This blog is about Hawaii's status as an independent country under prolonged illegal occupation by the United States, and the history, culture, law & politics of the islands.
By Scott Crawford, Hana, Maui
|
Blogs.com Top 10
Hawaii Blogs |
|
From HawaiianKingdom.org blog:
From September 10-12, 2015, the United Kingdom’s University of Cambridge’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Science and Humanities will be holding an academic conference “Sovereignty and Imperialism: Non-European Powers in the Age of Empire.” From the conference’s website:
“In the heyday of empire, most of the world was ruled, directly or indirectly, by the European powers. On the eve of the First World War, only a few non-European states had maintained their formal sovereignty: Abyssinia (Ethiopia), China, Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Persia (Iran), and Siam (Thailand). Some others kept their independence for a while, but then succumbed to imperial powers, such as Hawaii, Korea, Madagascar, and Morocco. Facing imperialist incursion, the political elites of these countries sought to overcome their political vulnerability by engaging with the European powers and seeking recognition as equals.
Continue reading Dr. Sai to Present at Univ. of Cambridge, UK
From International Business Times via Yahoo News:
Debate surrounds the public holiday which commemorates the day Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States. Controversy circles the 56th anniversary of Hawaii becoming the newest state of the USA on 21 August and there are calls for it to be removed as culturally insensitive to Native Hawaiians.
Independent activists are using the public holiday to gather support for Hawaiian sovereignty.
Read the rest…
PRESS STATEMENT
FROM THE COMMITTEE OF HAWAIIAN NATIONALS
A coalition of Hawaiian Independence advocates
P.O. Box 23055, Honolulu, Hawaii 96823
HawaiianNational.com
Contact:
Mr. Leon Siu 808 265-2085 leon@hits.net
Mr. Pilipo Souza 808 358-6428 pilipo808@gmail.com
GATHERING AT IOLANI PALACE OF HAWAIIAN PATRIOTS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015 – 11 AM
EVENT: THE NON-CELEBRATION OF STATEHOOD
Hawaiian Nationals and Free Hawaii advocates are gathered here today to point out that the State of Hawaii has once again failed to celebrate their “Statehood Day” holiday! Statehood Day is a joke…It’s a non-celebration. The “State” has obviously abandoned its own holiday!
Where are the Governor, legislators, mayors, county council members, armies of public workers, government employees and their unions on this supposedly most auspicious day for the State of Hawaii? Where are the citizens of the 50th State? Nowhere to be found. It’s as if they are ashamed of “Statehood Day.”
No Celebration for Statehood
In 1959 President Dwight Eisenhower signed an official proclamation purportedly making Hawaii the 50th state of the United States. There was dancing in the streets, parties, Hawaiian shows and fireworks at Iolani Palace.
But today, other than state and county workers having the day off, neither the state nor the county administrations do anything to acknowledge the holiday.
The past three governors: Cayetano, Lingle and Abercrombie avoided statehood celebrations saying they were “too controversial.”
Governor Lingle, however, could not avoid the “50th anniversary of statehood” in 2009. Even then, the commission to coordinate the jubilee downplayed the event reducing it to a few TV and radio public-service announcements; newspaper ads, a few speeches and proclamations; and a closed conference to envision the next 50 years.
Meanwhile advocates for Hawaii independence conducted numerous, highly public events exposing the “Fake State of Hawaii” gaining coverage in over 130 papers around the world (including the New York Times, USA Today, etc.) about the strange 50th Anniversary non-celebration.
Why have state leaders been reluctant to celebrate statehood? Are the people who voted for statehood suffering from “buyers remorse”? Or is it perhaps that the truth about the illegal takeover of the Hawaiian Islands is sinking in?
The truth is: people are realizing Hawaii wasn’t adopted into the U.S. family; Hawaii was kidnapped! That’s not something one celebrates!
###
David Shapiro’s “Volcanic Ash” column in today’s Star-Advertiser:
The telescope protests atop Mauna Kea have spurred increased political activism by Native Hawaiians, but it’s heading in different directions.
