 Aloha and welcome to Hawaii Together on the Think Tech Hawaii Broadcast Network. I'm Kaylee Akeena, a trustee in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. However, I'm here today in my own personal capacity to share with you a wonderful friend who's joining the program today. But first, I'd like to think back to my days on the Waianae Nanakuli Coast. That's some of the most beautiful land in all of the world. Take a look at the stretch of beach that goes from mile after mile, beautiful ocean, lovely mountains, wonderful people. I'll always remember my days there and that's where I started my professional life as a young youth worker working with Hawaiian and other young people. Now today, I'm so delighted that I have a young man who is taking the helm at leading his community. He's a product of the Waianae Nanakuli Coast and he's experienced what a lot of people have over there. Some of the challenges, but he's turned those challenges into hope. My guest today is going to talk with us about the nature of the coast, the conditions of the people, what is going on, what we can do to build a great future for everyone there. And I'd like you to meet him now. Please welcome Diamond Garcia. Diamond, welcome to the program. Aloha, Kaylee. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm really honored to be here. Well, Diamond, it's just great to have you on the program. In fact, you're right there now on the Nanakuli Coast. Tell me where you are in particular. Absolutely. I'm here in Nanakuli on Helelua Street in my apartment here. I'm maybe about one block from the beach. I know that place well. It's not very far from my old stopping grounds at the Nanakuli High School and a little church there where I used to bring young people. Nanakikopono Protestant Church. On first road, absolutely. That's great. Now, you've kind of grown up on the coast, but you've been to the mainland and back. Tell me a little bit about your upbringing and what you faced as a young person. Sure. Yeah. So, you know, born and raised here on the leeward side of Oahu my whole life, in and out of housing, public housing programs, was on welfare, food stamps growing up. So, I was raised in the typical west side life, I guess you could say. A life of hardship, my dad was a drug dealer out here. You know, he sold drugs. And so, growing up, I just had a mindset that when you get older, that's just what adults do. And so, I soon realized, you know, that was not the case and that my life wasn't really a normal life. Unfortunately, it was in the norm out here because I had lots of friends where their parents did the same thing as well. So, growing up, my mind was warped a little bit, and it wasn't until something happened later in my life that it really changed at all. Wow. That's quite a disclosure, Diamond, and you're so free to talk about your upbringing when you were young, but obviously something must have happened. Sometimes people say the conditions that they were raised and determined their future, that certainly wasn't the case exclusively in your life. What made the difference? What is the change? Yeah. So, long story short, so at the age of 12 years old, it was summer break, and I was at my grandmother's house. Now, my grandma loves to cook. She cooks, I mean, she cooks and bakes, and she just loves to be in the kitchen. So, I was at her house during a summer break, and I was bored, and so I was going through a bunch of boxes in her closet, and there was a box of cookbooks, and so for a few hours, I was just scrolling through cookbooks, looking at recipes, looking at pictures. However, I got to the bottom of this box of cookbooks, and on the bottom of this box was a book called The Great Controversy, and so I picked it up. I said, you know, this book is interesting because it's not a cookbook, and the front cover started with me, actually. It was a picture of the world on fire, and I said, what in the world is this book about? And so I opened to the front, to the first page, and the first words in the book were, if thou had known, and I said, what in the world does that mean? It makes no sense to me. And so I put the book away, and I went on playing that day. I was only 12 years old, but that evening I came back into my grandma's house from playing, and I saw the book lying there, and so I picked it up again, and this time I went to the back of the book because that's where the pictures were. And I saw this picture of a man in the sky with a bunch of things around him, and I had no clue what this was, and so I began to read that chapter. It was called God's People Delivered, and I read about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and I was like, wow, this is an amazing event. And so long story short, I read through the entire book in three to four days, and I went to church that next weekend, and from that point on, I've been involved in my churches, in the preaching circuits around Hawaii, and the country, and internationally as well. What a turnaround, and it seems that faith made the big difference in your life. Absolutely. What are some of the challenges that young people like yourself face growing up on the Hawaiian and Nanakuli coast? Well, I think one of the most common is being told from a young child that you're not going to go too far in life. I mean, your parents were on welfare and food stamps, you're going to be on welfare and food stamps, you're not going to go to college, we don't have any money, you know. And so just being raised in this environment, you think, well, all hope is gone, there's no future for me. But as I read that book, The Great Conversy, I read stories about powerful men throughout history like Martin Luther in the 1500s who stood up for what he believed in and started a revolution in Europe. I read stories about John Wyclef whose life was at stake for translating the Bible from Latin into the common language. And he stood up for what he believed in and changed the world around him. And so the book inspired me to simply say, Diamond, you know what? Just because you're in public housing programs, just because you were homeless once upon a time, just because you were on welfare and food stamps and all these other handouts from the government, it doesn't mean you