Day 1 - radio station or march?

February 19, 2012  [images will be added]

Day 1 and we have already separated.  While my Hawai‘i sisters were rising and dressing to march in solidarity with Puerto Ricans protesting their governor’s endorsement of an underwater pipeline to bring in more fossil fuel from the United States, I awoke from my first morning in Puerto Rico in the hills of Aibonito. 

Aibonito comes from an old Taino name, Hatibonito.  The drive is long and windy, like the road to Kahukūloa, but inland through the mountains, like the road to Big Bear.  It’s peppered with little villages along the way, and cold increases with the altitude, as if you’re going to Volcano.  It also has a river called Cojonesdos, which poetically translates to “home,” but literally means “testicles.”
Aibonito is where Ornellia Perez lives, and where I spent Saturday night.  Breakfast was 2 eggs laid by the neighbor’s hens, salad greens, toast with sunflower seed spread, orange-carrot juice, Puerto Rican coffee, and a view of the ocean.  Muy delicioso.
Ornellia had an opportunity to fill in for the regular host of radio talk show called Canto Libre, Freedom Song, and promote the conference in which I’ve come to Puerto Rico to participate.  Others were committed to march in old San Juan, but willing to call in to the show.  As the primary language is Spanish, I couldn’t really have a big role with the radio program, but thirteen years in Hawai‘i talk radio should’ve enabled me to kōkua some of the technical aspects, or help develop the program.
We drove an hour-and-a-half to Ponce (POHN-seh) in the south of La Isla Grande, the main island.  Ponce people are like Texans, claiming everything is bigger there, always trying to outdo non-Ponceians.  The welcome sign upon entering the township is 5 huge letters spread out across the road.
Ornellia had developed an outline for the 90 minute program, and we dove right in.
Ornellia introduced herself and the important work she does with women at Centro Mujer y Nueva Familia in Baranquitas where she works.  Immediately, the president of her board of directors called in to report on the march in which our IWNAM sisters were participating.  We also had call-in interviews with María Reinat-Pumarejo (Puerto Rico), Terri-Lee Keko‘olani (Hawai‘i) and Aida F. Santos-Maranan (Philippines).  All three were able to provide historical context to today’s movement, and their activities.
Ornellia did a beautiful job reviewing the materials from across the years with International Women's Network against Militarism.  We threw in a few songs by Korean singer Ahn Hea Kyong: Warrior, Uno and others.  And we closed with a beautiful poem by David Whyte, first in English and then translated to Spanish.  Following this call-in show, an elderly man called in to tell us to tell all the women that the work is so important, that everyone in his family has cancer.  He was crying. 

Here's the poem.

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.

~David Whyte

We made it!!

Mahalo nui to all of your support and love. We safely arrived at our first home in Puerto Rico. We are being graciously hosted by sister Dominga on her farm in Vega Baja. We have already been joined by sisters from South Korea, Phillipines, and Okinawa. We set to leave at 8 am tomorrow to join our hosts in our first adventure. On the way here it was easy to see signs of globalization throughout our ride into the country. KFC. Walgreens. CVS. Burger King. The "American Dream" has spread.

Morning in Mākua

“Rather than building up for war, we could be working toward peace,” Fred Dodge, MD, co-founder of Mālama Mākua.

Wanting to connect with ‘āina before leaving for Vieques, Eri, Elise and I had the opportunity to visit Mākua Valley.

Mākua once supported a thriving community. It is a traditional training ground for ‘olohe, masters of the warrior arts, and, because of the long stretch of sandy beach, it was a comfortable stopping off point for visitors destined for Kaena Point. There were terraces of dryland crops; uala, sweet potato, was probably the primary one.

When the U.S. entered World War II, the Army appropriated Mākua for live weapons training. The valley was assaulted from land, air and sea. Up through 1998, Mākua valley was used as a disposal site for unneeded ordnance and other hazardous materials. Only in 2004 did live weapons training end.

Due to the grassroots efforts to honor Mākua valley as a wahi pana, Mālama Mākua has emerged as the stewardship organization that serves as watchdog, monitor, liaison to the Army, and kahu 'aina. Training is more controlled, culturally significant sites are preserved and studied, and there’s a big endangered species conservation effort in place.

But it’s a never ending job for Mālama Mākua – they are disputing an incomplete environmental assessment of the marine resources, battling the Army’s renewed claim to the valley as a necessary training ground, while also negotiating for regular, cultural accesses.

Looking to Kaho‘olawe as a model, Mālama Mākua has in its arsenal some of the United States’ own laws: the Endangered Species Act, the Historic Preservation Act, the Environmental Policy Act, and, most importantly, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA). It is the latter that will assure access to the community to mark the opening and closing of Makahiki, and regular access to several culturally significant sites throughout the valley.

