 Welcome to Sister Power. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Today's topic to grow we must create. This afternoon, we have two special guests, Dr. Manulani Allui Meyer and her sister, Ms. Meliana Allui Meyer. Dr. Manulani Meyer obtained her doctorate from Harvard by studying Hawaiian and via language history and the clear insights of Hawaiian mentors. She is an international keynote speaker who has published on the topic of native intelligence to quantum sciences, transformational and whole thinking. Manulani has been an associate professor of education at the University of Hawaii in Hilo and hosts to many creative community transformational education projects within and outside the university. She is an international evaluator of indigenous PhDs and finds much connection within the healing insight of other indigenous scholar practitioners. She is currently the director of indigenous education at UH West O'ahu and inspired with many community initiatives in educational reform, food security, and prison transformation. Her sister, Ms. Meliana Meyer, artist, educator, and filmmaker, received her BA in design, photography, winning the Borelli Arts Prize from Stanford University. When not making films, she continues teaching in the community as her commitment to the arts, Keke and their families, are a driving force in her life. She considers the work that she does around the state part of her mission to bring the arts to empower the people. Meliana's work can also be found in important collections in Hawaii, in the city and county collection of Honolulu, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the East West Center, as well as the Hawaii State Art Museum, with works in private collections both here and abroad. She is also a published author and illustrator. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what Sister in Love looks like. Yeah, I'm waiting right here. This is it. This is Sister in Love right here. Hey, you know. Yeah, welcome. Thank you. I'm Elana Emeliana. I'm so happy to have you here. I'm so happy to be here. This is just so I'm so excited about having both of you here at one place. The first thing I wanted to start with, congratulations on being on the cover of the Honolulu magazine, Power of Ohana, tell our ladies and gentlemen out there, first of all, what does Ohana mean in case people do not know? And then, not only that, I want to know about the Louis Meyer family. Give us your history. OK, in a nutshell, take it away, sister. We love to put each other on the spot. So our family is dedicated to transformation of Hawaii to understanding and the practice of cultural Hawaiian values. And this article expresses that idea in the concept of Ohana. Ohana is our Hawaiian word for family. But as we know, and as we practice, our family is an idea of strength, continuity, and not a nuclear sense. It's an extensive idea. In Hawaii, we are family. And this is what I'm understanding about being home in Honolulu after being 30 years away in Hilo and Aotearoa. But that's why being with my sisters is actually life-changing and affirming to the concept of Ohana. Also to understand that there's a lot of metaphor in our language. So Oha is also a part of a plant. And that notion of Na Ohana, it has to do with all the little rootlets that are around Kalo. And it's a beautiful way to understand a deeper message for belonging or of belonging, that we are all a part of something larger. So it's actually very poetic for me in terms of that. And family is, as Manu said, not just nuclear, but is extended. So yes, we are indeed family. And it's really humanity we're talking about. When I was reading about the power of Ohana, what struck me in the article, and I said, how could they get all of you together? And something that you mentioned, you said, we always try to get along. Oh my god, that's a practice. Do I get to tell them what our mother said on her last words to all of us were, I have two things to say. And I was thinking, well, maybe she's going to tell us to go to church. That's an easy one, right? Because it's only something that's very routine. But no, she said, take care of one another and be kind to each other. It's like, oh no, that's really a practice. So when she said that to us, it was like, OK, we can do that. But it is a practice. So let's not kid ourselves. It's good, hard work. It's so much easier to be kind to one another. It is a practice. Beautiful, actually. So how did this happen? Well, just give me a quick story. There's so many amazing families in this magazine. There are. But you ladies, the elite Meyer family is on the cover. That says a lot. I know. Well, I haven't read the article yet. So you've got the first copy. I know, you've got the first copy. We don't even have the first console. Yeah, we never even looked at it. We have been dedicated our whole lives through the work of our grandfather, Noah Webster O'Gooley, that the commitment that O'Hana has to the love of land and the love of our people has been infused in us through our commitment and through our mother and through just all the efforts of our cousins. There's Emmett O'Gooley on the cover. And he has helped stop the bombing of Kaho'olavi. There's Mihanna, our cousin, who has kept Puerhmana, the music of her mother alive. Her mother was a living treasure for our people. There were 500 songs, beloved to Hawaii. There's Elena, our cousin, who's another musician, who has been keeping the Kani Kapila spirit alive forever. Miley, of course, our sister, native books in Namea, Hawaii, she is an unbelievably beloved publisher. Sort of inspiration and very much connected to every community. And Moana, our younger sister, she's an educator at Punahou, and she's been beloved there for over 15 years, I believe. And we have two more. Malia, our