 Happy Eloha Friday! This is your host Beatrice Cantelmo. On today's episode of Prospectus and Global Justice, guest Gio Gio Pita will be sharing with our viewers his many memories from his autobiography, Coconut Rats and Kung Fu Cowboys, written with the retired Professor James Coach. Gio Gio is a Micronesian national who grew up in Italy, an atoll on the Aura Mordlock Islands of Turk State in the Faro states of Micronesia. Gio Gio is a UH Manoa alumni who earned his PhD in special education. In his autobiography, he shares exquisite memories of what life was like growing up on an atoll of 500 habitants in all of the enchanted experiences that have revealed many nuances of living an authentic life as a male Pacific Islander and as a Soviet leader. In high school, Gio Gio had an accident which caused him severe spinal cord injury, which resulted in quadriplegia. Gio Gio's stories features not only his functional ability, experiences, but also gives us a unique insight on Pacific Islander cultures which are filled with courage, resilience, self-determination, gratitude, hardships, love, and many lessons learned along the way. I hope that this show will leave our viewers, not only with rooting for Gio Gio to write a new book in the very near future, but also with valuable insights on how important storytelling is for the preservation, dissemination, understanding and value of Turkese language, Micronesian culture, identity and pride, and how much intergenerational wisdom and sharing of these memories play a crucial role in this process. On that note, welcome, Gio Gio. Thank you. Thank you very much, Bea. You're welcome. I can't imagine who I would love to have time with today and have this very important conversation. Okay. So, wow, you know, about a year ago, you were in a hospital, one of your many visits in the hospital. You were there for what? Three months? Yes. I had surgery and it took about three months to get everything squared away. That was towards the end of my PhD program, so it only pushed graduation date semester back, but, you know, it was kind of needed. And it gave me a sort of all the time to think about a lot of things. So I decided, well, maybe it's a good time to write a book now. So at that time, you know, we were just kind of like working on the dissertation and your book. I was in the middle of finishing up the dissertation while I was in the hospital. Also decided to start working on the book. And I had a lot of times in my hand. And so, yeah, it was a lot of, you know. So I wanted to bring you and our viewers back to 1964, the year where Giorgio was born. Yes. Now, because I think I butched the name of your island. Help me again. It's Ital. Okay. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. Ital. And it's in the Marlok Islands and the Marlok Islands, the other island region is about 160 miles southeast of the main Lagoon, the Chuk state. Federated states of Micronesia. So 500 habitants. At the time, yeah, on and off, yeah, yeah. I think before there was, you know, that that much I think there was that many people on the islands. And I think recently and now, because of our migration, the number has drastically reduced about a half or even more than more than less than that. Yeah, less than that. We'll touch base on that a little bit. So but at that time, I think you were one of few children that were born that year on the island. And you grew up with these kids as you were very close with friends. Like all small islands. There's only a few of us who are, and I know like the us boys, there are only three, three boys who were born in that, that year. And five girls from what I recall from the book. So usually what we call our, our group, our group of friends that we hang out together be like a year older or two and then two years younger. That's kind of age group that we kind of like hang out a little bit older than that. And they're too young. They're too old to hang out with us. We're kind of too young for them. And then the young ones, we're just the one. The reason I'm bringing this up, I mean, one is to give our viewers context of where you're born and also to help us anchor the life, you know, your life childhood, you know, before the accident and after the accident. And I'm sure that as you were in the hospital, you will leave the money of these memories. But for our viewers to get a little teaser of, you know, your autobiography, tell us what you remember the highlights of your childhood, you know, growing up in such a neat community and bring to us the importance of your grandparents in your upbringing and of storytelling and also of the church because these were very three strong pillars in your formative years. I think the book, the way we structured the book, and I'm really grateful to my friend Dr. Jim Scalghi, who's a retired professor and he was a good friend of mine, is that, you know, we were able to talk about these stories together. You know, you know, sometimes I don't really quite, you know, I can tell the stories. And in my mind, I know what the stories are, and I know how they, you know, how they affected me. But in order for me to present this to the audience, and people who, and we'll talk a little bit about that, but we'll talk about audiences, but in order for me to make sure that I'm comfortable with what I perceive as being useful for the audience, you know, Jim and I spent a lot of time, you know, drinking coffee, talk story at the ZBBs, I wouldn't go on all the time, and we just talk story, talk about these stories, and we, you know, talk about them so much, you