Ku I Ka Pono / Pasadena Rally
Saturday October 22nd, I had the fortune of exercising my civil rights by gathering peacfully in Pasadena outside 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This was rally to raise awareness of one if not many issues facing Hawaiians today. First and foremost was raising awareness of the ruling on Doe vs. Kamehameha. For those of you know don't know you can visit this link and read up on the issues here: Doe vs. Kamehameha. It's an involving topic that most Hawaiians should be aware of as it does pertain directly to them. And as for non-Hawaiian people, it's kind of a wake up call, that due to the lack of watchfulness this out come is a possible outcome for any racial and ethnic line.
Aside from the awareness of the Doe vs. Kamehameha issue, ther were other issues that were talked about that day, one worth briefliy mentioning was the issue of Maune Kea and the land of which the Observatory is occupying. On the surface as that issue stands, it's land that is being leased out for a very very low profit margin and the revenues that the use of that observatory generats is in the hundreds of thousands. Now that land is rightfully that of hawaiians and the money that is made is so low that it's missing out on potential feduciary gains that could be turned around and used in a forward gaining method, ie education. And the money that is made, the hawaiian people do not see. I digress, that is where YOU do the homework that is necessary to become aware of the issues.Now the day began slow. I had picked up one of my halau class mates, La'akea. We were headed to Pasadena and called my friends 'Uhane and Nina. They too were on their way to the rally. We wre going to meet them there. Once we arrived we were keeping our eye for the rally point and other po'e (people) that were also taking part in this rally. Where we parked we didn't see very many peeople. However, 'Uhane and I just did our thing and walked over to other people parking near us and just asked if they were ther for the rally. They were and we gave our alohas and made new friends. We found out that the rally point was on the next block over. We headed back to our car, got Nina and La'akea and headed over.
It was at the end of a cal-de-sac. We saw a stage setup and loud speakers and what not. The thought crossed us that maybe th is was going to be a bigger affair than we had originally thought. We grabbed a seat and sat. Not long after the family that we just made friends with where th ere near us and we began talking. It was Auntie Kama'i and Uncle Kainoa. 'Uhane and Nina talked to auntie about hula and i was talking to uncle about hawaiiana. My conversation with Uncle soon turned to who we knew. He asked who my famliy was and were from. Ironically he knew my family, he knew my cousins on the Big Island, he went to school with my cousin. I in turn asked what his family name was and where. Ad come to find out I knew of his family on the Big Island as well. Auntie and Uncle were from San Diego and here were , we knew of each other's families how cool is that. As I continued to talk to Uncle, I could here bits and pieces of 'Uhane's conversation with Auntie. It was of course about hula, and I was hearing what Auntie thought of hula, let alone halaus in Los Angeles. Quite deep.
Soon after, we took our seats as it was nearing the beginning of this rally. We sat near Auntie and Uncle. As we sat waiting, I began my own conversation with Auntie. It too was about hula, and the differences from now-a-days versus what she was used to in the islands. Unfortunately for her there were disparaging difrerences of hula her ein the mainland. She was very steadfast on her position about the two worlds of hula, mainland and hawaii. As she and I carried on, there was another auntie that overheard what we were talking about and she added to our topic. At a point i realized that here were to knowledgable people offering their mana'o on this topic. I chose to stop talking and just listen, just like the hawaiian saying: "Look with the eyes, open the ears, and shut the mouth, thus one learns". So I was learning. When I realized what mana'o was being discussed, I elbowed 'uhane to listen up and lean in on this. He too was surprised at what was being discussed. Unfortunately not long after our rally began.
We heard from Wayne and he went on to speak about hte topics, and why we were there. But we were not there alone. Meaning that it wasn't just the Hawaiians that were ther, but there was representation by the Chumash nation as well. Quite a surprise to me. We went from topic to topic. I watched on as Wayne spoke emotionally about these issues facing Hawaiians today. After which we prayed. Then he wanted to practice the chant that was to be used for when we marched. It was ironically "I KU MAU MAU". If you read the article "The Hawaiian in me" that i posted here on my site, i explain the significance of this chant/oli. So Wayne calls out, "We need someone to help out on leading us in this chant." And of couse, everyone points at me! So Wayne asks me to stand up and lead us. And like riding a bicycle... i start in. After i was finished Wayne closed up and we began gathering. As I was walking to our gathering point, Mikiala, one of the organisers walked over and handed me a megaphonee. "I guess you'll be needing this..." I guess I got elected to lead the rally with the Oli... I was reluctant, but I accepted.