eldest, who's passed, and actually three more. And beloved Moana, Manu's twin sister, who lives in Portland, and then our brother, Maui, who's also up in Oregon, who's an entrepreneur. Yeah, it's a lot of energy. This is a- It is. Well, before we move on, this is another thing I love, and I'll read this to you. And it says something about Dr. Emmett, your, Dr. Emmett, Louie, said, and I had the pleasure of speaking with him, after the six women cousins finished a rousing wake up of Aie, for emphasis, they repeat a verse. Preserve the beauty that surrounds you now. Protect the land in spirit of aloha, then with a fist bump. You already get a fist bump. So just tell me about that phrase. Well, it's our incredible aunt, and all of the energy and the kuleana of people, all of us collectively who love the land, who love this place we all get to call home. And it's a very special thing. I mean, she's our mother. The land is that which feeds us. So when we talk about taking care of her, it's because we believe she's adamant and alive, and it's something culturally that is the deepest essence of who we are. Right. Yeah. Well, we're gonna move on and talk about ho-oh-ulu. Tell me, ho-oh-ulu, ho-oh-ulu. I love that ho-oh-ulu, our time of becoming. And we do have a picture of the cover of your book, and Ray's gonna put that up, and while he's putting the cover of that book, and what I loved about it, you did speak about your sister in the book. And one thing I love is dedicated to your eldest sister, Malia. And you said that Malia taught us the following five truths. During her time of transformation, do only what you are led to do. Don't judge others. Love people for who they are. Forgive, play more. And what I wanna know about, there's the cover of the book, it's absolutely beautiful. Not only are you the writer, so we have an opera here, and we have an artist. You did the illustrations for the book. Now, how did you collaborate on that? Wow. Easily. Oh, oh, sure, okay. No, no, no, seriously. Absolutely, Mani will tell you about this. Tell us about the cover, Malia, because blue is the ancient color of love, and when she showed me that cover, I cried. So, Malia, tell us what that means about it. Well, actually, it's important for you all to know that this was a place where fresh water flowed, the Mulivai in Mauna Wili at Ulu Po. So it's where, it was a fresh water stream, actually, or, you know. Punawai. Punawai, excuse me, I don't mean Mulivai, but Punawai. And it was high noon. So I'm getting the reflection of the sun, and then there's a double image of also the kupu-kupu fern, because I just enjoy doing kalah, so it's this notion of growth, da, ho'ulu, which is what ulu means is to grow. And ho'ulu ho'ulu is a gerund that really means to cause things to grow. So that's this incredible thing that has to do with land, water, light, and spirit. But I want to also say that ho'ulu is one of the three types of spirit possession in Hawaiian culture. And this spirit possession is something, when you are possessed in this way, you are doing your dancing in ways you've never danced before, your writing in ways you've never written before. Yes, it's not a negative. It's a positive way. So I believe we need to be possessed in a positive way in order to get to our next phase of transformation in Hawaii. And I think our time of becoming is now. Yeah, and you know, artists would call that being in flow. I mean, you know, and dervishes do it. So that notion of possession carries a negative connotation in other cultures, but not for you and not for me. So it's important that we're actually having a discussion about culture as well, so that's important. I love that. Now, in my opinion, when I was reading through the book, I think that whomever is coming to visit Hawaii or visiting here, this should be a must read book because it has a Hawaiian land glossary. You know, because when you're talking to people, you know, Aina, Aloha, you know, you're giving us the meanings of these words. I mean, so you can feel a part of it as soon as you land here. And we call Hawaii, I call Honolulu the bus stop to heaven. Yeah. I don't want to borrow that. But you know, glossaries are really important because they are not shortcuts, and they're not even cheat sheets, but they're opportunities to go, oh, this is a basic. This is a baseline of things that you should know. So you know, I think a glossary for many of us would be a really good thing about a lot of things. In Hawaii, though, we really want people to understand the depth of ideas and the passion of our thinking is found in multiple interpretations and multiple levels, literal, multiple, and even the secret. So this book, hopefully, is meant to engage you to stimulate your secret understanding of what loving really means, because Aloha is our true intelligence here in Hawaii. We know like Brad. Okay, but hey, it's okay. I'm not supposed to tut your home, but beep, beep, beep. No, but think about it. But think about it, it's really important. We're gonna take a quick short break, but when we come back, there's a statement here that you said, Manu, get rid of the belief. I mean, really get rid of it. That we are somehow inferior. So when we come back, not only do we wanna talk about the other books that you both have touched and written and you put your illustrations on, we wanna come back and talk about that. All right, stay with us right here. We'll be right back, this is Sister Power. Right, we're back. Welcome back to Sister Power and our topic for today, To Grow We Must Create. And we were talking about your book and we left off with this question that I love. Get rid of the belief, I mean, really get rid of it, that we are somehow inferior. And the reason why that touched me, because the African-American culture, we have that word attached