know, we laugh, and we, you know, we feel bad, and we, you know, we just got, you know, shocked sometimes about the stories, but I think it's an important thing, especially for me, because it's my first book, that I was not really comfortable about writing the book, you know. I mean, we wrote the book together, you know, have a lot of head, but what's important is that we talk about it, you know, sort of a process. You process it at every four, you put it down and then feel comfortable about it. And still, I don't, there are many times when I still don't feel comfortable about the book, because I feel like it's, you know, I'm not really sure how people will take it. But anyways, going back to your point about those pillars of, you know, influences in my childhood, storytelling definitely is a main part of it. So every small islander growing up in that, in that's environment is surrounded by storytellers, whether it be your friend who sells you all kinds of nonsense, you know, or your grandparents who tell you these very important stories, or, or the, you know, the older men who tell you legends and who teach you about the legends and things like that. So there's a lot of storytelling going on around you as a young child. And also the church, what you learn from the church is also very important, because aside from the rituals and, you know, the worshiping, you encounter a lot of stories of the church and what the church is about. And, you know, those important, you know, individuals and concepts within the church. So you have those storytelling and then your grandparents, you know, the role of your, the ones who are the closest to you. Like me, I was born, I was born, I mean, I was raised by my grandparents because I was the oldest son and then my grandfather was going blind at some point during my childhood. So my parents made the decision that I would go and live with them. You know, we were a little bit, we were at a homestead a little bit further away from everyone, where my dad, granddad, you know, prefers to, you know, to live. He doesn't like too many people around him too much. I have a really great fisherman and he tells a lot of, you know, stories. Um, I, as I was reading the first part of your book, I got transported to this very idyllic, you know, how was that to say like a narrative of, you know, clear water, a lot of abundance in terms of the land being able to provide and sustain people's basic needs. And so like your grandparents had a state where a lot of the food was produced and consumed that way. There is a clear distinction between, like before it had more of an American influence, you know, and, you know, and then after, and it seems like it was quite reflected in the day to day living. And so like, for example, I think for some people, the idea of growing up without electricity is horrifying, but the way that you described it, you know, it seems like it was not big deal. And, you know, the night it was resolved for very special things, those storytelling and looking at the stars. Yeah, I mean, you're born in that environment and, you know, for, for us, that was the way things are, there's the way of the world. And we, we didn't feel any, any less blessed or inferior to that we didn't have any other things because, like you said, when it's dark, it's dark, people go to sleep and the stars come out and you interact with a lot of friends and, you know, playing games and talking stories and, you know, telling stories and, you know, and, you know, you appreciate a lot about the skies and what you can learn from them, the environment and how it behaves differently at night. And you have also a sense of respect for, you know, nature that way, because, you know, we say it when it's dark, that a different realm, you know, takes place, you know, interaction with, you know, people say these ghosts come out at night or spirits come out at night and, you know, and you respect it as it is during the day you wake up and you go about doing your life and, and that deal about electricity, I don't think we really, I never really saw electricity, I mean, encounter life with electricity until I went to high school. And so, you know, so life really was, you know, normal and grand and beautiful and, you got to spend a lot of time with your grandparents and with your grandfather, you both had a very special relationship. He talked to a lot of things, fishing and taking care of the states. I took a little bit about that. Yeah. He was, there are two paramount chiefs on the island and he was one of them. You know, he's responsible for, you know, guardian, he's sort of the guardian of the land and the ocean and all that there is within our environment. So people come to him for, you know, advice and disputes and he has a, you know, a special role on the island. So I also, growing up next to him, I mean, by sight, you know, I have a lot of appreciation for the role that he played with the, in the island, in the island. And of course, I would lead him because he was blind. I was also his guide. I would take him to where he needs to go. He needed to go and whether it's a meeting with fellow chiefs or you have to go to island celebration and island meetings and you would give like the last speech or the long speech for everyone. And you just being with him, dog me, you know, mostly now in retrospect when I'm much older, a lot of, you know, patience and he doesn't talk, he never did talk much. He didn't go around, but he just stayed where, you know, where we live. And he went fishing a lot. We had to go fishing a lot because he was still