 This is Think Tech Hawaii. Community matters here. Ah, welcome to Talk Story with John Waihe. And we have another interesting program for you this afternoon. As our special guest, we have Senator Brickwood Galateria. He represents the Waikiki, Almoana, and Kakaako. So your district is in the hot of Honolulu. Yeah, what about as urban as you're going to be? Metropolis of Hawaii. So, this is, by the way, folks, this is Brickwood. And what not only is he a well-known state senator, but he is also a musician and entertainer and all of those other accolades. Well, firstly, thank you for inviting me here today. You're welcome. You're here with your governor. And that's an ingenious title to the show, Talk Story with John Waihe. Yeah, just Talk Story. It was an easy one, right? Yeah, you know, when people who followed my career knew me as a musician and then a radio personality, right? We'd like to see that, and then some television. Then eventually into politics. Just sort of from the fine pan through the fire. Yeah, well, I always say just lateral moves. No, I think senator, you've been going up and up and up, but I still like to pick up my guitar. Well, you know, someday you're going to win a Grammy for being a senator or a politician. And after singing the blues, I don't know. Well, now you're going to work on that. But, you know, there's a few Hokus in your repertoire. We were, gee, we got male vocals of the year back in the 80s and most promising artists, which I guess as a politician. Most promising artists. That's a good thing to be. That's a good thing to be. And then we've also been able to produce some, I think, worthy things, you know, which is what, this is all going to lead someplace, believe me, senator, but I wanted to introduce that to let everyone know that you were the composer of a song about, when was it, about three years ago? Yeah. Called... Mohala Ponoe. Yeah, Mohala. Mohala. Mohala Ponoe. Yeah, many people say Malama Pono. Right. Right. Malama, of course, to take care in a right way, in a righteous way. Right. Mohala means to grow in a righteous way. Mohala to blossom. It's such a beautiful title. Yeah. As a matter of fact, you had Natalie. Yeah. Ayi. Natalie, Ayi, yeah. Sing it for us. Yeah. He played very well. People who listen to Hawaiian music are going to be very familiar with this. Mohala Ponoe. Well, he talks about unity being the most precious possession we have right now. It's sticking together. And that speaks to even the politics of the day as, you know, Hawaiians come into the New Age of Hawaiian. Well, it speaks to everything. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's a way of one in a righteous, in the right way to care for each other. That sort of thing. So, Mohala Ponoe is a... It's a statement. It's a way of growing righteously, of becoming, you know, a righteous person. Yeah. And it was a... And I know that in the course of doing that, you triggered your interest in Queen Lillio Kalani. Well, interestingly enough, you know, at the Senate, this will be almost my 10th year. And so, you know, as in anything, you know, sometimes you're on the bus, sometimes you're under the bus, you know, just a matter of when it is... But during... There was a moment in there, we worked closely with you, with Kanai Olavalu in the Hawaiian role, and I was the majority leader, and I was at that corner of the state capital that looked directly to Eolani Palace. Right. So many of the native Hawaiian senators, we all got together in my office, and we crafted legislation to, you know, to create a native reorganized political entity that the state can negotiate with. But whenever I look at the palace, and that's where the song came to mind about unity, and then we think about Lillio Kalani. Right. And what she went through in order to, you know, bring us 100 years later from her death, which is, you know... Was she still influencing what we do today? I think most, for me, we're doing this deep dive on Oliu because coming up on November 11th will be the 100th year of her passing. So... But prior to that, which is, you know, I remember sitting in your room. In prison in my room. In prison in your room. In prison, you wish. You know, because I recently said that focus because he unfortunately moved to the other side of the... Yeah, yeah. Now I look at the Hill of Sacrifice. Yeah, now you're at the Hill of Sacrifice. But in those days you were in prison in that beautiful office. I remember sitting there with Ken Makua Kalani. Yeah. And we were discussing. You remember that? Yeah, Lillio. Well, let's just tell the people what happened. Well, we were... You and I had been talking, we were waiting on Ken because we were developing a song book for this initiative called Kana Yolavalo, the Native Hawaiian Role. A whole bunch of performers were getting together to provide mele for the unity. And so Kenneth was one of the producers. So he came walking in a little late, as you all know. No offense, Kenny. But, you know, with your new position, you know, church gotta start on time, you know? So he came walking in a little agitated and said, well, you know, what's going