner, launched a program to ensure every child who needed one got a free pair of glasses. Abdul is running on a platform of bold, progressive ideas to address gaping inequality between the rich and poor, including raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, passing Medicare for All to guarantee health care as a right, and making college tuition free for families earning less than $150,000 a year.

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rayhanania

Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News

RAY HANANIA — Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.

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