 This is Think Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. And welcome to another edition of Working Together on Think Tech Hawaii, where we discuss the impact of change on workers, employers, and the economy. I'm your host, Cheryl Crozier-Garcia, inviting you to join the conversation. Please call us with your questions or comments at area code 808-374-2014 or tweet us at thinktechhi. Today we're continuing our series on social groups and their impact on the community. And we're focusing on one of the very first groups that inhabited these islands and how time has changed their status in their own homeland. The Native Hawaiian community has far more than its share of problems, everything from systemic racism to mass incarceration to housing and food insecurity. There are organizations out there who are working to turn these statistics around, but the work is difficult and change is often slow. Joining us today to discuss the status of Native Hawaiians is Kumu Shana Logan. Shana is a cultural resource person for the Hawai'i Island public school system. She's also the owner of Aloha Consultants and a writer to Ke'ola Magazine on Hawai'i Island. Welcome, Shana. Aloha. Aloha to you. Tell us about, you wrote an op-ed that was in the newspaper recently, which is actually what got me interested in this topic, where you talked about the law of Aloha as actually being legislation on the books for the way people are supposed to conduct themselves. Can you tell us what that law says? Well, basically, it's Hawaii Revised Statute 7.5. It's been on the books for decades. Originally, this was a law that was drafted in partnership with a kupuna, her name is Pilahi Paki from Kauai, and she outlined the values, the tenets of the Aloha Spirit Law for everyone from the government, the businesses, to people who visit, and those who live here, residents. So it's a law that describes how we can treat each other in society, and it gives us guidelines of how to treat each other in the spirit of Aloha. And she came up with an acronym to guide us, which says that A is for Aka'ai to be friendly, and L is for loka'ai, which is to have unity, and O is to be pleasant, Olu Olu, and H would be ha-aha, to be humble, filled with humility. And the final A, ahunu'i, to be patient, so these are the guidelines and the qualities of a person who shows Aloha. Does the law also include penalties for its violation? Actually, it does not. However, I feel that the penalty is a, it's just, if you do not show Aloha to someone, if you don't show friendliness, if you're not patient, if you're not kind, all these qualities that we strive for, it creates a society where we do not treat each other with respect. And we in Hawai'i, Aloha is not just a word to say hello or goodbye. It is a form of respect for other human beings to show that we are all of value. Aloha is the forehead. So aloh to aloh, ha to ha, breath. So Aloha is that sharing of the breath, sharing our knowledge, sharing who we are. And in a small exchange, Aloha can be health. A lot of times we see Aloha on airplanes. We see Aloha on all kinds of signs, marketing gimmicks, and many of us Hawaiians who are actually educators and those of us who are invested in the Hawaiian community as a Kanaka Maui myself, original person. My ancestors lived Aloha. And I know there were a lot of ancient Hawaiians that use the values of Aloha, also Kuliana, which means responsibility. Hono, which means being right with others, being in balance, doing what is right. And I feel that these are values, including malama to take care, values that we can use today to create an environment within our society and with all social groups, regardless of your race, regardless of your background, that these are values that we hold and we hope that others who visit Hawai'i will not only see the Aloha spirit law as a mandate, but more as a way of living, a lifestyle of Aloha. And that's, I know that there was a campaign a long time ago. I believe it was Dukayona that was one of those who spearheaded the project. And I thank them for bringing that to life, and I'm going to honor them with that. And we all should be striving to show Aloha in everything we do, whether it be at home or in our business, in our activities, while we drive. A lot of people forget to show Aloha in many of these ways. Yeah, that's true. You know, there are far more middle fingers than there are shakas as we progress down the freeway. But let me ask you something else that is of great concern to me and really of great concern to many people in this community. And that is the current social situation of the Kanaka Maui community. I mentioned some of the problems that we continue to have at the beginning of the show, mass incarceration, systemic racism, educational underachievement, these kinds of things. How can Aloha, Pono, Kuliana, et cetera, how can these values help us to correct some of those problems? Well, like I mentioned before, I believe that if we strive for the highest level of Aloha, respecting each other, taking care of our Kuliana and living in Pono, being right, examples would be, like you said, showing Aloha while driving. Those are simple ways. Getting on an elevator, allowing others to go or to show courtesy wherever we are. Kuliana would be to take care of our responsibilities. So there'd be far less homeless if we as Ohana would take care of our own Ohana. And there would be very few, if any, homeless on the street. So if we