on? And he said, I just came from the statue, Queen's statue. And I said, Queen of Hawaii from 1891 to 1893. And he said, I don't think that's correct. I think she's still our queen and I think we should change the date if we can. Right? And then we proceeded. You, as a matter of fact, said if we could do that, I think that'd be a powerful statement. Right. So we proceeded to do our due diligence and we ended up contacting the sculptor, contacting State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and we changed it to the year of her passing. Right. So right now it says Queen of Hawaii from 1891 to 1970. So she was the queen, at least in the hearts and minds of her people, until she died. Until she died. And that was the point of that change. So I know we started with that. You created the song. And you are continuing, as you were alluding to, continuing to do something about, to recognize the last queen of Hawaii, our queen. Yeah. Well, many people don't know her story. I certainly didn't know her. I don't know enough about her story. But just a matter of fact that she stood down. Right. It means that even you and I could be here today to stand up. Right. Because, truth be told. That's a great line, by the way. Yeah. Thank you. Truth be told, if she had actually followed the advice of many of her loyalists, we're going to swing until the very end. Right. And we'll go ahead and take it all the way. Seriously, we will probably not be here today to talk. Right. And it was interesting that most people forget that the overthrow took place in 1893. And there's a couple of things people don't know is that actually there was a massacre at the Little Big Horn. So there's a massacre of Native Americans just three years earlier. Yeah. I mean, so the idea of challenging the might of the United States is real, as you say. Yeah. She tried her best, you know, short of bloodshed to restore her kingdom. And I don't know if the last guy should be talking with any amount of authority towards that. But I think the universal themes of injustice or after the overthrow, justice, reconciliation, forgiveness. I'll begin with our queen. I'll begin with our queen. I mean, if there's a moral equivalence that Liliu has, it would be Gandhi. Say Gandhi. Right. See, Martin Luther King. Right. He's his own hero. Hero. Hero. And so heroine. Yes. And so many people don't realize what she did over time after the overthrow. And you take a look at some of those pictures and she's clearly agitated when she's sitting next to Dole and whoever. But she's holding it. Stand for Dole. The president of the republic. Absolutely. The first governor for white. Yeah. Imagine what those four days of the overthrow were like. And then the imprisonment to follow. Right. And then the eventual, you know, returning to Washington Place for her final days. But even in those years from the time she was overthrown to the time she passed away, there's some incredible data that suggests the value systems came into play. Right. And she actually, if we took, you know, we're supposed to be talking about this 100 years later. Right. Really feel that. You know. Well, the other thing is that both you and I had grandparents who were around at the time that that happened. So it's actually not that long ago. Yeah. It's not that long ago. So her influence is felt today in many, many ways. Yeah. But you are now working on with a group of people and sponsoring an event, a centennial event relating to the... Yes. We've come together. Another native senator. Yeah. Kai Kahele. Oh, Kai. Young Hawaiian from Hilo. Hilo. And brought and raised in Bilolei. Right. He really, he grew up in the old fashioned way in a modern time. In a modern time. So if there's any type of, I think, Renaissance Hawaiian, if you will, 41 years of age, this young man. He's a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines. Right. He's a jet fighter pilot, too. So he is clearly in a seamless way going back and forth. And he's a great Opello fisherman. There you go. You want Opello, you're going for Kai. Put that together. And how does that happen, right? Yes. If it's Tuesday, I'm in Beijing. If it's Thursday, I may be in Belgium. You know, he's flying. Yeah. And then if it's Saturday, I'm fishing Opello in Bilolei. So he was on his way back from Tahiti. Okay. He was flying back from Tahiti. This was about four weeks ago. Very recent. Right. And he called me up. And I was in church, a Kauaihewa church. I texted him back. I'm praying for you. I'll call you back later. Well, we talk later. And he said, you know, I read this book while I was coming back from Tahiti. And I said, well, all you guys do is take off at land, right? So five hours in between, you've got a lot to do. So he was particularly interested in the overthrow. And specifically, Liliu. Right. And he told me, now I know why I'm a senator. Okay. You found your brown. Okay. Very good. Good. And then he tossed this date out to me. He says, what does November 11th, 1917 mean to you? As if, you know... Yeah. He's testing you. Yeah, he's testing you. See how much, how deep you actually went. I says, hey, as a matter