The Little Miss Flint

Amariyanna "Mari" Copeny  is a 16-year-old from Flint, Michigan known globally as Little Miss Flint, born on July 6th, 2007.  She first entered the public spotlight when her letter to President Obama about the water crisis prompted him to visit the city and survey the water crisis for himself. That visit ultimately led to him approving 100 million dollars in relief for the city of Flint.  Her young age has not prevented her from making a significant impact on the dialogue around environmental racism and confronted the entire country with the reality faced by victims of state negligence. Her youthful honesty prevents political leaders from being able to ignore the consequences of neglectful leadership. She voices the unheard hardships of Americans trapped by a collapsing and toxic infrastructure.

Mari has used her platform to not only bring awareness to the water crisis in her community but to also give back. Mari has raised over $700,000 for her Flint Kids projects including giving out over 19,000 backpacks stuffed with school supplies, a yearly Christmas event with thousands of toys, hundreds of Easter baskets, movie screenings, and lots of other events centred around the kids in her community

In 2017 Mari became a national youth ambassador to the Women’s March on Washington and the National Climate Mari. She is also dedicated to preventing bullying and works with the anti-bullying group Trendsetters Productions. She also proudly works with Eighteen by 18, a youth organisation founded by her mentor Yara Shahidi. She has raised over $250k and given away over a million bottles of bottled water. But she takes the most pride in pivoting away from single-use bottled water to partnering with a company (Hydroviv) to produce her very own water filter, which is shipped all over the country to those who are facing toxic drinking water, to date she has raised over $700k to produce and distribute her filters.

This 17-year-old has not only become Flint’s little hero but continues to inspire millions of people to not let age be a barrier to speaking against injustice. Her features in Teen Vogue, The Guardian, VICE, TIME, Refinery 29, The Washington Post, NBC News, Rewire, Buzzfeed etc have helped her to make people aware of the negligence faced by not only her state’s people but worldwide. She hopes to continue her journey further and plans on running for president in 2044.

Writer -Arinjayya Saraogi

Editor -Ayushi Prasad