for more, we go to jackson to speak with the mayor, mayor chokwe antar lumumba.elcome back to democracy now! you're are in the midst of a massive crisis. climate crisis causing the flooding that has shut down the sewage treatment plant, but the issue of water in jackson has been going on for a long time. you have been warning about it. can you talk about what is happening on the ground right now and what you think is the real long time because of this? >> thank you for having me again. happy to be able to lift up the circumstance on your show. this has been something we have been trying out for more than two years, saying it is not a matter of if our system will fail, t when our system will fail. i have described jackson as the poster child of the infrastructure challenges we see inhis country. this is something that when the state joined me and shared there would be rinng in resources, bringing in team to support us, we welcomed that with open arms because we have been saying we needed the support. we have been saying we need resources. so this is a matter of hu

today, jackson mayor chokwe antar lumumba said this situation has been building for a long time. >> i on multiple occasions it is not a matter of if our system would fail, but a matter of when our system would fail. i have stood before you not only in terms of our local media, but national media, and shared that the city of jackson, even when we are not under a boil water notice, even when we are not contending at that present moment with low pressure, that we are in a constant state of emergency. john: for years, jackson residents have contended with cloudy water coming out of taps, disruptions in service and frequent boil water notices. nick judin is state reporter for mississippi free press, a nonprofit online news organization. thank you for being with us. what is it like now for you as a jackson resident and for your neighbors? nick: thank you for having me. it has been over a month without clean drinking water. we have had a kind of intermittent boil water notices on and off over the last few months. i describe that right now we are in the acute phase of the jackson water crisis

. >> reporter: chokwe antar lumumba is jackson's mayor. >> if i could write you a check to fix the problemxcess of more than $200 million. >> reporter: pastor c.j. rhodes father of twins has watched many in jackson lose faith in their leaders. >> i don't think our congregation is the only one that feels that way. talk to people across the city, many are livid and want to vote people out. >> reporter: not far from the surface concerns that racial inequities could be to blame. >> i am concerned about my city, filled with residents that look like me. i think this is an opportunity to change the narrative of what mississippi is known for. >> reporter: that can start, he says, providing the most basic of needs, water. stephanie gosk, nbc news, jackson, mississippi. >> joining me is a resident and restaurant owner from jackson, mississippi. we covered the last water crisis a few years ago in jackson where it seemed racial disparity was at play there. what's it like having a restaurant, trying to run a business in the tight times when you have to boil water for everything? >> these are tough time