E Hoʻomalu Mai: Building Pilina Through Conflict and Difference
He ali‘i ka ‘āina, he kauwā ke kanaka.
E Ho‘omalu Mai
We borrow the phrase “E Ho‘omalu Mai” – to request protection and peace – from Uncle Harry Kunihi Mitchell’s Mele o Kaho‘olawe.
As we face challenging times in Hawai‘i, the Middle East, and around the world, we have to look no further than to Kaho‘olawe as once a site and mo‘olelo of extreme conflict and violence that is now a leading light of aloha and mālama ‘āina.
Grounded and inspired by our campus’ commitment to becoming a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning and the Native Hawaiian Principles in the UHM Strategic Plan, along with our designation as a center for Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation, the Campus Climate Committee puts forth the following programming to provide some tools and approaches for us to ho‘omalu ourselves, one another, and this place through the tension, challenging, and polarizing times we are facing now and will undoubtedly face in the future.
We begin by inviting you to step back and contextualize two words: “safety” and “speech” as we explore them through a variety of events and resources listed below as a means to think critically, and build the capacity to show respect towards one another. This work begins with pilina: building and finding our relationships and connections.
ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #532. He ali‘i ka la‘i, he haku na ke aloha
Where peace is, there love abides also.
E ho‘omalu mai.
In this theme of Maluhia, Mālama & Safety, to build pilina through conflict and difference, we focus on ‘safety’ as an English word that our campus community has been articulating as a goal. As we reflect on safety, we are reminded of mālama as a guiding principle because it is through caring for and tending to one another that we can arrive at a state of maluhia, described in English as peace, tranquility, and safety.
FEATURED EVENTS
Mālama ʻĀina Workshop (In-Person):
April 26, 2024 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm
How do we pause and reconnect in tangible ways to ʻāina? Join us in a hands-on, teamwork experience of taking care of our ‘āina and the plants that grow here. By caring for and grounding ourselves in this place that nourishes us, we will glean lessons on how to mālama one another and the places we come from. All are welcomed and we especially encourage those who are yearning for connection during challenge and tension to join us.
Register for this workshop here.
Indigenizing Self-Care Workshop (Online):
April 5, 2024, 10:00 – 11:00 am
What tools are available for taking care of ourselves and our bodies when we are actively enduring intergenerational trauma of oppression over our lands and peoples? This experience will introduce and provide tools grounded in Hawai‘i for self-care (such as connections to past and future, your healthy self, and community), with a specific lens on healing from intergenerational trauma. Learning how to care for ourselves provides the tools to care for one another and fostering spaces of care to rediscover relationships we have been disconnected from. All are welcomed and you do NOT need to identify as Indigenous to attend. We especially encourage those who are searching for holistic self-care during challenge and tension to join us. Register for this workshop here.
Safe Zones Training
April 23, 2024 from 2pm-3:30 pm
June 21, 2024 from 10am-11:30am
This training addresses oppression in an intersectional manner and shares allyship strategies to address bias, microaggressions and other forms of harassment. Tools presented can be used to address more than anti-LGBTQ+ bias. We are all invited to act strategically to challenge interpersonal prejudice and systemic oppression The Safe Zone training is part of a university-wide campaign to build a safe and welcoming campus community for LGBTQ+ people. What will be addressed:
- The difference between “assigned sex,” “gender” and “sexual orientation”
- The rights of the LGBTQ+ UHM community
- How to maximize gender and LGBTQ+ inclusion in your daily life
- What are strategies for allyship
- How to be an effective ally or advocate for LGBTQ+ people
Register for these trainings here.
Past Events
Pilina Circle
Wednesday, April 10, 2024, from 2-4:30 pm
What leads to prejudice and hate of various identity groups? At the heart of this answer is disconnection; disconnection from stories and experiences that remind us of the ways we are interrelated and part of the common human family.
How do we heal that disconnection? We reconnect. We rebuild our pilina.
This Pilina Circle will be a space where participants can share stories, listen deeply, and find connections, especially around the theme of safety. All are welcomed and we especially encourage those who are yearning for connection during challenge and tension to join us.
This Pilina Circle will be in person. Pre-registration is required. Register for this Pilina Circle here.
Teaching in Troubled Times: A conversation for faculty, by faculty
Thursday, April 4, 2024,12 noon – 1:15pm
Kuykendall 106 Events Room
Register for this conversation.
Classroom discussions are extraordinary opportunities for exchanges of ideas, experiences and perspectives. A kind of laboratory for faculty and students to sit together exploring what is known and knowledge that is unfolding, on matters with contending points of view that may or not appear to be resolvable. Matters such as the climate crisis, political elections, military conflict, social and cultural characteristics and practices, to name a few. What approaches can faculty take that preserve academic freedom of speech as well as civility, without necessarily always achieving a state of balance on issues of great impact.
Panel includes:
- Kath Sands, American Studies
- Lia Keawe, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies
- Colin Moore, Communication and Information, Matsunaga Institute for Peace
- Kathy Ferguson, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Political Science
(tba: STEM faculty on climate crisis) - Hazel Gedikli, Center for Teaching Excellence, moderator
This exchange among faculty will begin with the panel presenting varied approaches, then open up for a full discussion with attendees to illuminate effective teaching practices. We look forward to seeing you there!