have to stay there. This is the greatest country in the world and we have so many opportunities that's available to us, especially if you're lower income, there's so much scholarships and grants and all these different types of things available to us. And so I said, you know what, Diamond? You are going to rise up and change the world around you and not allow the world around you to change you. Now Diamond, you really took your life in your hands and made something of yourself very quickly after that. You went on, you finished your education, you went to college. Absolutely. You work now. Yeah, you know, so. Yes. Uh-huh. No, no, yeah, so. You went now to the state capital and you are a member of your neighborhood board. So tell us a little bit about what you're doing in the community. Sure, sure. So currently, I serve on the Nanakuli Myili neighborhood board. I am a board member. However, all that I say today is not a reflection of the board. It's myself as a private citizen. But yes, I do sit on the neighborhood board out here. I also am the office manager for Representative Jean Ward, the house minority leader here in the state of Hawaii. And so I really enjoy what I do for the last few years, about three to five years, I've been traveling the world, preaching the gospel of Christ on multiple continents. And I still am totally involved in that today. I'm constantly traveling, flying here, flying there, just preaching the gospel. And so it really is a privilege to both serve God first and foremost and people around the world with the gospel. And then also to serve my community, which I view as a ministry. What are the kinds of things you're involved in in your community? Tell me a little bit about your vision of the kinds of changes you'd like to see happening in Nanakuli. Well, you know, one of the top things on my bucket list of really addressing here on the west side is crime, first and foremost. You know, crime has been increasing statewide. I mean, every single day you look in the news nationally and locally, there's shootings and killings and robberies and all these different things. But crime has also escalated here exponentially on the Waianae Coast, just on my street, Helelua Street. A few weeks ago, there was a shooting down the road in Waianae. There was a shooting where father and son died. So crime has been rising exponentially here on the Waianae Coast. And so I really think that we should get to the root cause of these crimes and not just address the symptoms. You know, politicians really like to address the symptoms and they never hit the root cause to things. And that's one of the reasons why our state is currently in the state it's in. Well, we could be talking about crime. We could be talking about poverty. We could be talking about drug abuse, alcoholism, abusive families and so forth. But you seem to bring it all back to a common core. You use the term root cause. What do you mean by root cause of these kinds of problems? Well, you know, when you go to the doctor's office and you have high blood pressure or you have high cholesterol and you say, doctor, you know, my heart's hurting. I have this and this or whatever is going on. The doctor can prescribe you medication to address the symptoms that you're currently facing. However, if you don't change your lifestyle and perhaps a more healthier lifestyle, the problem is still going to arise over and over and over again to the point where we're dependent upon the prescription to keep you alive. In the same way, if the state doesn't address the root cause of the problems here in our state, the people will continue to be dependent upon the government to keep them in a state of survival. Well, obviously then you are inferring that the state does a lot of activity to prescribe solutions to people, but they only deal with the symptoms, not the really root causes. So what is the root cause of the problems that people face in our state? Well, you know, I mean, for each person it's dumb. There are, you know, families have different circumstances, of course, but I think we really have to hit the kids when they're in elementary school, when their brains are still a sponge and their characters are still being molded, you know, and to really go into schools or churches or the basketball teams and really tell these kids, you know what, just because you were born in this environment, just because your parents were so-and-so or your siblings are so-and- so you don't have to be there. You can become anything you want to be as long as you put your mind to it. It sounds as though you're saying people really need to learn to believe in themselves, to have a vision, to have hope, to aspire, to become something great. It's something that you've done yourself. Is that what you mean when you talk about the root cause reaching down into what human, what motivates individuals and reaching them when they're young? Absolutely, you know, and also like, like was mentioned earlier by you, lots of abuse here on the wine echoes, whether it's sexual abuse or physical abuse or verbal or mental abuse, there's lots of abuse and many of the kids are acting out on their abuse. You know, they can't cope with certain things and so they turn to drugs or alcohol to mask the symptoms, to mask the symptoms while trying to suppress the root cause as to why they're doing this, which they're doing. And so we really have to dig deep. It's kind of like an onion, you know, just peel layer after layer off to help people realize the core of their issues, address the core and believe me, people on this coastline can go super far in life, super far. Lots of smart kids out here, extremely smart, brilliant and talented, we just have to get to the root cause, address the issue and allow them to be the person they truly are and watch them go far in life. We're going to take a short break, Diamond. And when we come back, I'd like to talk about some of the challenges that people who do live on the coast face, talking about the economy in part, lifestyle and other things, including some of the isolation that gets, gets exacerbated whenever there are traffic accidents on Farrington Highway. But don't go away, because I'd like your mana'o and your wisdom on these thoughts, these ideas. And we'll be right back. I'm Kaley Iacina on the Think Tech Hawaii Broadcast Network with my guest, Diamond Garcia. We'll be right back after this. Aloha, y'all. My name is Mitch Ewan. I'm from the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute. And I'm the host of Hawaii, the state of clean energy. We're on every Wednesday at four o'clock. And we hope that we have interesting guests who talk to us about various energy things that are happening in Hawaii all the way from PV to windmills to hydrogen, most of my heart, electric buses and electric vehicles. So please dial in every Wednesday at four o'clock on Hawaii, the state of clean energy. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Lillian Cumick, host of Lillian's Vegan World, the show where we talk about veganism and the plant-based diet located in Honolulu, Hawaii. I'm a vegan chef and cooking instructor, and I have lots of information to share with you about how awesome this plant-based diet is. So do tune in every second Thursday from 1 p.m. Aloha. Thanks for being back with us. I'm Kaley Iacina on the Think Tech Hawaii Broadcast Network. My guest, Diamond Garcia, is a great example of how somebody has faced challenges in his life and has now become a young leader in his community trying to work for great change. Now some of those changes have to deal with the economy itself. And we're going to talk a little bit about that as I return now to Diamond. Diamond, welcome back to the program. Thanks for hanging out with me. How would you describe the economic conditions of the Wai'anae coast, in particularly non-Akuli, where you live? Well, the current state, unfortunately, it's poor economically. However, there is extreme potential on the Wai'anae coast. Poor, but with extreme potential. And when we talk about that poverty, what contributes to it? I can think of one thing, just in particular, working with young people. When the summer months came, there was nowhere really in non-Akuli to get jobs. I mean, you could count on two hands the jobs that teenagers could actually find. And what that meant is that teens would either have to find transportation to the other side of the island or just get into mischief. And some people have fought long and hard, however, to prevent certain forms of economic activity. What do you think? Do you think we need more economic activity in non-Akuli in particular? And what kind of activity would that be? Well, there is a huge potential for farming out here. Some of the best ag land is here on the west side. And a lot of the land is not being utilized, unfortunately. And we could perhaps be self-sustaining out here with produce and other types of agriculture. Farming is a hard thing. And lots of parents who have kids who are raised on the farm see how hard it is and how much labor it takes to really be fruitful on a farm. And lots of the kids nowadays don't want to go into the family profession, per se. But I think, and I will continually push for agriculture here on the Waianae Coast because there's so much potential in that field out here. Secondly, is vocational programs in our schools. I think if we would simply, well, first and foremost, I'm a huge proponent and supporter of educational choice and various types of education. And unfortunately, Common Core has really ruined our school systems. Every school should adapt to the environment it's in. 80% of all the graduates on the Waianae Coast end up in blue-collar fields of work, whether it's construction, whether it's carpentry, mechanics or whatever it is, they end up in blue-collar work. 20% end up in white-collar work. And that's totally fine. White-collar is no better than blue-collar. I mean, they're totally fine. However, our schools are focusing on something called STEM, science, technology, engineering, mathematics. And I say, you know, that's great. That's really good. But we have to include something else in there. And so I push for something called STEAM, S-T-E-A-M, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, whether it's the various arts in schools and music or whether it's woodshop or metalwork or mechanics in schools. If we can prepare our kids to have skills under their belt when they graduate, they'll have no problem finding a job because they're already equipped with skills. In fact, there are businesses in this district, in this house, District 43 in Camel Industrial, who are saying, we really need workers, we really need workers. And they would really love to train kids in high school to do what their job consists of. But unfortunately, the DOE is making it hard for that to happen. But if we could simply include vocational programs in our schools, we could see an economic boom statewide and of course here on the Y-N-I coast. So one of the things that you're saying is that the way we educate young people now doesn't match them to the pragmatic needs of their career. In other words, they're not getting the training that will actually land them into the kinds of professions and jobs and careers that really make them a livelihood. That problem has to be solved. You mentioned something a little earlier and I wanted you to explain that for our viewers. You said you're a proponent of something called educational choice. Now, what exactly does that mean and what would it look like for people living in Nanakuli? Sure, absolutely. Well, the average person, of course, gets married, has children. And as the child matures, they normally send their kid to the local public school. And I've talked to many parents out here on the Y-N-I coast here in Nanakuli who are simply not happy with the education their children are receiving at the local public school. And so I'm a huge proponent of choice. And what that means, parents ought to have the choice to choose what type of education their child will receive, whether it's public school education, then that's fine. Whether it's charter school education, that's fine. Whether it's Hawaiian immersion school education or private education or even homeschooling. Parents ought to have the freedom to choose what type of education their children receives. Currently, we pay taxes for our education of young people. Yes. There's generally one option to go to the public school that happens