At last weekend’s Aloha Aina rally in Waikiki, leaders urged more Hawaiian involvement in state and county politics to preserve lands they consider sacred.
Molokai activist Walter Ritte said sovereignty remains the long-term goal, but Hawaiians must assert themselves in state politics to save diminishing resources.
“We’re losing them much too fast,” Ritte said. “By the time we get to our long-term goals, we’re not going to have any natural resources to pass to our future generations.”
He was rebuked on Facebook by nationalist leader Bumpy Kanahele, who accused Ritte of never supporting Hawaiian independence and asked mockingly, “You still believe in the American Dream?”
“Desecration, evictions, homelessness, poverty, abuse … overcrowding, traditional and customary rights will never win in the federal and state judicial system,” Kanahele declared. “I guarantee you when we form our own independent Hawaiian government, all these separate fires will stop.”
Kanahele is urging nationalists to focus on “taking over” the upcoming constitutional convention sponsored by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which they’ve shunned until now.
Continue reading Kanahele calls for nationalists to take over Con-con
Star-Advertiser reports
Four Native Hawaiians and two non-Hawaiians filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu seeking to block a “race-based” and “viewpoint-based” election planned this fall as a step toward establishing a sovereign Hawaiian government.
The lawsuit, which was filed against the state of Hawaii, Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees and other “agents of the state,” argues that the election violates the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act by using race and political qualifications to determine voter eligibility.
The Native Hawaiian Roll Commission recently published a list of 95,000 Native Hawaiians eligible to vote for delegates later this year to a governance aha, or constitutional convention to be held next year. The election is being overseen by an indepedent group, Na‘i Aupuni, which is funded by OHA grants through the Akamai Foundation.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Keli‘i Akina, Kealii Makekau, Joseph Kent, Yoshimasa Sean Mitsui, Pedro Kana‘e Gapero and Melissa Leina‘ala Moniz. They are represented by Michael Lilly, a former state attorney general, who brought the suit on behalf of Judicial Watch, a nonprofit.
From the Advertiser:
Notices are arriving in the mailboxes of more than 95,000 Native Hawaiians this week as the first step in the election of delegates to a constitutional convention that will consider options for Hawaiian self-determination.
“Native Hawaiians who have not registered yet but want to vote in the elections have until Oct. 15, 2015, to register,” the independent nonprofit Na‘i Aupuni announced in a news release. “Na‘i Aupuni encourages all Native Hawaiians to participate in this historic opportunity.”
The notice of election of delegates was sent Monday to all 95,690 Native Hawaiians whose ancestry had been verified by the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission by July 16. Hawaiians who are interested in becoming delegates to the aha, or constitutional convention, must apply by Sept. 15.
Continue reading Notices of constitutional convention sent
Hawaii Tribune-Herald covers the decision by UH Hilo to fly U.S. and Hawaiian flag (which has remained virtually the since the kingdom), at equal heights.
The University of Hawaii at Hilo soon will fly the U.S. and Hawaii state flags at equal heights following protests late last year from students and community members.
On Dec. 1, Hawaiian sovereignty activists lowered the American flag on the single pole at the front entrance to the UH-Hilo campus and hoisted the Hawaii state flag that previously flew beneath. They folded the U.S. flag and delivered it to administrators, along with demands that the Hawaii flag be shown preference when the flags are raised.
[…]
Joseph Kaolulo, one of the Hawaiian students involved in the effort to take down the U.S. flag in December, said Tuesday he viewed the decision by UH-Hilo to place the flags on equal footing as an admission of guilt about what he called the United States’ “illegal occupation” of Hawaii.
“By putting two separate poles up, they (UH-Hilo) have recognized us as a nation not conquered,” he said. […]
Kaolulo claims the university committed “educational malpractice” in support of the alleged occupation, “brainwashing our society and our kids,” he said.
He added that, in light of the recent national debate that led to several state and private entities deciding to stop flying the Confederate flag, now is a good time to raise questions.
|
|