"I KU MAU MAU..." I screamed as we began marching. Even though we were a meager 50 or 60 people, our voices were still heard. A mass of red was moving slowly across the landscape of Pasadena, down the street and around the corner. We eventually made our way into residential housing, and shortly after found ourselves in front of the 9th district Federal Court. "What do we want? Justice for Hawaiians... When do we want it? NOW!" This was repeated over and over agin. I could see in people's homes heads popping out of windows and people standing on the side walk to see what was the matter. In a way I thought it was kind of funny. I mean, here we are a small group making noise in these people's quiet neighborhood, in front of a court house. And to most of these people of Pasadena, their own real cognition of Hawaiians and Hawaiiana was probably images of pineapples, hula dancers, palm trees and beachs. They haven't a clue to the other side of the "rainbow". Unfortunately really, but it's reality.With our voices drying out, we started making our way back to our original rally point. We found our seats and we began the second half of the rally. There were guest speakers making points of this and that, and being points that were of note, it openned my own eyes to problems that I never knew existed. I'm thankful for this time and opportunity to have and be enlightened. As our speakers went on, my attention turned to a police cruiser pulling up. I watched as the officer got out of his squad car and made his way to the backstage of the speaking platform. He spoke to a few people back there, and both indiviuals he spoke with pointed him to Mikiala, the organiser. I watched their body language, he was of course asking for our rallying permitt and that the neighbors were complaining at the noise. So Mikiala hands hime the folder of myriad of paperwork, the officer steps back to look it all over. He returns hands the paper work back, and shrugs his shoulders and has the look on his face of, "well everything's in order, have a nice day..." I smiled, and turned my attention back to the speakers.
When everything was said and done we gathered one last time all of us and took pictures, exchanged phone numbers, email addreses etc... so we can keep in touch. The four of us headed back to our cars, and we were now REALLY h ungry. Bob's Okazuya! Sure enough we head down there for food. We get down there, and there some Uncles playing music. We sit down, order and just enjoy the songs they sang. They find out that we dance hula and ask if they coudl play soemthing that we knew how to dance. Nina begrudginly agreed to dance "Uluwehi o ke kai".. and off she went...All in all this day was a pretty remarkable day... I was able to satiate the mind soul and body...
It's so cool how small the hula world is, and how life and just be so serendipitous. Take for instance our recent discovery of Bob's Okazuya. A newly found place for thick poi and ono plates of poke! It was ironic actually. My friends' Nina and 'Uhane and I were finishing up with practice with Auntie Sissys' halau on a Saturday. We decided to hit some place up for lunch, prefereably local food. We decided upon Braddah's in Gardena. On our way, we saw another restaraunt, called Bob's Okazuya. It kind of stood out to me because it had a King Kamehameha sign out front. I saw the place and just brushed it off. My mind was set on poi an d whatever else ono-licious food I was going to order at Braddah's.
So the next week, i had some time off and called up 'Uhane to hit the surf. We surfed down at 26th street in Manhattan Beach. After which we both were hungry, and of course guess what came to mind? That's right Bob's. We holo-ed on down and grabbed us a seat. I ordered the poke plate, side poi and side mac salad. ONO! 'Uhane had saimin with won ton min, ONO! We introduced ourselves again to Les refreshing his memory, and made a new friend that day, Danny. We talked story for a while and left. Since then we've been going back. I've taken up outring canoing with the Marina Outrigger Club, and on Sundays, myself with some other halau members, who are also paddling by the way, hele on over to Bob's and enjoy a great meal with music. Why just this past Sunday, we gathered there again after a long morning of paddling. A bunch of the Uncles were playing, and a bunch of us got up and danced to "Na Ka Pueo", quite fun. I told the Uncles that the should learn "Ipo Lei Momi" because we knew that one. So next week, I'm going to have to remember to bring my camera.