of fact, that's when the queen passed away. He says, oh my gosh, where did you get that from? I said, well, you know, I just have it. So why, what's the point? He says, do you think perhaps we could raise her name 100 years later on the date of? I said, kind. I think that's a good idea. But, you know, we can also produce things in our sleep. Right. We got that background. Well, that's the background we talked about earlier, you know. Yeah, with the entertainment and all of that. So what we did was, I said, let's go check with the trusts, Liliu Okalani Trust. See if they're going to do anything. I called Tommy Kolukukou, he was the chair of the board. Right. He said, we are not going to do anything. She passed away at 8.30 in the morning. And if you folks do something we want to tag along. But we normally just have a moment of silence. Well, we flipped that. I immediately called Ken Makua Kani of all people who's the Papa Makua of the United Church of Christ, which means he handles all of the Hawaiian churches in that conference. Which is quite a few. Yeah, quite a few. Stressed right across the islands, as a matter of fact. I think they got up to, you know, 40 to 60 or something like that. Well, I tell you what. So you got together with Senator Caheli and with Ken Makua Kani and Tommy. And Kalyan Passant. And Kalyan Passant. Yeah. Okay, we are going to take a short break right now. And when we come back, tell us about the program. Okay. I want to know what you guys did, how you put it together, and what can the public expect? Okay, I got it. Thank you. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Ted Rawson here, folks. You're a host on Where the Drone Leads are, weekly show at noon on Thursdays here on Think Deck. We talk about drones. Anything to do about drones, drones, remotely piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, whatever you want to call them, emerging into Hawaii's economy, educational framework, and our public life. We talk about things associated with the use, the misuse, technology, engineering, legislation with local experts, as well as people from across the country. Please join us noon on Thursdays and catch the latest on what's taking place in the world of drones that might affect you. Aloha, and welcome back to Talk Story with John Waihei. We have as our guest this afternoon Senator Brickwood Gallateria, who is the state senator from Waikiki, Ala Moana, and Kakaako. And for those of you who would like to join our conversation, please call us on our hotline 808-374-2014. So, Senator, here we are. So, you got together with Kai, who kicked off this idea and started generating. Well, yeah, he wanted to do something. He felt, you know, he felt a movement within himself. Right. Right? His Hawaiian nest, if you will. So, I said, well, let's do this. I'm going to call them the churches. Because from what I learned from Tommy, the bells rang. Tommy Kaolukukui, lead Oakland Trust. Ialkia dispatched, who was, he was personal secretary. So, this is Ialkia, what is Ialkia? Curtis. Ialkia, who was his aide-de-camp. I mean, he was the main personal secretary. Right, personal secretary. Colonel Ialkia. So, when she passed away at 830, he deployed a message to St. Andrews. Okay. And they started ringing the bells. Then they got picked up by the other churches. Well, how was her other church? They started ringing the bells. And then from there we don't know. But what we want to do is we've asked all of the churches in Hawaii, via the Interfaith Alliance, and I've talked to all of the bishops. I've talked to the bishops of the Catholics, the Lutherans, the Methodists, even the Buddhists. Real fantastic. We have, we've signed up about 200 plus churches to ring their bells at 830 in the morning on November 11th. In recognition of the passing of the Queen Lilio. And for a moment of reflection of what she may mean to you today, because she's the best in all of us. And certainly, we all, we need that. And to a greater degree, the nation needs it. Right. And to a much greater degree, the Honua or the earth needs it. Actually, you don't have to be Hawaiian to know that the value she represented applies to everybody who lives in this state. That's correct. Probably some of those, this whole, the whole United States might be able to take a few lessons from what she stood. Especially now. Especially now. But we're not going to mention why, especially now. So what we're going to do that day, it's like a two-prong initiative. The Aloha Liliu initiative. We've, by the way, we launched a website, www.AlohaLiliu, one word. www.AlohaLiliu.org Is there a Okina, no. I guess you don't do that. We didn't go Okina on the social media this way. But our communications teams insisted that we start a website. We have a Facebook page, AlohaLiliu Facebook. And we're soon to launch a hashtag, AlohaLiliu. Now, I have no idea what that means. Me too. But it sounds really like you know. At least you have some people who know what they're doing. So if you go to www.AlohaLiliu.org, you'll learn everything about the day, which begins at eight o'clock. And, you know, the assembly of dignitaries