Tonight I went to another film hosted by the GLOBAL MILITARISM: GLOBAL PEACE? organization. This one was on the military occupation of Hawaii. Many people don't understand that Hawaii was stolen by a consortium of plantation owners including Bob Dole's (great?) grandfather. Then in 1959 the territory forced a vote on statehood one year before an expected UN resolution on decolonising indigenous peoples. By making Hawaii a state they took away the UN's authority in the matter. Hawaii was on the UN's list.

Now Hawaii is home to over 120 military bases which have been built without regard to sacred sites around the islands. The tourist industry is pushing Hawaiians out of their lands faster and faster. Native Hawaiians make up 4% of the total population and 60% of the homeless. There are camps, similar to the hobo jungles and the dust bowl refugee camps where hundreds of Hawaiians live because they cannot afford to live in their own homeland.

This relates to Guam and the military buildup going on here. Just today the anti-buildup group We Are Guahan filed lawsuit against the USA for trying to take away access to Pagat, a site considered sacred to the Chamorros. Their web site is here: Pagat Village.

Going to the movie, which was an extra credit exercise, means I missed out on a meet-and-greet party given annually by the English Department. It was a costume party. You had to dress as a character from a book that had been made into a movie. I had been planning to go as Woody Guthrie with a sailor's hat on my head and guitar slung over my shoulder with an old piece of rope. I was even prepared to sing This Land is Your Land as a hint. I figured it was about as obscure a movie/book combination as I could get. Sigh....