a avid fisherman, even when he was completely blind, but he could still, he can use the movement of the canoe and the feel of the wind because along the island, along the lagoon, there are smaller islands. So when we go by different islands and you can feel the, you know, the wind and he would tell me where to battle. And, you know, I was very intrigued and, you know, very amazed at how well he was able to use the, you know, the skills of hearing and wayfinding. We need to take one minute break. We'll be right back, okay? Okay. Aloha, I'm Yukari Kunisue, the host of Konnichiwa Hawaii, Japanese talk show on Think Tech, Hawaii. Konnichiwa Hawaii is all Japanese broadcast show and is streamed live on Think Tech at 2 p.m. every other Monday. Thank you so much for watching our show. We look forward to seeing you then. I'm Yukari Kunisue. Mahalo. Hello, hi, Mabuhay. My name is Amy Ortega Anderson, inviting you to join us every Tuesday here on Pinoy Power, Hawaii. With Think Tech, Hawaii, we come to your home at 12 noon every Tuesday. We invite you to listen, watch for our mission of empowerment. We aim to enrich, enlighten, educate, entertain, and we hope to empower. Again, Maraming, Salamat Po, Mabuhay, and Aloha. Welcome back to Perspectives on Global Justice, Think Tech, Hawaii. This is your host, Piaz Riscontelo, and we're back with Jojo Pida. So Jojo, and who did you write this book? When you had this conception, was that... Well, yeah, it would appear that I'm writing it for myself, which I did. In that time when I was in the hospital and I had to do something with, you know, kind of like thinking back about a lot of where I have been in my life. But more importantly, I think I wrote the book for my nieces and my nephews, and the generation of our people that is born and raised outside of our island, and many other islanders who have similar experience to reflect on childhood, you know, and back home in the island to get a sense of connecting, reconnecting back to to the islands and get an idea of what it was like, maybe growing up as a small, as a young boy around their age now. So I've given copies of the book to my nieces and my nephews, and I hope that it doesn't make any sense to them. A lot of people have also, you know, read the book and said that it does touch a little bit about what they remember about, you know, at home. I really feel a sense of, you know, my generation that has sort of taken on this odd migration were the first generation that left the island. And I feel a sense of responsibility here that I have to educate and kind of inform the generation that we have brought, you know, we have brought, you know, them into this world. Right. Well, in many way, I think that the, would you call it like you were the first generation of the Micronesian diaspora, but not necessarily because you all wanted to leave the islands, but you really didn't have a choice, but no access to education and health. And I think, you know, a lot of people don't understand that, you know, like, yes, on the one hand, you know, all of these things happened, but people don't understand why, you know, there had to be a departure. And I, you know, one part of your book that really struck me, and I will call it that like the, what we call it in America, the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, where when you were a child they described people who came to Hawaii and spoke about the aloha, you know, the image of sport cars, girls and skyscrapers, you know, and Navy ships and a complete different picture from, you know, what you were dealing with at home, but then there's also the reality of when the recently arrived Kofa resident encounters, which you called the urban poverty. So do you want to talk a little bit about that? Actually, yeah, this is the first of three books that we wanted to work on, and we brought this book up to the point where I graduated from high school, because another thing that is also inherent in this story is of course the story of disability, as I am faced and have is significant with the set of disabilities. But I didn't want to just talk about disability right off the bat. You wanted to show that there is a lot of, there's life before and after and during the onset of disability and that disability is not all of one person's experience and encounter with life. You know, it's a story and it's part of your story. So I wanted to do that. I want to make sure that we, because it has a lot of bearing on, the way I live my life and of course obviously, but I wanted to talk, the second and the third we're probably getting more into this diaspora thing, our experience abroad. But I wanted to just kind of set it up with this, with these stories, which if other people read the book, they'll get that foundation. They'll get the sense of a, you know, a foundation that, yeah, there's life before and after Hawaii or before and after disability for in the storyteller that I am. So I know, so you had your accident in high school, do you want to tell our viewers briefly who led you to have a spinal cord injury? Do you want them to read the book? I broke my neck as I fell off a rock and that was after my freshman year at high school, Savior High School. So I was, I spent a year here in Hawaii and that's my own, as my introduction to Hawaii as an individual with a disability. When I came back again, you know, I was 15 years old. Did you have any family here? No, at that time, I had an uncle, but he was almost like, yeah, he was some other relatives here. How was your English back then and your understanding of American