and such. And then, the theme being a hundred years. So we're asking for a hundred, to start the day off, a hundred poo. Oh, wow. So our good friends at Kamehameha Schools have committed a hundred poo. They're going to get it through the charter schools, their school system. And it's telling Randy, okay, make sure they're tuned to the QC. So how do you explain the mechanics? First of all, tell the people what you mean. Some people don't know what we're talking about. Okay, well, to recap very briefly, Aloha Liliu, the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passing of Queen Liliu Okalani. Right. On November 11th, at the state... No, what's the poo? What's the hundred poo? Oh, I'm sorry. Poo is the conch shell. Right. So that signals the beginning. So you're going to have all these churches ringing their bells at the moment of her... At eight thirty. At eight thirty. But at eight o'clock, we begin with the poo. Oh, at eight o'clock, you're going to have a hundred conch shells. That's all across the state of Hawaii. All across the statue area. Oh, wow. You're going to bring in a hundred? Yeah. The rest have been done. I... Yeah, I think so. And then we'll bring in the special kahili with an ole. And then we'll poo is go off again. Then the royal guard comes in. Then we'll go from there to the welcome. I'll do the welcome. We'll have a poo-le. Then we've got a special Liliu choir that's going to sing the Queen's prayer. All four verses. Now, this is designed for maximum effect. Yeah. Yeah, so of course. That will be followed. So where are you getting the four choirs from? I mean, what... Nola Nahuulu is our choir director at Kuala Church. Right. So she's going to assemble... She's also the youth opera chorus director. She has access to singers. I said, Nola, a hundred if you can. She said, I don't know if I can get a hundred. Okay. So whatever. That'll be followed. I think it's trying to... You're trying to do a hundred this and a hundred that. And that's why I ask you to... When you speak a hundred words. Which maybe... Maybe, maybe. Yeah, now that's tough. That's tough. But you know... That's so challenging. That's fine. Governor, you're going to speak. And then Tomiko Lukukura is the chair of the Liliu Oklahni Trust will speak. I thought we don't have to share the same hundred. You guys negotiate. But that'll be followed by an interesting time because we're going to prepare for the 830 moment, which will be the ringing of the bells. And we have... We've commissioned that bell in front of the capital. Okay. Oh yeah. The Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell. There might be some symbolism in all of that. I think there's going to be a lot of symbolism because that's going to be the first one that's heard. Wow. And then a hundred pahu, if possible. Pahu being the drum. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. So Vicky Holta Kamein is being tasked with trying to get a hundred drummers. Okay. A hundred drummers. Wow. What's going to happen at the time of the bell ringing though? The traditional kanikau is the wailing chant. Right. So we have five people from around the island. So our listeners are learning puh. Pahu. Pahu the drum. The drum. And then the wailing chant. The wailing chant is called kanikau. Kanikau. Kanikau. Kanikau, if you were a person of dignity or standing, a kanikau would be chanted as you were being honored. Right. That's going to happen when the bells go. And after that, the pahu will be going off a hundred times. Then after a hundred times, then a hundred hula dances are going to do what is called a trilogy. Which is kaulilua. And if you're a hula dancer, you know these songs. Ako'olawau. And awa'ia. They all stand for unity. And this is that every hula dancer learns this trilogy. Yes. If they deep into it. If they want to be part of the hula culture. I think so. And when that's done, I don't know how we're going to be any more... How do you close this stuff? I mean, that is such a moment. We should be at about the 845 moment right then. So we're going to shrink it down completely. And one piano. We're going to be doing Lili Ukalani songs. Marlene Saiz is going to sing Kaulana Na Pua. Wow. And Marlene does that. Such a beautiful rendition. Oana Salazar, who is a descendant of Wilcox. Right. Will sing Paulana. Robert Wilcox, by the way, was known as the island, the iron duke. And he was the hothead. He was the one that was trying to get Lili Ho to actually come into war. But there is a statue of him. That's right. Right down here in Fort Street, in the middle of Honolulu. You want to talk about political? He was the first delegate to Congress. First delegate and the head of the homeroom part. So he... You're going to have Salazar. Salazar, yeah. And then Alohoi will be sung as well. Wow. And then during that time, dignitaries, chosen dignitaries will be able to bring lay to the statue. After that, you know, I mean... It's up to the people to continue the respect. Yes. We'll close it by reversing the order by which we came in. With the poo and then the... Right, right, right. Royal Guard order. You know, this is like