While many Hawaiians are busy trying to survive, I read this article in the New York Times:

“Michelle Obama Adds New Role to Balancing Act”

The writers wrote:

While her husband’s story is singular — how many other Hawaiian-Indonesian-African-Midwestern sensations are there?

Senator Obama is not Hawaiian by ethnicity nor by nationality (i.e. the Hawaiian Kingdom.) This disrespect to Hawaiians is no surprise to us but fortunately one of us caught this and wrote a letter to the editors as well as to the two writers.

I wrote this to them:

To the Editor:

I am surprised that an inaccuracy passed the desks of the editors at the New York Times in this story about Barack Obama which does a disservice to Hawaiians. Writers Jodi Kantor and Jeff Zeleny inaccurately described Senator Obama as follows:

“While her husband’s story is singular — how many other Hawaiian-Indonesian-African-Midwestern sensations are there?”

In this article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/us/politics/18michelle.html?hp

It’s not only inaccurate. It is also disrespectful to some Hawaiians. He is not Hawaiian by ethnicity nor by nationality (i.e. the Hawaiian Kingdom.) Some Hawaiians perceive this as disrespectful and/or insulting. Please be mindful of us, Hawaiians, who read your paper. Mahalo.

I am not the only Hawaiian who feels this way. Sadly, some people still continue to disrespect us.

Recently Ken Conklin PhD who to me seems very racist against Hawaiians recently published a book called “Hawaiian Apartheid - Racial Separatism and Ethnic Nationalism in the Aloha State” that directly singles out and targets Hawaiians based on our national origin. Reviews were posted at Amazon.com here:

April 8th review by Lorenz R. Gonschor of Honolulu, Hawaii

Titled: “A lonely man hates all things Hawaiian”

Being myself a student of contemporary political issues in the Pacific, I read Conklin’s book with the intent to get an idea of how opponents of Hawaiian sovereignty rationalize their opposition to it. However, very early in the book it becomes clear that the author does not intend to provide a rationally based critical analysis of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, but rather a polemic display of hatred against everything Hawaiian. The quality of the text is very poor, and the style astonishingly un-academic for someone claiming to have a Ph.D. Besides frequent repetitions of the same facts in different chapters, most astonishing is his referencing system: About half of the footnotes do not reference any outside sources but provide links to the author’s own website. If there is no evidence supporting his point, Conklin simply cites himself.

His claims that the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was legal and that there was no conspiracy between the local Caucasian leaders of the overthrow and the US military is in clear contradiction to historical facts. As the sole source for his erroneous and misleading narrative of the 1893 overthrow, Conklin references a website set up by himself and some of his friends about the Morgan report (which was a whitewash orchestrated by pro-annexationist members of the US congress in 1894) but does not even mention the diametrically opposed findings of the Blount report of 1893 that were based on a thorough investigation by a special commissioner sent to Hawaii by the U.S. president. Both the Blount report and Ralph Kuykendall’s standard history of the Hawaiian Kingdom clearly point out that there was indeed a conspiracy between the insurgents and the US diplomatic representative who landed the US troops.

Conklin becomes even more polemic and un-scholarly when he describes contemporary Hawaiian activists. Movements to revive the traditional Hawaiian religion and the use of religious ceremonies in political protests are labelled “Hawaiian Jihad” and “Aggressive religious fascism”, as if there was any similarity between a peaceful Hawaiian pule (prayer) for pono (righteousness) and aloha (compassion), and fanatics calling for holy war against non-believers. No Hawaiian political activist has ever used violence against anyone, let alone based calls for violence on religious fanaticism. In fact the total absence of violence in the Hawaiian movement is one of its striking characteristics that makes it almost unique in the world. Whereas in most other comparable situations of contested sovereignty in the world there are always radical elements at the margin of the movement that engage in violent struggle, even the most radical wings of the Hawaiian movement are totally committed to non-violence. Conklin’s chapter on alleged violence is thus entirely humbug. In fact what he recounts is no violence at all but merely some statements that, if taken out of context, might under certain circumstances be interpreted as mere threats of violence. His most outrageous statement is his claim that the alleged racism of Hawaiian activists is “far more dangerous” than the historic racism by whites against blacks. Given the fact that no politically motivated violence has ever been committed by Hawaiian activists, does he intend to either ignore or insult the millions of African-Americans who suffered under slavery and the thousands that became victims of lynching?

