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Spoken Word at the White House? Yes, that is change!
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Did any of you catch the video stream of the spoken word performances at the White House tonight? Let me just say that I'm still kind of shocked, in a good way that they let spoken word artists into the White House. So naturally, I checked to see if there were any AAPI poets reppin. And yes, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio was there. I hope she dropped some powerful knowledge about the struggles of Native Hawaiians, and the movement to recognize the self-determination and sovereignty of the Indigenous Hawaiian peoples, like she did in her poem in the youtube video, which was part of Russell Simmons' Brave New Voices documentary of the 2008 National Youth Slam Poetry Championship. In her poem, Jamaica proclaims, I will chant continuously to show you I am Hawaiian. I will stand, fight and chant and never be compliant, because the second I start worshipping the red, white and blue, pledging allegiance to a nation that turned our eyes red, people white, and hearts blue, is the second I know that the fight is doomed. And in 1893, we promised to back Lili'uokalani until she was free.... Unlike Asian Americans who are often fighting for acceptance, against being seen as a "foreigner," or fighting against being seen as a monolithically successful group, Indigenous Pacific Islanders are struggling for sovereignty, to reclaim lands that are stolen from them. Yes, I'm of the belief that Hawaii is illegally occupied. President Clinton even signed an apology resolution in 1993. But we're still there, and by "we" I also mean we Asian American settlers and occupiers... mmm.... perhaps this whole Asian American and Pacific Islander thing should be saved for another post. While the Asian American spoken word movement has been rather strong as of the last decade, with great talents like Anida Yoeu Ali, Bao Phi, Marlon Esguerra, Giles Li, Adriel Luis, Ruby Veridiano-Ching, and many others; and there is a collective of folks who meet up every couple years or so at the APIA Spoken Word & Poetry Summit, I've never heard of a Pacific Islander (Hawaiian, Tongan, Samoan, Chamorro, etc.) poet or artist in those spaces. So for now, I'm just going to stand back in amazement that an amazing Native Hawaiian poet, who has proudly presented the Indigenous people's struggle, was welcomed by the White House to perform.