Hawaiʻi Rising

A conversation about the past, present, and future of demilitarization activism with seasoned organizers Joy Enomoto and Kyle Kajihiro from Hawaiʻi Peace & Justice (HPJ). HPJ is a long-time HPF grantee working to promote peace, social justice, and ea in Hawaiʻi through community organizing, popular education, nonviolent direct action, and art as a tool for social change. HPJ's Koa Futures Initiati...

Announcing a new season of Hawaiʻi Rising. Coming soon to all major podcast platforms.

Kenji and Tsuyuno join HPR Generation Listen for a Listening Lounge, hosted by Paige Okamura. A look back at the first year of the show as we revisit clips from past episodes and reflect on the creation of Hawaiʻi Rising. Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea event information: Thomas Square (Honolulu): https://lahoihoiea.org/ Pokaʻi Bay (Waiʻanae): https://www.facebook.com/LaHoiWaianae   Featuring clips from:  Ep 1. Hu...

On our recent trip to Molokai, we got to talk story with Uncle Walter Ritte about the movement for Kahoʻolawe, the search for mana in Pelekunu Valley, and the restoration of Molokai's fish ponds. Uncle Walter founded Hui o Kuapā in 1989 to restore fish ponds on Molokai. Check out episode 1 of Hawaiʻi Rising for our interview with the current leaders of Hui o Kuapā, Hanohano and Maile Naehu. Tags:...

Join us July 15, 7-8pm HST for a live Listening Lounge hosted by HPR's Generation Listen. We'll listen to highlights from the first season of Hawaiʻi Rising and talk story about HPF and the making of the podcast with moderator Paige Okamura, aka DJ Mermaid (host of Hawaiʻi Kulāiwi and Bridging the Gap). Registration link here and on the HPF website.

In our first Urgent Action Grant Spotlight, Elizabeth Okinaka from Save Kōloa shares the latest in the struggle to protect the Kiahuna Burial Cave on Kauaʻi, where a proposed luxury condo project threatens Hawaiian burials, archaeological sites, and two endangered species. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Savekoloa Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

A conversation with ʻĪmaikalani Winchester, Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, and Mahina Kaomea from Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea Honolulu. LHE Honoluluʻs mission is to provide safe spaces to celebrate Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea through educational, cultural, and community networking events, focusing on Hawaiian independence, social justice and open dialogue around multi-faceted practices of EA (life, breath, rising, sovereignty)....

An interview about the restoration of taro-feeding streams in East Maui with Jerome Kekiwi, Jr. and Amanda Martin of Nā Moku Aupuni o Koʻolau Hui. Nā Mokuʻs mission is to perpetuate the Kanaka Maoli traditional and customary lifestyle of Keʻanae-Wailuanui. Encompassing nearly 400 acres of loʻi, it was renowned for taro farming until commercial stream diversions completely dewatered the area. In 20...

An interview about protecting burials and challenging illegal sand mining with Clare Apana, Cody Nemet Tuivaiti, and Uʻi Hotta of Mālama Kakanilua. Mālama Kakanilua is presently engaged in direct action resistance/protection of ʻiwi kūpuna and aims to stop the Grand Wailea Resort from constructing 151 hotel units, swimming pools, new wings, and injection wells in known Kanaka Maoli burial grounds...

An interview about standing for the Mauna as a family featuring Pua Case, Hāwane Rios, and Kapulei Flores of Mauna Kea Education and Awareness (MKEA). The mission of MKEA is to educate and raise the awareness of communities in Hawai’i and beyond on the spiritual, historical, cultural, environmental, and political significance of Mauna Kea and ALL sacred places, and provide cultural learning opport...

An interview with Setiro Paul, former member of the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia and founder of the Chuuk Language and Cultural School on Oʻahu. The Chuuk Language and Cultural Association of Hawaiʻi, Inc.(Chuukmenessor) was founded in January 2016 by parents in the Oʻahu Chuukese community. The group sought to establish a school where their children can learn Chuukese indigenous...

On Lā Honua (Earth Day) 2022, kiaʻi from different movements for land and water across Oʻahu gathered in Waialeʻe on the North Shore to build solidarity and connect with the movement to protect the Kahuku community from a proposed military radar. In this short podcast special, we take you on a march to the proposed radar site and spotlight a speech by Kainoa Azama, a young leader who heads the Hui...