Maluhia, Mālama and Safety Speaker Series Panel
Monday, April 1, 2024 from 2:30-4:00 pm
Maluhia, Mālama and Safety Speaker Series Panel Recording
Calling People In, Not Calling People Out.
I ka ʻōlelo nō ke ola,i ka ʻōlelo nō ka make (Words can heal; words can destroy). What words do we use to describe the feelings and experiences that are impacting our ʻāina and peoples? How can we be intentional about the language we bring to life with our leo (voice)? How can we “call people in” instead of just “calling them out” when we have a difference of opinion? In this session of the Speaker Series we will engage with specialists whose work focuses on ‘safety’ to help us explore and complicate this concept while also supporting our vocabulary to include additional verbiage for us to describe our situations and experiences.
Panel Includes:
- Jillian Freitas, Ka Malu a Wa‘ahila
- Andrew Black, Department of Public Safety
- Camaron Miyamoto, LGBTQ+ Center
- Laura Lyons, Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Excellence
- Niya McAdoo, Sister Circle
- Jennifer Rose, Office of Equity Assurance
Moderated by Kamakani Albano and Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Lipe
Indigenizing Self-Care Workshop (Online):
March 8, 2024, 9:00 – 10:00 am
What tools are available for taking care of ourselves and our bodies when we are actively enduring intergenerational trauma of oppression over our lands and peoples? This experience will introduce and provide tools grounded in Hawai‘i for self-care (such as connections to past and future, your healthy self, and community), with a specific lens on healing from intergenerational trauma. Learning how to care for ourselves provides the tools to care for one another and fostering spaces of care to rediscover relationships we have been disconnected from. All are welcomed and you do NOT need to identify as Indigenous to attend. We especially encourage those who are searching for holistic self-care during challenge and tension to join us.
Mālama ʻĀina Workshop (In-Person):
March 1, 2024 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm
How do we pause and reconnect in tangible ways to ʻāina? Join us in a hands-on, teamwork experience of taking care of our ‘āina and the plants that grow here. By caring for and grounding ourselves in this place that nourishes us, we will glean lessons on how to mālama one another and the places we come from. All are welcomed and we especially encourage those who are yearning for connection during challenge and tension to join us.
Resources and Materials
Campus Resources:
UHM Department of Public Safety (DPS): https://manoa.hawaii.edu/dps/
- UH Mānoa’s DPS is dedicated to providing and promoting a safe and secure campus, and serving our community with aloha. Services include walking escorts and vehicle transportation, 24/7 Emergency Call Boxes around campus as identified by their blue light, and reporting crime.
DPS Resource List: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/dps/resources/
DPS also provides links to and descriptions of other on-campus resources for various safety considerations, including the following:
- UHM Office of Title IX
- Mānoa Advocate
- UH System Confidential Advocate
- PAU (Prevention Awareness, Understanding) Violence Program
- UHM Counseling & Student Development Center
- LGBTQ+ Center
- University Health Services Mānoa
- UHM Office of Student Conduct
- KŌKUA Program
- Health Promotion Resource Center
- Office of the Vice Chancellor for Students
- Environmental Health & Safety Office
- Office of Human Resources
- UH Employee Assistance Program
- UH Mānoa Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) Office
Conflict and Peace Specialist – Community Dialogues: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/peacebuilding/get-involved/community-dialogues/
- The purpose of Community Dialogues is to help students develop personally and professional by 1) promoting an understanding of conflict management skills, 2) providing an opportunity for students to learn and practice skills that will help them better engage with other members of the Community; and 3) developing critical thinking skills.
Ka Malu a Waʻahila: https://kwaahila.org/
- The mission of Ka Malu a Waʻahila is to foster a safe, therapeutic space for our kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) students, faculty, and staff within the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, born from the acknowledgment of historical and intergenerational trauma, to cultivate healing pathways that elevate the behavioral health of the lāhui. Using the Pilinahā Framework, one of their principles include cultural safety, engaging in ongoing self-reflection and awareness to hold ourselves and our systems accountable for addressing biases, attitudes, and assumptions.
UH System Executive Policy EP 1.202: https://hawaii.edu/policy/docs/temp/ep1.202.pdf
Executive Policy EP 1.202 provides the overarching framework to implement the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents Policy RP 1.205 on Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action. This Executive Policy also provides the administrative framework to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state statutes, rules and regulations, and provisions in the collective bargaining agreements regarding nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, and affirmative action, as applicable. This includes compliance with federal contractor affirmative action mandates pursuant to Executive Order 11246 and implementing regulations for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
The University has a policy and procedure, to address Sex and Gender Based Misconduct, as required by federal and state laws, including but not limited to, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §304A-120, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Clery Act, as amended by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. Please refer to EP 1.204 or contact a Title IX Coordinator.
This policy does not cover general harassment that is not based on a protected category. For allegations involving Workplace Violence, please refer to EP 9.210 or contact your respective campus designee. This Policy governs the conduct of all University students, employees, and third parties.