took real good care of our Ohana, especially this is the disabled and the poor, then I think that that would make society a lot better for everyone. And sometimes we believe that people are throwaways because they are not like us. They don't have any money. They don't have any resources like we do. They might sleep next to a rubbish can. How do we show these people Aloha? What are we doing to be Pono? Do we just step around people? Do we pray for them? Do we do something to help? It's hard for me. I'm not sure when I see a homeless person. But I smile at them at least. I show them friendliness. I don't just walk past them and act like they don't exist. And I think a lot of them feel that they have been forgotten. There are a lot of disabled people out there in Hawaii that have been forgotten, as they are in the rest of the world a lot. I know that there are other cultures actually that treat their disabled a lot better than we do in Hawaii. Yeah, that's true. There are. There are nations in the world that have specifically allocated resources for that and have come up with some very innovative ways of keeping people that have disabilities mainstreamed, but at the same time protecting them from the kinds of things they may not be able to protect themselves from and also giving them an opportunity to continue to have meaningful relationships with people. Europe is a good example of that as some of the Scandinavian countries as well. What do we do here in Hawaii though? One of the problems that seems to have arisen, particularly when we talk about the issue of, I don't want to say homeless, but let's say housing insecurity, where people don't have one specific place that they can call their own. I know that the state government has come up with an initiative that says we should do housing first. Whatever other problems a person may have, we put them in housing first and then we let all of the other solutions fall in around that circle. It's a good theory, but what do you do with the person who has a mental illness, who thinks that the CIA is trying to steal their thoughts and the only place where the CIA can't find them is the traffic strip on the corner where Halekawila and Nimitz Highway meet and he wears a tinfoil helmet that he's made for himself so the CIA can't get his thoughts. You can offer that person housing all day long and it's not going to be helpful because in his case housing insecurity is not the problem. It's a symptom of a deeper perhaps and more significant kind of diagnosis. So what do we do for people like them? Well, I just want to say that I appreciate that you brought that up because there are a lot of people that we don't know that are coming and becoming part of the landscape. People like that I believe we also need to show aloha to and we need to find ways in our personal lives as well as our business lives, organizations and government in order to address the problems that they have. We cannot just pass them by and hope the best for them. I think that because these issues are so personal as well as public, it becomes public when the person is out on the street, that it's all of our kuleana to take care of whatever it is that needs to be done. One of the things that I'd like to do is audit government and see what they are doing to show aloha to the people that they care for, they entrust public trust to such as people on the road like that. Now we cannot just say that it's the government's responsibility. I know that and I'm just one person, but I know that there are resources for that person in the community that's not getting to them. And I think that it would be good for the Department of Health and other agencies like that who are trusted with the public's money, our tax dollars, right, that we pay them to not only address those issues, but also involve and engage the community in addressing those issues. So I don't want to put it all in the government, but I'm not an expert at mental health. But I know there are mental health experts out there that could go to those medial strips, take their kuleana to the medial strips instead of waiting for these people to come to them and provide them with social services right on the spot that they're in, the beaches and the medial strips of every Honolulu or Hawaiian roadway. Right. Let's talk a little bit about that right after this break. We need to do a little bit of housekeeping and share with our viewers some of the other awesome programming on Think Tech Hawaii. So we will be back in 60 seconds. Aloha. I'm Kili Ikeena and I'm here every other week on Mondays at 2 o'clock p.m. on Think Tech Hawaii's Hawaii Together. In Hawaii Together we talk with some of the most fascinating people in the islands about working together, working together for a better economy, government and society. So I invite you into our conversation every other Monday at 2 p.m. on Think Tech Hawaii Broadcast Network. Join us for Hawaii Together. I'm Kili Ikeena. Aloha. This is the starting line. Posh! When this is over, you're dead. Read aloud 15 minutes, every child, every parent, every day. Hi, I'm Cheryl Crozier Garcia. Welcome back to Working Together on Think Tech Hawaii and I hope you got as big a laugh from that commercial as we did here at the studio. Joining me today is Kumu Shanalogen and she is here to talk about the ongoing status of Native Hawaiian issues in our community. Welcome back, Shannon. Thank you again for joining us. So what's happening within the