In this special episode, we take you to Kuamoʻo on Hawaiʻi island to hear the mo’olelo of the Battle of Kuamo’o on the ‘āina where it happened and to talk story with Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer about the impacts of uncontrolled real estate development and the promise of an alternative economics rooted in aloha ‘āina. Kamana Beamer is a professor at the University of Hawaiʻi - Mānoa, a founding memb...

Ova Saopeng is a theater artist and one of the creators of Masters of the Currents, a collaborative production from TeAda Productions and the Micronesian Health Advisory Coalition. Masters of the Currents addresses the tension and strife that has arisen around the arrival of Micronesians to Hawai’i. As the newest wave of immigrants, many fleeing their island nations due to environmental and econom...

A conversation about learning composting and teaching kuleana with Michelle Uʻilani Pieper, Hawaiian language teacher and founder of Hānai Kaiāulu. Hānai Kaiāulu (HK) is a student-led non-profit organization dedicated to reducing food waste through bokashi composting, food recovery and education. HK’s composting program engages and educates people about food systems and community sustainability, p...

An interview about childbirth and the regeneration of ancestral knowledge with ʻIolani Brosio, co-founder of Kalauokekahuli. Kalauokekahuli supports Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander birthing people by providing culturally based prenatal, birth, and postpartum support and education. They seek to directly address NHPI disparities in birth outcomes by creating free, accessible, and culturally com...

A conversation about kuleana and community care with Kūlia Tolentino-Potter, co-founder of Pōhāhā I Ka Lani. Pōhāhā i Ka Lani builds upon nearly two decades of the organization’s land stewardship and revitalization efforts in Waipiʻo Valley, helping to ensure that the wahi pana thrives with native plants and deepens the relationship between residents and visitors helping to mālama ʻāina. The hui h...

A conversation about ʻāina and activism with Lynette Cruz and Sparky Rodrigues, board members of Mālama Mākua. Mālama Mākua is a Kanaka Maoli-led non-profit organization dedicated to bringing about the return of sacred Mākua Valley for culturally appropriate use. They preserve and protect this wahi pana on Oʻahuʻs west side through continuous community access and engagement, establishing constant...

Dr. Kamana Beamer, executive director of Aloha Kuamoʻo ʻĀina (AKA), tells the story of the historic Battle of Kuamoʻo in this interview alongside AKA program director Kelsy Jorgensen. AKA offers a critical and special place in Kona for ʻŌiwi youth and all families across their island to deepen their cultural and spiritual ties to the land. Since 2016, AKA has connected over 2,000 community members...

A conversation about the future of STEM in Hawaiʻi with Kyle Yoshida and Maveric Abella, founding members of Honua Scholars. Honua Scholars empowers local students to pursue STEM careers and advanced degrees to be Hawaiʻi’s STEM leaders. Formed in 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic and the perceived dissonance between culture and science, Honua Scholars supports STEM development alongside cult...

Meet Anthony Arce and Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt from Language Acquisition and Immersion for the New Generation (LAING). LAING Hawaiʻi utilizes heritage language learning as a tool for social and political education. Their programming provides opportunities for cultural reclamation of ancestral knowledge as they work towards collective liberation and radical futures. LAINGʻs current programming inc...

A conversation with Todd Yamashita, the president of the Ho’āhu Energy Cooperative Molokai (HECM).  HECM was born out of a grassroots community effort to shape Molokai’s energy future through community-developed and -owned renewable energy projects. Their mission is to produce locally owned, affordable, renewable energy for the benefit of their members, the community, and the environment in Moloka...

An interview about health and healing in the home with Keola Chan, the kumu at the traditional Hawaiian healing school Ka Pā o Lonopūhā. Ka Pā o Lonopūhā was founded in 2009 to train the next generation of lomilomi practitioners. They are dedicated to reviving the practice of Lomi Ae by taking a holistic approach to health. Rooted in Mauli Ola, their goal is to raise the consciousness of tradition...

Meet Krisha Zane, the EA Ecoversity Administrator at Kū-A-Kanaka, LLC. Kū-A-Kanaka is a native Hawaiian women-owned and -operated social enterprise headquartered in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island that founded EA Ecoversity, a Hawaiian culture-based higher education and career training program that provides blended online and offline learning in an atmosphere of aloha. EA Ecoversity offers a tuition-free,...

Since families living in military housing first found fuel in their tap water in November, the Red Hill water crisis has mobilized a broad movement demanding the shutdown of the 80-year-old facility and the protection of Oʻahu’s water. In today’s special episode, we join organizer and scholar Kyle Kajihiro for a DeTour, or demilitarization tour, and learn about U.S. militarism and grassroots activ...