Having lived in Hawaii for several years, I personally know most of the Hawaiian sovereignty activist labelled by Conklin as “Racists”, “Fascists” or “Terrorists”. None of them comes even close to any of those descriptions. Instead they are passionate community leaders, struggling for the welfare of their people, and intending to correct the tremendous injustices existing in present-day Hawaii. In doing so they display lots of aloha to everyone. Conklin states that he came to Hawai’i because “it was easier to feel the presence of the gods in Hawaii than anywhere else”. This is true indeed. It just seems to me that Conklin doesn’t want to feel it himself.

Source: Amazon.com reviews

And another review that Don Deboer PhD wrote on April 26, 2007

Titled: A Reaction To Facing One’s Own Guilt and Privilege

I am a Native Hawaiian meaning that I am part of the Hawaiian Geneology and I also have a Ph.D. I am not Hawaiian the same way I would say I am Californian if I lived in California. I mentioned the Ph.D. because Ken Conklin mentions his and I want to see more Hawaiians with Ph.D.s defining themselves and their history. I am also part white. I’ve grown up seeing at least two sides to every story. So imagine my hurt and disappointment when I see this side of the story.

A story about somebody who wants to rob what little is left of the Hawaiian people: namely their identity. Hawaii was once it’s own kingdom where the majority of people were Hawaiian, lived in harmony with the land, and spoke the Hawaiian language. Today they are minorities in their own ancestral home and frequently struggle with the ills that frequently accompany the long term consequences of colonization. It is hard for me to grow up and see my own people suffering the way they do (e.g. homelessness, health problems). I am not about to romanticize ancient Hawaii but I know a defeated people when I see one. Thank God Hawaiians still have their identity, pride, and ability to preserve some remnants of our culture.

So here comes a non Hawaiian who moves from the mainland and works actively to strip what little is left of the Hawaiian people. This book adds insult to injury. You see, Conklin believes that the Hawaiians were not on Hawaii long enough to claim they are indigenous people. He feels that they are no more indigenous than he is. When Hawaiians work actively to hang on to what little is left for them he likes to call that racism and apartheid. I know non Hawaiians who have showed respect to the Hawaiian people and actually let us define ourselves. They actually know how to listen. These are people we have loved and welcomed into our own families. This is how my mother and father met.

Perhaps Conklin cannot face his own privledge so he defends against these feelings by stating that it is he and other non Hawaiians who are the true victims of discrimination. With that attitude and lack of respect [sic] he will never be adopted into the Hawaiian ohana and will always feel like an outsider. Too bad.

Source: Amazon.com reviews

In addition, we should not tolerate his racism against us based on our national origin (i.e. the Hawaiian Kingdom.) Fortunately these two people are not tolerating Conklin’s racism.

We need more people like them in this world where racism against a group of people based on their national origin is not tolerated.

Comments are disabled for that reason. Unfortunately a couple of racist people have felt compelled to leave harassing comments here so I have disabled comments. However it is important for the entire world to know how Conklin and others like him continue to attack and harass us Hawaiians based on our national origin. This should never be tolerated.

In this letter to the editor, Ken Conklin PhD fails to mention that he repeatedly tried to bite a Hawaiian woman’s finger. Here is a still of the incident:

Here is the raw footage courtesy of KHNL of Ken Conklin PhD trying to physically bite her finger:

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5301211

He forgot to mention this in his letter which singles out and targets Hawaiians based on our national origin:

Rudeness replaces aloha for patriotism

Sovereignty protesters used a sound system, bullhorns and in-your-face shouting to disrupt Statehood Day celebrations (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 19). They terrorized a high school band into leaving before the music could be played.

Five days later, I attended a blessing ceremony to open a $23 million renovation project at Windward Mall. Kamehameha Schools owns the mall.

I am an active opponent of Kamehameha’s racist admissions policy. But I left my bullhorn at home. I did not go to the podium, interrupt any speakers, yell or stick my finger in their faces. I did not harass the school kids performing right next to my seat.

A large American flag hangs permanently above center-stage; yet there was no Pledge of Allegiance. When everyone stood to sing “Hawaii Pono’i” I sat down because the U.S. national anthem was not also sung. That was my protest. I believe the anthem and pledge were deliberately excluded for fear that some in attendance would be disrespectful. That’s how bad things have gotten.

At the end we all joined hands and I sang along –”Hawai’i Aloha.” Indeed. Let’s hope so.

Aloha ke Akua. Aloha kakou.

Kenneth R. Conklin
Kaneohe

Seen at http://starbulletin.com/2006/08/27/editorial/letters.html

Unfortunately the Honolulu Starbulletin allowed Ken Conklin PhD to use their paper as a tool to try to spread racism against Hawaiians.

The Honolulu Advertiser helped him use their paper as a tool to try to spread racism against us Hawaiians too:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060827/OPINION02/608270302/1104

In this letter to the editor, Ken Conklin PhD fails to mention that he repeatedly tried to bite a Hawaiian woman’s finger. Here is a still of the incident:

Here is the raw footage courtesy of KHNL of Ken Conklin PhD trying to physically bite her finger:

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5301211

He forgot to mention this in his letter which singles out and targets Hawaiians based on our national origin:

Rudeness replaces aloha for patriotism

Sovereignty protesters used a sound system, bullhorns and in-your-face shouting to disrupt Statehood Day celebrations (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 19). They terrorized a high school band into leaving before the music could be played.

Five days later, I attended a blessing ceremony to open a $23 million renovation project at Windward Mall. Kamehameha Schools owns the mall.

I am an active opponent of Kamehameha’s racist admissions policy. But I left my bullhorn at home. I did not go to the podium, interrupt any speakers, yell or stick my finger in their faces. I did not harass the school kids performing right next to my seat.

A large American flag hangs permanently above center-stage; yet there was no Pledge of Allegiance. When everyone stood to sing “Hawaii Pono’i” I sat down because the U.S. national anthem was not also sung. That was my protest. I believe the anthem and pledge were deliberately excluded for fear that some in attendance would be disrespectful. That’s how bad things have gotten.

At the end we all joined hands and I sang along –”Hawai’i Aloha.” Indeed. Let’s hope so.

Aloha ke Akua. Aloha kakou.

Kenneth R. Conklin
Kaneohe

Seen at http://starbulletin.com/2006/08/27/editorial/letters.html

Unfortunately the Honolulu Starbulletin allowed Ken Conklin PhD to use their paper as a tool to try to spread racism against Hawaiians.

The Honolulu Advertiser helped him use their paper as a tool to try to spread racism against us Hawaiians too:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060827/OPINION02/608270302/1104

In this letter to the editor, Ken Conklin PhD fails to mention that he repeatedly tried to bite a Hawaiian woman’s finger. Here is a still of the incident:

Here is the raw footage courtesy of KHNL of Ken Conklin PhD trying to physically bite her finger:

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5301211

He forgot to mention this in his letter which singles out and targets Hawaiians based on our national origin:

Rudeness replaces aloha for patriotism

Sovereignty protesters used a sound system, bullhorns and in-your-face shouting to disrupt Statehood Day celebrations (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 19). They terrorized a high school band into leaving before the music could be played.

Five days later, I attended a blessing ceremony to open a $23 million renovation project at Windward Mall. Kamehameha Schools owns the mall.

I am an active opponent of Kamehameha’s racist admissions policy. But I left my bullhorn at home. I did not go to the podium, interrupt any speakers, yell or stick my finger in their faces. I did not harass the school kids performing right next to my seat.

A large American flag hangs permanently above center-stage; yet there was no Pledge of Allegiance. When everyone stood to sing “Hawaii Pono’i” I sat down because the U.S. national anthem was not also sung. That was my protest. I believe the anthem and pledge were deliberately excluded for fear that some in attendance would be disrespectful. That’s how bad things have gotten.

At the end we all joined hands and I sang along –”Hawai’i Aloha.” Indeed. Let’s hope so.

Aloha ke Akua. Aloha kakou.

Kenneth R. Conklin
Kaneohe

Seen at http://starbulletin.com/2006/08/27/editorial/letters.html

Unfortunately the Honolulu Starbulletin allowed Ken Conklin PhD to use their paper as a tool to try to spread racism against Hawaiians.

The Honolulu Advertiser helped him use their paper as a tool to try to spread racism against us Hawaiians too:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060827/OPINION02/608270302/1104

On Tuesday Night, The State of Hawaii lost a great treasure in Kumu, John Kaimikaua, who slipped away after years of health struggles that prevented him from participating in many of the events he helped found.

Over recent times, due to his health he had missed the Makahiki games and lecture sessions that he had traditionally taught.

He was able to host the Ka Hula Piko this year, the celebration of the hula festival which he founded over a decade ago.

A moment of silence was observed in the kumu’s honor at Wednesday night’s meeting at Kilohanna school, discussing the cultural impacts of the development at La’au.

The Star-Bulletin has written an obituary about John. To read it go to:

http://starbulletin.com/2006/06/10/news/story06.html

We are dying including but not limited to our kupuna.

I plead with other Hawaiians to PLEASE take care of themselves, physically and mentally. In fact while I am not skinny I try to workout four to five days per week. Each workout consists of lifting weights which takes me about 30 minutes and cardio for another 30 minutes. (It usually takes me about an hour.) That totals about four hours per week. PLEASE take care of yourselves. Hawaiian children are counting on it and counting on YOU.

There are many Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians who help other Hawaiians. Some anonymous and some not-so-anonymous.

Hui Pu, Ikaika Hussey, and others deserve to be recognized for the work that they do. Lately Mr. Hussey sent a thank you email to everyone who signed up to receive their email messages.

Their newly published, official website is located at http://www.huipu.org

Please take a look at their website. This is their latest email:

“Aloha aina ia kakou pakahi a pau,

Mahalo to everyone who took the time to call, fax, and email senators
in Washington DC. We did it! The Akaka Bill is defeated!

This is a victory for all those who took strident action to oppose
the bill. Mahalo to all those who took direct action, including the
Hui Pu actions at OHA, and at Iolani Palace. And mahalo also to those
who worked on the politicians in DC, with personal visits, emails,
and faxes.

We have to recognize that the conservative right in the US will also
be claiming this as a victory. They have been advancing a racist,
imperialist vision which opposes the human rights of sovereignty and
self-determination both for Kanaka Maoli and all kingdom nationals,
and all people under US imperial rule. We will have to work hard - in
alliance with others - to take on these forces in order to achieve
the end of this racist empire.

Finally, the proponents of U.S. control over Hawaii will not end here
– they will, with all likelihood, attempt other methods to achieve
their ends. Their methods in the future will likely be more
underhanded, secretive, and surreptitious. We must maintain our
vigilance. And perhaps one of the best ways to do this is to
strengthen our resolve to achieve independence.

We also need to recognize that many bonds among Kanaka Maoli, in
particular, will need to be healed. The pro-Akaka Bill campaign has
polarized many communities, so we will need to find ways to help our
pro-Akaka Bill ohana and friends to understand what has happened, and
why we must move beyond federal recognition to achieve true justice
for our people.

I mua ke aloha aina!

Ikaika”

I try to post material from other Hawaiians and/or from other pro-Hawaiians. Lately I have been busy and took a four month break from posting here but I am back. I will be re-posting some information since I use this website to draw attention to Hawaiians especially if they are pro-Hawaiian.

In this case M. Kesa posted this elsewhere and am reposting it here for all to read since I personally think it is important that Hawaiians be seen AND heard.

In any case… here it is:

Känaka Maoli Pledge of Allegiance

One: I mua (All: I mua!), i mua e nä pökiÿi!
One: I mua (All: I mua!), i mua e nä pökiÿi!
One: I mua (All: I mua!)…
One: “I mua e nä pökiÿi…a inu i ka wai ÿawaÿawa, ÿaÿole hope e hoÿi aku ai!” (All: I MUA!)
(Go forward, young brothers…and drink of the bitter waters, for there is no retreat!)

