ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
NO. 2020 – 30
STANDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, JUSTICE, EQUITY, AND EQUALITY
WHEREAS, the Association recognizes the dignity of all human life (AHCC Const. 2.1.C) and as such the inviolable human dignity of our Black community members; and
WHEREAS, the Association recognizes that the Black Lives Matter social movement is a contemporary manifestation of the struggle for human dignity in America; and
WHEREAS, the Black Lives Matter social movement has caused the citizens of the United States to confront the tragic twenty-first century deaths of numerous Black men, women, transgender, queer, and minors including George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, Ahmaud Arbery in Satilla Shores, Georgia, Michael Brown in St. Louis, Missouri, Sandra Bland in Waller County, Texas, Tamir Rice and Tanisha Anderson in Cleveland, Ohio, Eric Garner in New York City, New York, Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, Laquan McDonald in Chicago, Illinois, Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, Mya Hall in Baltimore, Maryland, Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, and the countless other lives across generations who have been lost; and
WHEREAS, the Association acknowledges that this loss of life is another example of the inequity and inequality faced by our Black community members in the United States that is inextricably linked to structural and institutional racism and white supremacy; and
WHEREAS, the Association recognizes that the Black Lives Matter social movement is a part of the continuing struggle for fair treatment of those of Black heritage and Black mixed-race heritage in America building upon the struggles of those in the civil rights movement, the abolition movement, and those who survived the savagery of slavery; and
WHEREAS, the Association embraces all our Civic Club members who are of Black heritage and Black mixed-race heritage and we honor them for their contributions to further the legacy of our founder Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole and we celebrate them; and
WHEREAS, some Hawaiian Civic Clubs, especially those across the continental United States, have been invited to participate in the Black Lives Matter social movement; and
WHEREAS, these Hawaiian Civic Clubs have taken solidarity actions with the Black community and other peoples of color to affirm our common humanity; and
WHEREAS, the Association recognizes the shared social change and justice histories of Black people and Native Hawaiians in the United States and Hawai‘i, including how the first Black people arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in the early 1800s as deckhands on merchant and whaling ships, and came from Cape Verde, Africa, the Caribbean and the United States, and that these early Black residents ended their maritime careers and settled in Hawai‘i, with many of them becoming successful musicians, businessmen, and respected government officials; and
WHEREAS, a decade before the United States Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, the Kingdom of Hawai‘i Constitution of 1852 provided that “Slavery shall, under no circumstances whatsoever, be tolerated in the Hawaiian Islands; whenever a slave shall enter Hawaiian territory he shall be free, no person who imports a slave or slaves, into the King’s dominions shall ever enjoy any civil or political rights in this realm”; and
WHEREAS, in 1897, Black citizens of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i joined Native Hawaiians in their fight for liberation by signing the Kū‘ē Petition, protesting the annexation of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i by the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Association recognizes and appreciates the sustained and substantial contributions of Black people to Hawai‘i’s community, including: Anthony D. Allen, formerly enslaved, was a steward to King Kamehameha I; Oliver and George Washington Hyatt, served as the first two leaders of the Royal Hawaiian Band under King Kamehameha III; Betsey Stockton, formerly enslaved, started the first mission school in Lahaina open to the common people; Buffalo Soldiers built the 18-mile trail to the summit of Mauna Loa; Alice A. Ball, a chemist who was the first woman to earn a master’s degree from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and discovered the first treatment for leprosy (the “Ball Method”); Dr. Donnis Thompson, the University of Hawai‘i’s first women’s athletic director who started the Rainbow Wahine athletics program and successful wahine volleyball program; and many more unnamed contributors to Hawai‘i’s excellence and history; and
WHEREAS, the Black community and the Native Hawaiian community have shared similar, but not equivalent, experiences to systemic oppression and adversity, and have shown historical solidarity for social change and justice with the civil rights movements in the United States, including multiple visits by Dr. Martin Luther King to O‘ahu in 1959 and 1964, and with Dr. King and other civil rights leaders’ symbolic wearing of lei gifted to them by Reverend Abraham Akaka during the historic 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama; and
WHEREAS, the Association acknowledges that the Black community is the current manifestation of their ancestors, and continue to contribute to the betterment of the United States as leaders, business owners, innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, athletes, artists, cultural practitioners, activists, environmentalists, civil servants, chefs, police officers, firefighters, healthcare professionals, scientists, attorneys, construction workers, policymakers, and more; and
WHEREAS, the Association celebrates the Black community and affirms our mutual struggle against racism in all forms; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 61st Annual Convention held online, in the malama of Makali‘i and the rising of ‘Olekūkolu, this 22nd day of November 2020, standing in solidarity with the Black community in their struggle for social change, justice, equity, and equality; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, in the spirit of good citizenship and our interest in promoting the Hawaiian values of lōkahi (unity, harmony) and ‘onipa‘a (steadfastness, determination), the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs stands in solidarity with the Black community and all peoples of color against racism; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Black Lives Matter founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, the Pōpolo Project, Ka ‘Aha Lāhui o ‘Olekona Hawaiian Civic Club, the Governor of the State of Oregon, the Governor of the State of Washington, President Elect Joe Biden, Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, President Barack Obama, First-Lady Michelle Obama, as well as the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the Hawai‘i State Senate, Speaker of the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives, Chair of the Hawai‘i State Senate subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Hawai‘i State House subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all County Mayors.
The undersigned herby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of Makaliʻi and the rising of ʻOlekūkolu on the 22nd day of November 2020, at the 61st Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs held online.
Hailama V.K.K. Farden, President