Upon arrival, our ho‘okupu to Mākua included wai from the punawai deep in Nu‘alolo ‘Āina, and pa‘akai from Hanapēpē. Fred and Leandra welcomed us. With us were a few kūpuna, a group of hiking grad students, and two of the three founders of Nā Wāhine o Kunia Honouliuli. We saw petroglyphs, terraces and waterways (sans the water). We learned about mauka conservation efforts and different historic uses of the areas we saw and visited. We felt the nurturing spirit of Mākua.

Mahalo iā Ko‘iahi, mahalo iā Kahanahāiki, mahalo iā Mākua!

(c) Kim Ku‘ulei Birnie

UPDATED! Support Hawaii Women to Represent at the 8th IWNAM meeting, Puerto Rico

Dear friends of Women’s Voices Women Speak, Third Path Movement for Reproductive Justice-O’ahu & Hawai‘i Peace Justice,

Please help our organizations send Elise, Eri and Terri to be Hawai‘i's delegation to attend the 8th International Women's Network Against Militarism (IWNAM) meeting entitled “Encuentro/Nets for Genuine Security.” This meeting will take place in Puerto Rico between February 19-24, 2012. We are participating because we believe that genuine security in Hawai‘i is about ending Hawai‘i's dependence on the war economy. We believe that genuine security lies in our communities creating sustainable, community-based alternatives that cultivate, instead of exploit, people and resources. Identifying, implementing, and advancing these local alternatives also needs a collaborative international effort. Our work seeks to raise awareness on the systemic issue of militarism that cuts across cultures and lands, and to build international solidarity that connects our struggles.

This past year our organizations collaborated on the Passionista Fashion Show: Undressing Globalization and Militarism, which was a part of Moana Nui 2011:Pacific Peoples, Lands and Economies, an alternative conference to APEC. On September 11, 2011, we organized a solidarity action to support Jeju Island communities’ resistance to the development of military facilities that would house Aegis missile systems, which are interconnected to the missile facilities at Barking Sands on Kaua‘i. Also, after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, WVWS wrote a statement of solidarity with the IWNAM to demand that the U.S. and Japanese governments shift the spending of taxpayer monies from the upkeep of U.S. military facilities in Japan and other territories to helping victims of the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation poisoning. We also demanded the creation of employment opportunities that transcend militarism. 
 

Please help us raise money to pay for air fares for these Hawai‘i women to serve as delegates to the next IWNAM meeting, and to represent Hawai‘i in this effort for international solidarity. During this conference, attendees will have the opportunity to network with women from the Pacific, US, Caribbean and Asia. In addition, we will visit and talk to the community of Vieques, an island whose struggle to stop military weapons testing parallels Hawai‘i’s Kaho‘olawe. 
 

Following the return from the conference, delegates will hold a public presentation to share lessons learned at the conference and help facilitate our organizations to strategize and create a mission and vision for genuine security in Hawai‘i. To learn more about the 8th International Women’s Network Against Militarism meeting, visit http://www.genuinesecurity.org/projects/meeting.html. 
 

To donate:

• By Cash: Hand-deliver to Eri (808)542-0348
• By Check: Make checks out to "Collective for Equality Justice and Empowerment" and mail to Eri Oura 3161 Ala Ilima St. #809 Honolulu, Hawai’i 96818
• By Credit Card: Click on the Donate button below
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  (Please note that donations to this project are not eligible for tax write-offs as we are not sponsored by a non-profit.)
  
  

For more information about these organizations:
Women’s Voices Women Speak: http://wvws808.blogspot.com/
Hawai‘i Peace and Justice: http://hawaiipeaceandjustice.org/
International Women's Network Against Militarism: http://www.genuinesecurity.org/projects/meeting.html

The members of WVWS, Third Path Movement for Reproductive Justice-O’ahu, and HPJ would like to wish all of our supporters a happy new year! Mahalo nui loa!

UPDATE:
Big mahalo to those who have donated!

Kat Brady
Craig Howes
Nicki Garces
Brandy Nalani McDougall
Aiko Yamashiro
Monisha Das Gupta
Stephen Dinion
Patricia Koge
Darlene Rodrigues
Tricia Lee Tolentino
Nancy Aleck
Deja Ostrowski
Dina Shek
Hilary Chen
Christine Lipat & Tagi Qolouvaki
Vernadette Gonzales
Kim Compoc & Joy Enomoto

Makana Preparations

Hau & Puka Shell Jewelry

Hand-stripped and prepared strips of hau (above) and puka shells, or shells with holes, handmade into jewelry.