Safety Resources and Materials:
Reading Materials:
- Pilinahā: An Indigenous Framework for Health
- Why cultural safety rather than cultural competency is required to achieve health equity: a literature review and recommended definition
- Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown
- Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
- “Hawaiian Souls: The Movement to Stop the U.S. Military Bombing of Kahoʻolawe” by Jonathan Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio in A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignty” edited by Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, Ikaika Hussey, and Erin Kahunawaikaʻala Wright (2014)
- You Are the Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience edited by Tarana Burke and Brene Brown
- “We Hold These Truths: Dismantling Racial Hierarchies, Building Equitable Communities” edited by Tia Brown McNair
Videos:
- “The power of vulnerability with Brené Brown” by TED
- “What Does Cultural Safety in Health Care Mean for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders” – VCH Aboriginal Health Virtual Conference in October 2020
Podcasts:
ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #1191. I ka ‘ōlelo nō ke ola, i ka ‘ōlelo nō ka make
Words can heal; words can destroy.
E ho‘omalu mai.
In this theme of ʻŌlelo, Kuleana & Speech, to build pilina through conflict and difference, we focus on ‘speech’ as an English word that our campus community has been concerned with: What is free speech? What is hate speech? We also add: What is responsible speech? What is speech that is grounded in a sense of kuleana?
Join us for events and visit our list of resources to explore and engage. In addition, share events or resources under this theme with us here.
FEATURED EVENTS
Pilina Circle
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 from 10am-12:30pm
What leads to prejudice and hate of various identity groups? At the heart of this answer is disconnection; disconnection from stories and experiences that remind us of the ways we are interrelated and part of the common human family.
How do we heal that disconnection? We reconnect. We rebuild our pilina.
This Pilina Circle will be a space where participants can share stories, listen deeply, and find connections, especially around the theme of speech. All are welcomed and we especially encourage those who are yearning for connection during challenge and tension to join us.
This Pilina Circle will be in person. Pre-registration is required. Click here to register.
Additional Events and Resources
Welina Mānoa Workshop (In-Person):
How do the stories we share about the places important to us allow us to remember how we care for another? How does the language we use uplift the mana (spirit, power, life energy) of those places and the peoples (human and more-than-human) within them? This chant workshop provides an experience to deepen our relationships with ‘āina, centering Mānoa and Hawai‘i, as well as to self and one another. Share and listen to stories of the places we come from, that care for us, and practice some tools of being in relationship and community with one another and our homes. All are welcomed and we especially encourage those who are yearning for connection during challenge and tension to join us.
Indigenizing Self-Care Workshop (Online):
April 5th, 10:00 – 11:00 am
What tools are available for taking care of ourselves and our bodies when we are actively enduring intergenerational trauma of oppression over our lands and peoples? This experience will introduce and provide tools grounded in Hawai‘i for self-care (such as connections to past and future, your healthy self, and community), with a specific lens on healing from intergenerational trauma. Learning how to care for ourselves provides the tools to care for one another and fostering spaces of care to rediscover relationships we have been disconnected from. All are welcomed and you do NOT need to identify as Indigenous to attend. We especially encourage those who are searching for holistic self-care during challenge and tension to join us. Register for these workshops here.
Campus Resources:
UH System Executive Policy 10.206: https://www.hawaii.edu/policy/?action=viewPolicy&policySection=ep&policyChapter=10&policyNumber=206
This executive policy, “Free Expression on University Campuses,” sets forth policies regarding speech and other expressive activity on University of Hawai‘i campuses.
Board of Regents Policy RP 1.205: https://www.hawaii.edu/offices/eeo/policies/
It is the policy of the university to provide equity of opportunity in higher education, both in the educational mission and as an employer. The university is committed to comply with all State and Federal statutes, rules, and regulations which prohibit discrimination. The university is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender identity and expression, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, genetic information, marital status, breastfeeding, income assignment for child support, arrest and court record (except as permissible under State law), sexual orientation, national guard absence, or status as a covered veteran. This policy covers admission and access to and participation, treatment, and employment in the university’s programs and activities. Discriminatory harassment, including sexual harassment, is prohibited under this policy. The university shall promote a full realization of equal opportunity through a positive, continuing program of nondiscrimination and affirmative action (41 CFR Chapter 60) on each campus.
Speech Resources and Materials:
Reading Materials:
- Free Speech on Campus (2017) by Erwin Chemerinsky & Howard Gillman
- It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom (2022) by Michael Bérubé & Jennifer Ruth
- Campus Free Speech: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary World Issues) (2023) by Lori Cox Han and Jerry Price
- Words that Wound: Critical Race Theory, Assaultive Speech, and the First Amendment (1993) by Mari Matsuda
- Free Speech and Hate Speech in the United States: The Limits of Toleration (2021) by Chris Demaske
Videos:
- “Free Speech, Political Speech, and Hate Speech on Campus” by Harvard Radcliffe Institute
- “Race, Reconciliation and Free Speech” (Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus)
Podcasts: