I am writing an essay for an anthology on APA studies for Arizona State University - my first submission to an academic journal. With the rise of young people in the independence movement today (e.g. many of you on Ke A'o Maoli!), I felt it was important to document it and spread the word across the continent that this is happening.
I would like to interview college students, grads, educators, activists, organizers, who are active and want to contribute to this essay. Here's the abstract - please feel free to add your mana'o!
For years, activist groups and concerned individuals have rallied the Hawaiian community around the push for self-determination. Sovereignty remains a prevailing issue on the minds of many Hawaiians, including many young people who are upset and dissatisfied with Western ideology. In the age of new thinkers and contributors to the cause, however, the radical and fractured nature of the movement has left many young Hawaiians disconnected. I explore how this generation, utilizing their education to create systemic change, will build on the sovereignty movement to influence the future of the next.
This essay examines the particular role of young college-educated Native Hawaiians in reshaping and redefining the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. New data from financial aid and college support programs for Native Hawaiians, as well as enrollment figures from Hawai’i and mainland universities will allow exploration of the growth of the number of Hawaiians obtaining higher-education degrees and entering the public and non-profit sectors. Interviews with young working professionals, college professors, language teachers, and educators will reflect this data, and also serve to highlight the extent to which young educated Hawaiians are contributing to the theories and arguments that support the sovereignty movement, building on the lessons learned from previous generations of activists.
Examining the writing and organizing efforts by long-standing Native Hawaiian activists such as Haunani-Kay Trask, Kekuni Blaisdell, and others, the paper will attempt to shed light on their contributions and successes as well as take a look at the gaps in organizing and mobilizing young people in the movement. Tying in current legal issues such as the Akaka Bill and anti-affirmative action cases will bring us into modern-day issues surrounding self-determination and the ripple-impact these decisions will have on the ways that the movement can and will proceed in the hands of new leaders and thinkers.
The paper will reflect on useful theories and literature for indigenous activism and essentially lay the framework for thinking about how higher education and young people's power to create systemic change in government are at the center of the movement for Native Hawaiian sovereignty.
SHARE -- ANY KOKUA IS APPRECIATED.... LET'S EDUCATE! WE ARE HERE, LOUD AND PROUD! Ku'e, kanaka, ku'e!!! Eo.............
You need to be a member of Maoliworld to add comments!
Join Maoliworld