to us being inferior. And if we know our history, meaning the African-Americans, we have invented the cell phone, disposable diapers, the soles and your shoe, traffic signals. It can go on and on and on and on. So tell me about that word inferior with this book. Yeah, in the letter to us. James Baldwin was the one that said, I will never let anyone describe my experience again. And that was inspiring to me because when you stop having or listening to other people's interpretation of your own life, then you begin to grow and ask yourself the question, who am I really? And therefore, who can we be collectively? And he was inspiring to me. He did it against all odds. He said, I'm gonna define my own reality. And once you start doing that, it's over. The change is already here. And when you have indigenous people. Or just begun, yeah, exactly. And when you have native people saying, hey, you guys, we can do this better. You know what I mean? We really can. We can do this better. And that's what I mean. It's our clarity that's up to bear it. Not anyone else's. We have to stop feeling inferior. I have to stop feeling inferior. Oh, you're one. And you know, this whole notion of equity is, I mean, we're all human beings. And so the capacity for us to love is where we shine. And this notion of inferior, it's like, by whose standards? And I think that's an important question because inferior to what? And by what gauge? So this book is transformational for so many of us because it really defines and it goes more deeply into issues and things that we all want more clarity about. Another one here, you have several, but I love this word, understand that words have mana. Break it down. Break it down. Break it down. Talk to them about the ole-lo-no-ya because that's where that comes from. Ika-ole-lo-ola, ika-ole-lo-maki. There is life in our language and our words. There is death in our language and our words. So our ike kupuna, the knowledge of our elders is still with us through that proverb. And it basically means watch your thinking and be a person of integrity in how you articulate that because that articulation is actually linked to history and to the future thousands of years beyond us. So be very careful of your words. We're flipping with our words nowadays. We use words poorly. We use, I use words and I can improve my speech by improving my mind. And I think that's that idea we first said. And your intentionality in terms of, in those words, they are so potent. So it actually is an opportunity in our ole-lo-no-ya. To be cognizant of how we carry ourselves. Because for us, as there is mana, there is energy in the words, especially as you ole or pray or sing. And there's a communion that goes on. So it's really an important thing for us to always be aware of. And I think the millennials need to hear that. I mean, they're saying anything and everything on social media. Oh my God. They will definitely come back to haunt you. Write it on a piece of paper. Get it out and throw it away. I'm with you on that. I do that myself. I know. Did you hear that? That's good advice. Good advice. That's very good advice. Let's move on. And I want to talk about your father's book. What Would You Leave? Tell me about that book. What Would You Leave by Harry K. Meyer. Yes. And illustrations by you. I know, it was so much fun. Seriously? This actually is a book that was written. And I should read what this says. It's beautiful. It says, our father wrote this book in 1959 following the birth of his fourth and fifth children and Moana, of a number that eventually grew to seven throughout Thoughtful About the Future. Our father set out his legacy on paper. He took the time to challenge us creatively and lovingly in his writings, hoping that we would in turn come to appreciate the mysteries he spoke of in this book in our world. This gift is to be shared, and its universal appeal is what every father gives his child or hopes to, life and the hope of a better and more meaningful tomorrow. So this is like really a little Bible for us. We kind of love it that way. Yeah. So our father is, for lack of a better word, he's opinionated. Oh, opinionated. Yeah, yeah. So it's a very full, complete work that takes us through ideas that he has for all of us and actually for our children and their children's children. So wonderful people. He'd have slogans written over our doorways as we walk through them, for instance, through these doors past the most beautiful girls in the world. Oh, my. How could you be inferior with that? Exactly. True to your teeth or they will be false to you. Yeah, I mean, really, we had these things all over the place. My favorite is always be curious. That was in the kitchen. Kissing don't last, but cook redo. And you're an excellent cook, too. That's another thing. Well, you know, that's part of the art. That's part of the growth and growing every day to create, to make meaning in our lives. So yeah. That's why to grow we must create is the name of our show here with you. Because we have to grow. And in order to grow as both community members and as individuals in this very, very chaotic world we must create, create with our minds, create with our hands, but create with our languaging. So creation, destruction, creation, destruction. Let us create together. This is why I admire authors and artists, because you start with a blank sheet of paper. Correct. And then you create and you educate and you motivate and you inspire. Where does that come from? It comes from a need. It comes from a need to be heard and to find voice to interior ideas and things that really come from other places, as in from our kupuna, from our mentors, from our kumu. Because I can brag about all of the kumus I've had in my life, whether at university or in Ikehawaii. And they are so numerous. So