Native Hawaiian community that we should be aware of? Well, there's some exciting things happening upcoming and I don't want to tell you exactly what the events are because they're still in the works. But I would like to say that there are a lot of educated Hawaiians out in the community that are trying to address the issues that our people deal with and it does not sit well with many of us to say that we are identified by the highest rates of diabetes, the highest rates of incarceration, the highest rates of houselessness, the highest rates of all the negatives in the community. When I look at those statistics, I think that that looks like to me a failure on the part of the entire community, not just Hawaiians. When we have any social group or any group within our society that do not do well, the kuleana is upon all of us, not just Hawaiians, not just those in the disabled community, not just those in government, but it's the kako thing we believe. Kako means everyone, me, you and everyone around us. And so as an educator, I believe, truly believe in the power of education, information is power. Knowing that there are people out there that need help and not doing it, that is to me a big breach in our kuleana that is not being pono. Many people treat others who do not have money or status. They mistreat them and they push them on the side. And so we have become a society that values money over relationship. And I think that to, as an educator, I have seen many children. I have taught over 3,000 children in the public school system on the island of Hawaii. And I teach Hawaiian studies, but the biggest lesson that I teach my children, my students, my haumana, is that you can be the smartest person in the world, but without aloha, all your brains and knowledge mean nothing. I want them to learn that aloha in all we do is the most important thing from the top to the bottom, from the principal to the lowest student, from the president, from the governor, down to those who we see who choose the street as their home or who are forced to choose the street as their home. I believe that everybody has value. And then I teach that in my classroom is that everyone has value. Do the kids get it? Do they understand? Because it seems like children are born and they understand these things innately. And then at some point they forget or they lose the knowledge. And then they become cynical skeptical adults like us. So how do we keep that knowledge of aloha respect, dignity, at top of mind for your kids so that 15 years later they can come back to you and say, you know, Kumu, I learned a lot from you. Well, I just have to say that emulation, role modeling is the biggest way that we can show others how to live. We cannot preach it or teach it unless we live it. So I try my best to teach it by showing it. Everybody in my classroom is treated with respect. And if it's not given, it's taught quickly. And I believe that the human spirit needs to be opened up in order to learn. So to feel that you are respected and loved, cared about and that the learning environment is a safe place, that's when children learn. And a lot of these lessons are untaught or other lessons are taught over it by society. We see ads, we see all kinds of lifestyles that are not living in aloha. For example, normally businesses are not very kind to workers who need family time. Family time is not a priority for many businesses out there, even in Hawaii. There are laws like the family leave law and all of that. However, I have found in my own life and in others that the family leave act is not always honored by companies and also people have been penalized. I myself have been penalized for taking leave for family. Now in Hawaii, family to us is everything. We believe and hopefully we continue with this value that our family deserves our first priority in our life. Our family deserves our attention. Our family is the core source for our existence. So we give back our kupuna, our keiki, our makua, the parents. We all live up to this ideal. Many of us fail. I myself have failed. But we get back up and we keep going with kala, which is forgiveness and to know that aloha can still be shown to those who fall. One example that I can tell you about businesses that have actually shown aloha, which is a really surprising thing, but I really appreciate when I see it. So I'd like to come up with a positive because there are many positive things about Hawaii. One of them is that we still operate with the spirit of ohana in our businesses. And I know a lot of businesses, even with my school, Hawaii Pacific University, this has become like an ohana to me. I have a close family member that just passed away. And his parent is an employee at Hawaii Five Bull. And I didn't expect this. However, I would like to give a big shout out to Hawaii Five Bull because the cast and crew really surrounded our family through our tragedy. With the most aloha, they took care of their kuleana. They let my family member off work, how long he needs. And they are doing collection at work to help with funeral expenses, all kinds of help, personal help. People coming to the mortuary to help with anything they can, being one-on-one, showing that aloha face-to-face, not just writing a check. And to me, that was so powerful to my relative. And it's powerful for me knowing that there is still aloha and ohana in our community, in our society being shown by big companies. And I just want to really say