Great Immigrant: Mona Hanna

Born in the United Kingdom, Dr. Mona uncovered the Flint water crisis and spearheaded the community’s recovery. A new Carnegie-commissioned comic series highlights Dr. Mona’s story and the stories of other naturalized citizens who enrich American society and strengthen our democracy

By Jongsma + O’Neill & Chuan Ming Ong September 23, 2024

Immigration

An immigrant from the United Kingdom whose parents had fled Iraq during the Baath regime, Dr. Mona Hanna recalls that “as a young immigrant, I may have been scared, and my school lunches looked and smelled different (no one knew what hummus or falafel was back then), but I was embraced in the suburban Detroit community where I grew up as one of the few brown kids.”

Fast forward some 30 years, and Dr. Mona was a pediatrician* in Flint, Michigan, when she learned that the local drinking water was being poisoned with lead and then proved it with her own data, using hospital blood tests. When she went public with her research, state officials initially refuted her findings but then could no longer deny them. The authorities stopped using the Flint River water that wasn’t being treated properly in 2015. Working with the Flint community, including parents, clergy, journalists, and scientists, Dr. Mona led efforts to “make sure that the American dream” was still a possibility for the city’s 10,000 children.

For her actions in uncovering the Flint water crisis and spearheading the recovery, Dr. Mona has received many awards and recognitions, including being named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. She continues to lead initiatives to heal youth poverty and its effects.

Every Fourth of July, Carnegie Corporation of New York celebrates the exemplary contributions of immigrants to American life, as part of its focus on reducing political polarization and strengthening democracy. To highlight their stories, the foundation has commissioned a new comic series that illustrates how naturalized citizens enrich American society.

Download Dr. Mona Hanna’s full comic here.

* 26% of practicing physicians and surgeons in the United States are foreign-born. (Source: Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States, Migration Policy Institute, April 2023)

Eline Jongsma and Kel O’Neill lead Jongsma + O’Neill, a nonfiction storytelling studio. They are Sundance fellows, Emmy nominees, and the creators of the immersive exhibition Loot. 10 Stories, which won the 2024 XR-History Award.

Chuan Ming Ong is a Dutch illustrator whose illustrations have appeared in publications including the New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, and Nikkei Asia.