Alex Martinez/Bravo(NEW YORK) — Though she’s made a name for herself serving up shade as one of the more feisty cast members of Bravo’s hit reality show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Phaedra Parks is now serving the people of Flint, Michigan, who are in the midst of an environmental crisis due to contamination of the city’s water supply. The city’s water became contaminated after the officials switched from Detroit municipal water and began drawing the city’s water from the Flint River.
Parks, who is also an entertainment attorney in Atlanta, joined hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons a few weeks back in helping distribute water to the people, and seek solutions with local leaders.
She tells ABC Radio that getting involved in worthy causes has always been a mission.
“I got involved with it because, you know, I try to be active in the community and most people know that and anyone who knew me prior to television even in high school and in college, I was always protesting for somebody that I felt was getting the short end or the stick,” she says. “One of my passions is to really try to right wrongs. So when I heard about the tragedy, the situation in Flint, it was just unbelievable to me because this is the United States.”
The Augusta, Georgia native said everyone should heed to what’s going on in the Michigan city because what’s happening there, offers a broader lesson, and will have an impact on the people of Flint for generations.
“Everyone is asking, ‘What is this about?’ This is about equity and people being accountable across the board; governments, communities,” she says. “You know people say, ‘Oh, I’m not my brother’s keeper,’ but we have to be because this lead poisoning thing doesn’t affect just one generation, it affects the next generation. It is irreversible.”
The 44- year old mother of two went back to Flint on Friday to join Reverend Jesse Jackson and Judge Greg Mathis to bring more awareness to how the city’s residents have been devastated.
She says she will continue to do more work in the community until the problem there is remedied.
“This is not just about a luxury item. Water is a necessity. And this environmental issue goes across color lines, socio-economic lines. It crosses, it’s the entire community,” she says. “They didn’t poison just one neighborhood, they poisoned the entire community. And someone has to answer for that.”
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