Mauna Kea protest - what's happening here and local info.

Last edited Thu Jun 25, 2015, 06:05 PM - Edit history (2)

http://oiwi.tv


http://kahea.org/press-room/press-clips/mauna-kea2013sacred-summit-or-cash-cow-controversy-over-the-thirty-meter-telescope

http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/06/mauna-kea-telescope-protesters-arrested-as-tmt-resumes-construction/


http://oiwi.tv/maunakea/



The mountain has become a symbol and the foundation for a social movement.

Some of the most unassuming people in these videos are some of the heaviest in this community- kumu hula and their families, farmers, community leaders who speak softly but with very deep mana'o. It's not just a few fringe kooks.

There's a huge upwelling of resistance and the telescopes just happen to be a perfect context to act on it. Where other protests are ignored, protests there are news. There's one road up, and it can be blocked easily. The leaders of this action are deeply connected to all the islands.

When I was in Hilo during Merrie Monarch hula festival, there were protests on every major intersection, and horns were blasting continuously in support from passersbye who ordinarily don't beep their horns. The protests are not just on the mountain, they are all over, including a vigil in front of the state capitol.

It's a mistake to misread the protesters as just a few anything. Even yesterday a friend, flying to the Big Island yesterday, noted that the plane was full of mauna protestors. Young people have adopted the image which I can't post here that has come to symbolize resistance for the mauna. People feel like it's a "this far and no further" kind of moment. People have just frikken had it.

The last telescope was supposed to be the -last- telescope. This telescope would be so collossal, it would dominate the landscape. The impacts on the aquifers from the pounding the mountain would take to lay the immensely thick concrete foundation are a problem.

I am not speaking for them. I can see both sides of the matter. I don't even always agree with the protestors, at least not completely, but I understand them and I know they are not as characterized, cartoonish projections of backwardness that only reflects the colonial mindset of those who attempt to minimize them. Far, far from it. I hope other DUers here who would post about the matter or who care would check out the 'Oiwi footage. Lacking any other DUer who sees what's going on here and cares to post here, I'm giving a quick summary. I am not here to argue with anybody, but to share a local context as it has not been communicated at all in the national news.

I'm glad someone has been teaching nonviolent resistance, as the feelings run very deep on this matter here. So far, so good, thank goodness.