Hawaiian culture? It was very formative, say the least, yes. So a lot of new things to the individual, like, you know, the idea of going to the beach and, you know, as all this crowd on the beach. And I remember because I was hurt already at that time. So they brought me and the rest of the individuals from the rehab center, somewhere in wheelchairs and I and a couple of others were on flat, laying flat on a kerney. And that has a huge impact on my sense of, you know, who I was as a person. And I was very aware of that being there in a very negative way and in a very repulsive way, because I just didn't understand why I was there, you know. Other, you know, the goal of the whole thing was an out, outing, you know, experience, sort of kind of like to experience life. And I was like, this is not for me, you know. So I totally. We drew probably that little thing. And so did you feel supported and embraced and welcomed in those past months or year here as a Micronesian man on as an adolescent and as someone with a newly acquired functionality? I think it was different because I was here at the hospital. Yeah, I was not here in the community. So I was here as a patient and sort of tucked away in that hospital. So later on, you know, when I came back as an, you know, to go to school and to live and work, this story was different. You know, I was pretty much out in, you know, out and about with and interacting with the community. But at that time, there weren't that many. Also, there weren't that many Micronesians here. So let's bring you to 40 years journey. Since you had your accident and you became quadriplegic. And remember, one part of your book, you mentioned that you were in such excruciating pain that you hope that if there was going to be life that I would take you then and there. But well, yes, he had different plans for you. And here you are. And then another part of your book, it was, it doesn't get any better than that. So which is it in that, you know, bridge between I am really having a rough time, but it doesn't get better than that. So where, how do you negotiate those both extremes part of life? Because I think you anyone who goes through that, whether it's through, you know, disability, or it's through some emotional challenge, or it's through social challenge. I mean, you do the best that you can negotiate. But you also have to understand that, you know, you're dealing with a lot of forces beyond your control, and a way and above your limits as a person. And you try your best to deal with, you know, but at the same time, you also have the sense that you're in that in being in that situation. You're also giving yourself into for other people to to hold to have something from it. You know, so I've always been very grateful before I used to, you know, very be very negative about it. But at some point, I think along the way, I feel that I am grateful being for being here. And so are you and so are other individuals like we tend to focus more on the pain part of it. But after the pain, then you have, you know, these moments of, you know, being alive. I'm not only that, I mean, look at the amazing legacy that you have initiated, you know, in your own life, you've, you moved from et al to Honolulu. You have a PhD. You have three degrees before you have your PhD. You are a Southern leader. You have done and continue just so much to be this bridge culturally and also as an advocate. You are one of the most resilient and gorgeous human beings that I know of and have a pleasure of calling my friend. And, you know, I just, you know, I am in awe of you and I hope that, you know, you'll come back many times and that for our viewers to get a teaser about reading the book, I will not ask you the question about where the coconut rats come from. But the story of the Kung Fu cowboys, you know, I thought it was so beautiful not having electricity to be able to be exposed to American and Japanese culture through these movies that were played through a generator in a church. It's fabulous. And, you know, so my last question to you is, when you go back to your center and you think about the skyscrapers and all of the electricity and the buzz of, of urban life, do you go back, how often do you go back to Kung Fu and cowboys and start gazing and comets in the middle of the night? Every day and every night you go. I think everybody does that too. There is always a sense of an extension of a fantasy or a fantastic world that's beyond the hustle and bustle of, you know, what's in front of you and what you're dealing with. And of course, every time you get a sense to sit down, you must have that healthy, you know, sense of, you know, just visiting those things that are, you know, sort of like in your mind that it makes the world, you know, a lot more complete that you're just not kind of dealing with, you know, the physical part of what's, what's, what's in front of you, but also the, the spiritual and, you know, the, even the fantasy. And that's the reason why movies, you know, make a lot of money because we, we throw ourselves into those kind of things. And not just movies recently, movies like The Black Panthers and Captain America and all of that stuff because, you know, it's that, you know. I hope your book and your older books will become serious with movies. I can't believe we're out of time. My life is much full and beautiful and more enchanted because of you being a part of it. Oh, thank you very much. And, well, this concludes our episode of Perspectives on Global Justice for today. Thank you so much for watching us and we hope.