money went right between the two of us. We could have a whole show and just talking about our beloved teachers. We will. Yeah, because I'll tell you something. Without our teachers, there's very little that we can do on our own. Because the work that we do creatively is all about not only growing ideas, but growing courage and growing insight. So it's not just growth. It's actually how those ideas connect and then actually create other things. You know? I mean, that's what I see it. There's a process called kohu iya in Hawaiian. Kohu is the choose. Iya is the no choice. So it means choice, no choice. Mellie thinks she's being asked to illustrate this book. But actually, it's been asked from her for long ago because of her creative spirit. She was the only one that could do it in this kind of quality. So that type of responsibility, the kuliana, is not an obligation negative. It's an obligation positive. You know, that's what I love about it. I know an obligation positive. That's a good one. Yeah, I'm going to write that down later. And let's just move forward with another book, Hawaiian Charter School Book. OK. Where do we start? All these beautiful, gorgeous, colorful books. We'll have to brag about all of our colleagues, OK? OK, I don't care about it. OK, so here's the deal. I get to work with extraordinary teachers, kumul, and their beloved children, who are motivated and compelled to do incredibly good work. So this is a recent publication from Waial this year. But it was a project. And I told kumulahela Ighartar Sajinakumul, this is a great idea. And it's going to take time, because excellence just doesn't happen. So this just came out this year. And it's spectacular. And for all sorts of reasons, I wish we had more time about it to speak. This book actually came out of a charter school at Kamakau. So this is Samuel Manaya Kalani Kamakau. And I love to work in charters because there's such need to do art everywhere. But there's such incredibly compelling need in our community. And this was a book that was written because there's no literature for children. So they wrote the story. And they did the illustrations. The children? Yes. But I get to coach and help them do their work. And Kamehameha Schools helped us with that, my beloved colleague, Nikki Mashiro. And this book is a series of things that came from Kanooka Aina. And this is one of three or four that got published this year. This girl was so talented, but they didn't recognize her talent. They didn't know she had talent. So when I saw her drawings, I went, oh my god. Do you realize how extraordinary our children are in so many ways? And then this is a piece of dear Sam Noya Warner. He did a whole series of these things. And this, again, was another student that I supported. This is his work. So this is everyone else's work. And as a teacher, as we both are, you have to be a coach in what you love so that others can do what you inspire. Money was a fantastic coach. And so I just get to teach art, but I love to do what I like to do. And these are all, by the way, these are all bilingual readers. I did see this, a bilingual tale, a pronounced beautiful set by. So these are all in Hawaiian. Gorgeous. I mean, look at these. I mean, they're just beautiful. Beautiful. And each of these children and groups of children have stories, and they have great stories more later. But this is what we get to do. So we're also trying to practice our language in whatever capacity we can. It has to be lifted out beyond our universities. It must be practiced in the small and large ways in our communities, in our singing, in our bookmaking. So Ika'ole'ole'ola, let us nourish each other with our ideas and our mother tongue, that we are only one generation away from speaking. That man like that. And one generation of loss and forced assimilation. So we're really interested in also speaking truth to the powers that be because it's important to let folks know what the history of this place is and how we intend as educators and believers of porno, of righteousness, to help our community to heal and to really learn how to thrive. It's not just enough to survive anymore. We want everyone to. Because we've had such opportunity. So we intend and always want to model that, all of those good things. So truth for us is the ability to actually share with you the idea that we are in a transformational phase right now. And the collaboration that you offer us in so many levels, Sharon, is really, really vital. Because diversity is a strength for us. This is why Hawaii will change the planet. Because we really believe that we are the same differently. See, we don't stop when we're the same, we're not. We are the same differently. That kind of holistic thinking comes from our Ike Kupuna. And that is, we pay different rent because we want to learn from it. OK, I like that. Come on. Well, time is almost over. And I just wanted to thank you both. And in 10 seconds or less, tell us exactly what, when people come to visit Hawaii, what do you want them to leave with? Nice. Mellie, you first. Jump in the board. Aloha is our true intelligence. That's what I want people to feel, to experience, through our people, through the geography of Hawaii, and through the love that they can then take home and amplify around the world. Aloha is what we have to offer the planet. Oh, I love this. I know, and how can we beat that? We're not beating anything. We're just supporting each other. And I can tell you something, not only Aloha, but Aloha Aina as well. So the extension of that is to care for not only the land, but to understand the reciprocity that we need to hold for each other. That's wonderful. Thank you so much for joining Sister Power. We must do this again. Oceans of Aloha, peace and love. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.