chicken skin. I mean, really, this is a... And the reason why I really want to thank you for coming here on this show and talking about it. Because I think probably the last time an event like this happened was probably when Kohio passed. Could be. Could be. Because I don't think we've had this kind of Ali'i. Ali'i or royal... Well, they avoid it. The incredible data that we've accumulated also includes the funerals of the Ali'i. And it's incredible the length of poppin' circumstance that happened. We're just going to try and shrink it down to a moment. But I think equally important, if not even more important, is that we're going to try through social media to amplify that moment by inviting everybody on the other end of that social media to reflect at 8.30 wherever they are in the world. So we're going to live stream it. Oh, live stream it. And they're going to make comments and sending things. Yeah. So we're going to live stream it on Facebook and live stream it on the website as well. And hopefully our media channels will be... our video channels will be covering that. I know I can speak for all of us at HITECH, Hawaii. I would hope so. You know, we're going to do whatever we can to cover it. Yeah. We've got the pegs or the public education stations going to be each island's representative, Olelo, Kaleo, Kaku. They're all going to be there to shoot it and we're going to stream it through them into the social media world. So hopefully it'll be a moment that we can kick off. In fact, we're also... we've talked to the public schools. We've invited them to have their children do essay contests for Liliu as well. Right. We've talked to the canoes. We've talked to Hokulea. We've talked to Makarewis. Something at those moments. Yeah. I mean, there's no rules here. Yeah, yeah. You know, you make up your own. And so they can join in however they see... That's correct. ...appropriate. ...however they see appropriate. Wow. And so you, you know, think, think, I mean, this whole... everybody just make your own rules, reflect on what Liliu means to you. But the key thing is that we all begin at 8 o'clock on November 11th. You can begin right now. Oh, yeah. Well, live it. Yeah. No, seriously. Live Liliu. Yeah. You know? I mean, that's what... Yeah. Why not? They already got Aloha. Live Liliu. Live Liliu. You know, just turn the other cheek and then come back and false crack the other side. Yeah. You know, my dad used to say that. You know, he used to tell me all the time. He says, the Hawaiian way is to try and work things out. Yeah. But sometimes you can't. Yeah. You know, my dad used to say, bring me a slipper. This is going to hurt me. More than what he's going to hurt you. How can it possibly be, dad? You're the one inflicting the pain. I know. Hey, Bob, quickly run through the day with us. Okay. November 11th. Okay. Okay, which is something like 20 days away. We're going to be asking you to remember Liliu up and through. Even starting today, just start to think after you've heard what I've got to say. Come down to the state capital if you want to. Right. Otherwise it's going to be live streaming. November 11th, eight o'clock, 8.30 when you hear the bells ring, the bells toll throughout Hawai'inei. That is to help you reflect on what Liliu means to you. At eight o'clock, the hundred poo. Hundred poo. And then at eight, whatever, 15 or whatever we have. Well, 8.30, bells. Bells. 8.35, 100. Pahu. Pahu. 3.37, 100 dances. 100 hula dances. And then we go home after that. Wow. Nice way. But that's one way, and hopefully this is the beginning of a tradition. We have a resolution. I introduced a resolution last year calling, asking the governor to proclaim this 2018 year of the Hawai'ine. Right. But I think after this deep dive into Liliu, I kind of feeling this is the age of the Hawai'ine. Right. It's really, I think, illustrates the greatness of the Hawaiian people and standing toe-to-toe, shoulder-to-shoulder with the great civilization. It's very important for, I know it's very important for Native Hawaiians, for the Hawai'ine community to understand and to appreciate what she stood for, her values, and the like. Yeah. But I also believe that for the larger non-Hawaiian community, the same values that she expressed about steadfastness, about justice, and about making, behaving in a way that recognizes our humanity is good for everybody. Yeah. I think one last story, and I know we're almost power. The, when the word went out, the invitations went out to the churches. Okay? Not many people know that Liliu Kalani built a church at Schofield Barracks for the soldiers. It's called the Soldiers Chapel over there. Really? Yeah. So when the invitation went out, the first church that came back was the Soldiers Chapel. They said, we're all in. At Schofield Barracks. They said, we're all in. Now, that's a queen we can celebrate. Yeah. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. The talk story with John Waheei, and a special thank you to our guest, Senator Brickwood Galateria, who is not only a great senator, he is setting out a great moment in Hawai'i's history. Thank you very much. Aloha. Aloha.