that I continue to have faith in the power of aloha and that it can change the world. I believe it too. And since we're sharing stories, let me share one with you. This is from many, many years ago. It was one of my first executive positions. And we were in an industry that's predominantly female. So the men are all senior managers and the women do all the work, as was common in that time for most industries. There was a woman that had gone out on maternity leave and she returned. She placed her baby in childcare with the children of several other female employees who had kids that needed care during the day. So when this baby was about two months old, she hadn't been back from leave for very long, so she got a phone call saying, you need to go to the hospital. Your daughter is not breathing. Now the woman had to accompany the baby to the hospital because there's nobody to sign forms, etc. And so this particular woman happened to be the secretary to the president. So she walked into the president's office and she said, I got to go. Peace out. See you later. And the president of the company and the chief financial officer, both of whom were fathers and had grown children, went to that woman's house and stayed with the rest of those kids until their parents could come and get them. And that was one of my biggest lessons for how to be a leader and how to really support and show respect for your employees. Because this guy was a real, he was a hardcore dude. He yelled and he was very sort of, you know, business oriented. And yet in an emergency, he is providing support when it's needed, something that he could do and he did do willingly. And that just did so much for me. So I agree with you. Aloha is possible, always. The question is, how do we make it always? How do we get past feeling crabby and you cut me off in traffic and you ate the last cookie and how come I never get to have Christmas Eve off and all of those kinds of things. How do we get past those perceived injustices and get to the place where we actually can show Aloha to each other? Well, that comes with the last letter of Aloha that is in the acronym ahunui to be patient. Change doesn't happen overnight. Many decades have destroyed our value system and redirected us into a money value system or a power value system. And I think as parents, as educators, as business owners, as government officials, as anybody in this community that has a kuleana responsibility or a place here, I believe we all have the individual responsibility to make things formal. How do we get it back? Like I just said, patients. Each one of us has to come to the realization that we are all very important to this community. And it's not a matter of status. It's not a matter of title. It's not a matter of bank account. It's a matter of who we are as children of akua. Akua is the God of all of us. We are children of our God. What we believe is Hawaiians, that we are just the same. And there are a lot of people out there that do not understand aloha because they were not shown it. Like I said before, emulation, education, information. And I would like to create a methodology that's called the aloha method. Let's do it. One that's got all the right inputs and all the right outputs. I have a company, aloha consultants, and what I plan to do in the next year is I plan to create a system where I'm going to examine and get data from all government agencies, businesses in Hawaii that are influencing and also managing a lot of resources and people's trust such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Human Services, the courts, legislature, all of those. And I would like to know how they treat all of us citizens because it comes from the top down. So if they, as our leaders, show aloha, take care of their kuleana and our pono in their dealings with us, it can only create a ripple effect. So I'm going to audit them in the next year or two. They're all going to come. And I want to help you. I type really fast so I can help. You know, when you live on an island, land, fresh water, and the rest of life's necessities are finite. To survive, everyone needs to share, taking only what they need and leaving the rest for others. Being able to afford to purchase scarce resources doesn't entitle somebody to buy more than they need and deprive others of scarce resources. In pre-contact Hawaii, sharing was the law of the land. Each person could feel secure knowing that there would be enough of life's necessities. There was some security, too, in knowing that children, elders, and those who could not care for themselves were entitled to protection and care. There are those who would say that as a Stone Age culture, our kupuna's way of life was primitive and difficult and that technology and modern conveniences have improved life. That may be true for those who can afford to buy those things, but there are many people for whom even life's most basic needs are unattainable. There are children who go to bed hungry and elders who have to choose between their medications and food. In our traditional culture, these issues were not part of life's daily equation. So tell me, which culture is the primitive one? The one where everyone had enough or the one where some have too much and others have nothing at all? That's all for this edition of Working Together on ThinkTech Hawaii. I'm Cheryl Crozier-Garcia and on behalf of all of the volunteers here at ThinkTech, thank you for watching and happy holidays.