“…Vacate your positions as public servants in the current puppet government, the ‘State of Hawaii,’ and consider serving under the lawful Hawaiian Kingdom as it returns.”
Video: Pono Kealoha
Aloha kakou,
Today was another day of victory for the Committee of Hawaiian Nationals and for all who labor on to Free Hawaii from the bondage of U.S. domination.
As thousands gathered at the State Capitol for the opening of the legislative 2011 session of the “State of Hawaii,” a small group of us were there to remind them that theirs is actually a “State of Hewa.”
At 9 AM we gathered at the statue of our Queen Liliuokalani to pay our respects. Our presence with Hawaiian flags, FREE HAWAII signs and FREE HAWAII t-shirts, plus the frequent blowing of the conch, drew a lot of attention. Most of the people coming for the legislature’s opening ceremonies had to pass by us. Several media crews stopped to take pictures and gather interviews. And of course our ever-present chronicler, Pono Kealoha was there with his cameras. (By the time you get this, he will have already posted a clip on YouTube)
During the opening ceremonies we moved into the rotunda and deliberately stood against the tall glass windows of the House Chambers so that all those inside could see our flags/banners. While the governor, the LG, the 51 representatives and 25 senators were all occupied with the opening ceremonies, played Santa and took the opportunity to deliver information packets to their offices. The packets consisted of a white envelope with a colorful sticker saying, “Welcome to the Hawaiian Kingdom” (see attached jpeg); a cover letter (see attached pdf) and the 12-page booklet, “The Basis for the Restoration of the Hawaiian Kingdom.” We made cheerful chit-chat with the staff in their offices and who said they’d make sure their “bosses” got to see (and hopefully read) the packets.
With that mission accomplished, we went back to the rotunda and held our signs where everybody exiting the chambers could see us. We talked to a lot of people, did a few more media interviews and generally had a very up-beat time.
We expect that the information packet will grab their attention, particularly with the morphed “50th state anniversary” into the Kingdom of Hawaii bicentennial logo, the provocative content of the cover letter and the matter-of-fact presentation of the booklet.
The first paragraph of the letter states:
The Committee of Hawaiian Nationals wish to remind you, the elected officials of the so-called “State of Hawaii,” that the serious violations, injustices and outright piracy committed over the past 118 years by the U.S. against the people of Hawaii and our nation will soon be coming to an end. As a courtesy, we suggest you make plans for the near future to vacate your positions as public servants in the current puppet government, the “State of Hawaii,” and consider serving under the lawful Hawaiian Kingdom as it returns.
Hopefully we will have provoked enough interest to begin some frank dialog with state elected officials. We’ll let you know as things develop.
The next big action (by the Hawaii Independence Action Alliance) is the Ku’e signs display at the McKinley Statue on Presidents Day, February 21.
At the MLK Day rally at Kapiolani Park, Hawaii Imiloa, a UH student club launched a project called the Hawaiian Independence Survey to develop an idea of how people felt about restoring Hawaii as an independent nation. The survey will be taken over the internet, events, malls, shopping areas and even door-to-door. Besides collecting data, we hope that by just asking the question(s) people will begin to entertain the possibility Hawaii as an independent nation…to build a national awareness; a national consciousness and from that, a national consensus. You’ll hear more of this in the very near future.
There are some other very exciting resistance actions being planned to directly challenge the jurisdiction and authority of the state and US. We will be asking for your input and participation to get these actions happening.
Malama pono,
Leon
About 9:15 the march organizers signaled to begin, Kahu Manu Mook stood at the very front and blew the conch then set out. The customary Hae Hawaii flag bearers (led by Baron Ching) followed, and about 20 of us with FREE HAWAII T-Shirts and 2 FREE HAWAII banners, suddenly cut-in right behind the Hawaiian flag bearers and in front of a surprised unit of US military flag bearers.
Parade organizers tried to stop us, but we kept on walking and held our position. When they saw that they couldn’t stop us, they let us go. So we were in front of all the U.S. Flags, civil and military. [We were not being disrespectful to the parade organizers. For years it has been parade custom to have the flag of Hawaii (the host country) at the head of the parade. We Hawaiian Nationals were simply staying in close proximity so we could march behind our Hawaiian flag, not the US flag]
Our ladies with the banner had figured out the ‘distancing game’ that was going on and they stuck like glue just in front of the military color guards during the whole parade. The visual effect was, no matter how much space they put between themselves and us at the head of the parade, it looked like the FREE HAWAII banner was actually part of the US color guard! Occasionally we would stop to allow them to “catch up.” And they would have to because holding back would stall the entire parade behind them. Eventually they gave up on that game. We were totally in control of the parade!
Here’s what it looked like through Waikiki: First was the police motorcycle escort, then our contingent (conch shell blower, Hae Hawaii and FREE HAWAII marchers); then an awkward expanding/contracting gap, then the US military color guard with a FREE HAWAII banner right in front of them, followed by the Royal Hawaiian Band, followed by convertibles carrying US Senator Daniel Inouye and US Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, followed by everyone else…at least a thousand marchers from peace organizations, environmental groups, social services organizations, unions, etc. It was a hoot!
At the end of the parade route, we stationed ourselves at the entrance to Kapiolani Park with our flags and banners and waved shakas and called “Aloha” “Good job” “Mahalo” and other words of encouragement to everyone who followed after us…including Inouye and Hirono. Everyone responded very positively, waved back and many called out “Free Hawaii”!