Mahalo to M. Kesa for the information.

I have been busy working for the last four months. Sorry for not updating but I do what I can so that one day Hawaiian children do not have to live in Florida like how I do Well I am very happy today:

The Justice Department advises Senate to reject Akaka bill

Today as opposed to some other days… I am EXTREMELY proud to be American. Sometimes the U.S. can really rock! Like in this case and unfortunately the Akaka Kukae Rubbish Hewa Bill would strip Hawaiians of some of our civil rights.

What does the U.S. Department of Justice do?

Recommend that the Akaka Bill be rejected which makes me very very happy. People have NO idea how happy it makes me.

See… some people will still single out and target Hawaiians, spread misinformation about our history and/or about our people, and/or use the Akaka Bill to lie about Hawaiians. Since the Department of Justice has advised the U.S. Senate TO REJECT the Akaka Kukae Bill this means that these racist people CANNOT use it as a tool to spread their racism against Hawaiians. Thank you, Department of Justice!

It also shows to me that the Department of Justice protects the defends the civil rights of Hawaiians.

Thank you!!!! Or… MAHALO!!!!

I cannot believe it actually and am sooo grateful to the Department of Justice. Today I am very proud to be American! And Hawaiian by nationality too but today… I am very proud to be AMERICAN too

So far the vote on the cloture motionfailed, 56-41 (60 needed). The Akaka Bill will not be brought to the Senate floor for a full debate and vote.

In essence the bill is dead for this session. However Hawaiians especially those who agree with me that the Akaka Bill is hewa… still have lots of work to do.

In any case it is my personal mission that people RESPECT Hawaiians just as they respect other people like Jewish people. I mean… if these racist people were to discuss Jewish people the way that they discuss Hawaiians… then their ass would be grass!

I Mua!

- Ululani aka Lana

From Paul Arrighi:

“Ken Conklin posted a commentary on an article saying that “ohana” was a recent creation and when Lana provided proof that ohana has been in use for well over 120 years, Conklin’s response is a lame, maybe the person who wrote the article did not have access to this information. A honest assessment would be to admit that the article was wrong but Conklin because of his prejudice or whatever reason is unable to bring himself to say this.”

A little background:

This is what Ken Conklin wrote about the Hawaiian word “ohana.” Note that he amended it but he does not reflect the fact that I, Lana, pointed it out to him that “Ohana” has been in Hawaiian language papers as early as 1834 which proves that “ohana” is NOT a modern invention as he inaccurately claims on his website here inaccurately asserting that the Hawaiian word “ohana” was created in about 1950 when it was not:

http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/ohana.html

I showed that the Hawaiian word “ohana” is shown being used as early as in 1834 NOT in 1950 which Ken Conklin tries to deceptively lead people to believe:

http://nupepa.org/gsdl2.5/cgi-bin/nupepa?a=q&r=1&hs=1&e=q-0nupepa–00-0-0–010—4—-text—0-1l–1en-Zz-1—20-about—00031-0000utfZz-8-00&t=0&q=ohana

Though I am not the only Hawaiian nor the first Hawaiian who is aware of this… my name is credited with this discovery here:

www.kenconklin.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=The_Word_’Ohana_Is_A_Modern_Invention

In it the editor states:

“Editor’s note

Lana Ululani Robbins found references to the word “ohana” in old olelo newspapers online, circa 1831 and forward. It is quite possible that the information she uncovered was not available to the original writer of the article referenced below.”

Again… the Hawaiian word “ohana” is clearly seen in a Hawaiian newspaper dated as early as in 1834 which is clearly NOT a modern invention as Conklin inaccurately and deceptively claims.

The writers could have easily checked out this information. Especially Kenneth Conklin PhD aka Ken Conklin PhD. He has a PhD in the Philosophy of Education yet he FAILED to do thorough research. Instead he published it and has been caught trying to deceive people.

In conclusion… it is clear that Conklin deceives.

And he calls us Hawaiians stupid.