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

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Book Reviews 195 In its totality, Faust’s work is an excellently written history of a Michigan Civil War regiment. The author’s use of primary sources, in addition to the scattered photographs of the soldiers themselves, helps to humanize the men who fought with the Sixth. Within Faust’s work, an interested reader will not find glorified tales of combat, but a history of military life during desperate times. Readers and scholars who are interested in the Civil War or the history of Michigan and its people will appreciate Faust’s clear and unbiased narrative while following the Sixth Michigan through its various trials and tribulations. Travis Faustin Central Michigan University Mona Hanna-Attisha. What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City. New York, NY: One World, 2019. Pp. 384. Notes. Index. Paper: $18.00. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha sets out in What the Eyes Don’t See to tell her experiences with the Flint water crisis and role as one of the key figures in making it public and forcing action. The book’s title is a reference to a D.H. Lawrence quote distilled down to “how can your eyes see something that your mind doesn’t know.” (23) Hanna-Attisha’s writing style is both seductive and lucid, drawing the reader in with a few personal anecdotes before getting to the author’s point in each of the book’s twenty-eight sections. The book is both captivating and extremely informative, especially for those Michiganders—or indeed, anyone else—who may have been misled by borderline-corrupt testing and results from governmental agencies. While garnering praise from such publications as the New York Times and Chicago Tribune, the praise that speaks most highly to the book’s importance and the veracity is from none other than Erin Brockovich. While not having an argument per se, the author has three main themes that take its place. First, she emphasizes that the government is supposed to protect its citizens and that the government—specifically the State of Michigan, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and the Emergency Managers appointed by Governor Rick Snyder— failed intentionally and purposefully in this role. (13, 28) Interestingly, the author does not blame former Governor Snyder and instead claims, “in the end, I felt the governor cared—and was truly sorry.” (309) Second, while the water crisis was itself devastating, it also uncovered the myriad 196 The Michigan Historical Review other problems plaguing Flint and its residents—particularly Black citizens—among which were systematic racism and the lack of nutritionally rich diets for the poor. (13, 18) Indeed, this last aspect further compounded the treatment of affected people as the magnitude of lead poisoning experienced was directly affected by the lack of access to quality food. Interestingly, Hanna-Attisha extends these observations not to just Flint, but throughout the rest of the United States and calls for action to fix the problem. Third, above all, Hanna-Attisha emphasizes that there is hope. (14, 25) This emphasis, given the bleakness of the topic, is surprising yet convincing. Indeed, the author, with her medical experience and authority, asserts in the closing that “the most important medication that I can prescribe is hope.” (325) This reviewer only has one minor critique. What the Eyes Don’t See is not a historical monograph. There is no methodology, no situation of its place in the literature, and most strikingly, written from a first-person point of view. This is not to say that the work does not have merit. Indeed, the monograph has great merit but in perhaps, a less traditional historical setting. Hanna-Attisha’s book should be used as a primary source for future scholars looking to write a more analytical history of Flint and the Flint water crisis. The insights and personal anecdotes that Hanna-Attisha shares as witness to the crisis, instead of as a writer/scholar of the crisis, will be incredibly valuable to future studies of Flint. Thus, What the Eyes Don’t See, while very much not history—but then again, that is not the book’s goal—should be of interest...