Militarism, police violence, and Indigenous struggle in Hawai’i
What is the role of Hawai’i in U.S. projects for global military and economic dominance?
What do ongoing struggles for decolonization and independence in Hawai’i look like?
How are Honolulu, Ferguson, and New York City connected, and how do we draw connections between racial justice movements in New York City and Indigenous struggles in Hawai’i?
6:00-8:30pm on Friday, September 26
At CAAAV’s Chinatown office at 55 Hester Street
(the closest subway stop is the F at East Broadway)
Refreshments and heavy pupus (appetizers) will be served
~Come to an event discussing the tragic shooting of Kollin Elderts and how this is part of the militarization of U.S. law enforcement and the U.S. Pivot to the Pacific and Asia
~ Learn from Kalama Niheu, a Hawaii-based physician and independence/demilitarization activist who will be speaking at the UN in September as Hawai’i’s representative at the UN Forum on Indigenous people, and Dean Saranillio, Assistant Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU
~ We will watch clips of Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai’i, an award winning documentary film by Anne Keala Kelly. http://www.nohohewa.com
~ Learn about the work of Asia Pacific Not 4 Sale, a New York City coalition confronting the U.S. “Pivot” to the Pacific
$10 suggested donation for the Elderts family; no one will be turned away
Cosponsors include: CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities; BAYAN; Asia Pacific Not 4 Sale coalition; Program in Asian/Pacific/American Studies at NYU; the CUNY Graduate Center Space-Time Research Collective, Women of Color Network, and Asociacán de Estudiantes Latinxa y Latinx Americanxs. (list in progress)
Some background on the Elderts murder: During the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Honolulu in 2011, an off-duty federal agent named Christopher Deedy shot and killed an unarmed 23-year-old Hawaiian man named Kollin Elderts at a Waikiki McDonalds. Although Deedy refused to take an alcohol test after the shooting, witnesses say that Deedy was drunk, started arguing with a local, threatened him and his friend, then shot him, claiming he was “protecting” the other people in the restaurant. Recently, Deedy was acquitted of this crime.
An article by Kalama summarizing the case and the role it plays with RIMPAC, APEC, the TPP, and the Pacific Pivot:
http://hawaiiindependent.net/story/symptom-of-a-disease
Please RSVP to Laurel Mei Turbin at LaurelMei@gmail.com so that we can make sure to have enough food.