Kim Kuʻulei Birnie and Marion Ano crafting a necklace

Leotele Togafau creating puka shell earrings

Atlas curiously inspecting the strips of hau

Marion and Nicki Garces putting together a bracelet

Mahalo to Grace, Lydi, Jane & Marion for helping pick shells at Ke Iki beach in Pupukea!

Kāwika

In preparation for our journey to Puerto Rico, the 2012 Hawaiʻi delegation is learning a traditional kahiko hula from Kumu Hula James Dela Cruz, co-founder of Nā ʻŌpio o Koʻolau Hula Halau. The song was hakuʻd in honor of King David Kalākaua, the "Merrie Monarch" who brought back the hula after colonial influences had suppressed this cultural practice and tradition in Hawaiʻi. We learn this hula to honor ancestors who value expression and representation beyond conventional norms set in place by colonial influence and imperial force.

Kāwika (David) - Mele Inoa for King David Kalākaua

King Kāwika Kalākaua

 

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Eia nō Kāwika ea O ka heke aʻo nā pua Ka uwila ma ka hikina ea Mālamalama Hawaiʻi Kuʻi e ka lono Pelekani ea Hoʻolohe ke kuʻini ʻo Palani Na wai e ka pua i luna ea O Kapaʻakea he makua Haʻina ʻia mai ka puana ea Kalani Kāwika he inoa

This is David The greatest of all flowers (He is) the lightning in the east That brightens Hawai`i| News reached England Also heard by the French queen Who is this flower of high rank? Kapa`akea is his father Tell the refrain King David, is his name

ONLINE SOURCE: http://www.kalena.com/huapala/Kawika.html

About the 2012 Hawai'i Delegation

Meet the 2012 Hawaiʻi Delegation to the 8th Meeting of the International Womenʻs Network Against Militarism in Puerto Rico and Vieques 

Ellen-Rae Cachola was born and raised on the island of Maui.  She is a grand daughter of Ilocano sugar and pineapple plantation workers who came from Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, Luzon, Philippines.  Ellen-Rae was one of three delegates from Hawai'i who participated in the 5th East-Asia-U.S.-Puerto Rico Women's Network Against Militarism (former name of the International women's Network Against Militarism) meeting in Manila, Philippines in 2004. Since then, this women's network is raising her consciousness on the interconnected histories of imperialism and colonization between the Philippines and Hawaii; the Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Caribbean at large. Ellen-Rae is currently a doctoral student at UCLA's Archival Studies program, to understand how recordkeeping systems participated in the colonization of Ilocanos, but also, how recordkeeping systems can be created to support liberatory social movements. 

Terri Kekoʻolani (bio to come)

Elise Leimomi Davis
 is a kanaka maoli and filipina, born and raised in Hawaii before living in New York and California for school and work. She is currently an Assistant Researcher at `Imi Hale Native Hawaiian Cancer Network, in Honolulu, HI. Elise received a BS in Biology with a concentration in genetics and development and a Masters in Public Health with a concentration is social and behavioral health sciences. She also worked as a Community Intervention Specialist and as an Evaluation Research Assistant with the Office of Public Health Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her interests include community health education, community capacity building for health promotion, healthy food systems, and reducing health disparities.

Kim Kuʻulei Birnie:

Mother, grandmother, daughter, auntie and sister, her professional and community work has centered on issues of social justice and aloha ‘āina. She has worked in Hawai‘i’s public health arena addressing health disparities among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. She has been accessing the island of Kaho‘olawe for more than 20 years, and is active with the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana. 

Eri Oura is a womyn, born and raised in Hawai′i, of Japanese ancestry, but raised by a Korean woman from Daegu. In 2008, Eri co-founded the Collective for Equality, Justice & Empowerment (a student group at the University of Hawaiʻi), and has worked with various anti-violence, justice-oriented, women- and queer-focused organizations. She works on the administrative side of non-profits in Hawai′i and have worked on different projects and programs that encourage peaceful resistance in communities where injustice is the norm.

Special Thanks:

Our delegation would not be able to go to Puerto Rico without the support of our communities here in Hawaiʻi. There have been countless powerful and fearless sisters and brothers in Hawaiʻi nei who have supported work towards genuine security and continues to lift up this delegation to be able to be on this journey. Special mahalo nui to Grace Caligtan, Darlene Rodrigues, Marion Ano, Kyle Kajihiro, Pete Doktor, Monique Yuen, Gigi Miranda, Nicki Garces, Leotele Togafau, Darshan Mendoza, the Passionista! Fashion Show Project, Hawaiʻi Peace & Justice, liberated cuts, Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Program and Third Path Movement for Reproductive Justice!