to be in your region unless you get some kind of district exemption from that. Sure. And you know, so public school, of course, under the DOE comes the Charter School Commission as well. And here in Nanakuli, there is a charter school. It's Kauaihona Elementary School. And Hawaiian immersion is involved. However, there is an equity involved here. Because you see, in the public school systems, the DOE funds the schools 10,000 per pupil or 10,000 per student. In the charter school system, the DOE funds them 7,000 per pupil. And it doesn't include money for meals. It does not include funds for transportation. And so the schools aren't being equally funded per se. And so we need to really work on that. Because charter schools should be an option for parents out here. In addition, charter schools don't have the facilities that the regular public schools have as well. So it makes it somewhat cost prohibitive to really run a charter school that meets the needs of a community. Right. Now, there are social challenges that you've faced and others in the community face out there in Waianae and Nanakuli. Raising a family, being in a family and so forth. What are some of these challenges that young people face growing up in the home? And what can be done about that? Well, you know, some of the challenges here is just the environment in general. If you go to a public school, you will be exposed to things as a parent that you wouldn't want your kid exposed to. But unfortunately, it's just the environment out here. Other kids, you know, smoking weed in fourth, fifth grade, drinking alcohol early on, experimenting with drugs, crystal meth, cocaine, all sorts of things. And I know because I went to public school myself. And from a very early age, I used to go into the boys restroom in like fourth grade and see kids smoking weed in there, you know? So the circumstances around kids here on the Waianae Coast sometimes seems as if the deck is stacked against them. And that's why I'm so, so passionate about talking to kids early on in elementary schools, inspiring them, saying, Hey, guys, just because these things are happening around you, it doesn't mean you copy and you follow. The best people in the world aren't followers, they're leaders. And so take your life, lead, look forward and move forward. And you can and will become anything you want to be. Well, and you've been an example of that. I do want us to mention before leaving the subject of public schools that there are also some wonderful things that are happening in the public schools in non-accruity. Oh, absolutely. Such as a non-accruity high school, there is an openness to external programs. I know there was one I was involved in a bit, and that was Teach for America that brought in teachers from outside of the community to help support and supplement the teachers that are in the community. So the options for school choice actually include not only charter schools and private schools and so forth, but also include the public school itself, different options that can be offered within it. Now, I'm sure you've dealt with this as you've grown up. There are certain stereotypes of young people who come out of non-accruity. And many of those stereotypes are simply not true whatsoever. Sometimes they hang on people, though. What are some stereotypes that you have been confronted with that you would like to see erased and eliminated and definitely young people of non-accruity not believing in themselves? Well, you know, some of the stereotypes, I think the connotation that people have is what good can come out of Nazareth, right? What good can come out of the Wai'anae Coast? I mean, all the kids out there are exposed to criminal activity. They're probably smoking weed early on. Their parents have issues. They're raising or they're raised on food stamps and welfare. Therefore, they're more prone to thievery or to criminal things. I've had the stereotypes of myself, you know, just working in a professional environment. And people say, oh, you're from Wai'anae. So, you know, apparently that means something's different about you if you're from the Wai'anae Coast. Well, I think you certainly have shown that no stereotype is true in and of itself, because it's what the individual decides to become in his or her life that makes the ultimate difference. That's right. Diamond, you're also part native Hawaiian. And yes, non-accruity happens to be the most densely populated native Hawaiian region on the planet. That's right. One of the reasons happens to be because of the extent of native Hawaiian homestead land. What are some of the challenges native Hawaiians face and how are they being handled now on the non-accruity? Well, you know, one of the huge challenges besides economic instability and housing, one of the huge challenges which I think really should be addressed is the health of native Hawaiians. Unfortunately, if you ask the State Department of Health, who has the worst health statistics on the island or in the state, they'll tell you the native Hawaiian population. And in fact, here on the Wai'anae Coast, extreme high rates of high blood pressure, extreme high rates of type 2 diabetes, extremely high rates of depression itself. So mental and physical health is very low and poor in the native Hawaiian community. And so I'm very passionate about addressing the health of our people. That's fantastic. We've come to the end of our program and I just want to give you about 30 seconds to talk to those young people who are out there who may be listening. What word would you have for other young people? Don't stop fighting. Don't stop fighting. I was born and raised on the streets just like you. I wasn't raised with a silver spoon in my mouth. I know the struggle, but if you work hard and you put your mind to things and you don't stop fighting, you will become what you want to be. Trust in God. Love your family. Work hard. God bless. Well, Diamond, thank you so much. I'm very proud of you. And I know you're going to go far. Thanks for being with us today. Thank you, Kile'i. My guest today is Diamond Garcia. I know all of you are going to hear a lot more about him in the years to come. I'm Kile'i Akina with the Think Tech Hawaii Broadcast Network. Until next time, aloha.