Echos of not-so-good times past.

Ride any bus in Hawaii and you'll see an anti-drug ad. It's not like other anti-drug ads, the ones that try to be subtle. They use good looking, upbeat teenagers, that talk about why they refuse to use drugs. Leaves you with a sense of hope.

No, these ads slap you right in the face, like two cousins at a real tense BBQ. There is no subtlety, the ads are stark and scary, ghoulish almost.

The particular ad I'm looking at is one of a young girl with her back turned. Sores, blisters, and scabs mark her skin. You don't see her face, only matted black hair and fingers that dig into the skin. The girl could be anywhere from 16 to 25 years of age. It let's any potential Meth user know what awaits them should they give into temptation.



Apparently Hawaiians have been giving into temptation for a long time.

Back in the 80's, New Yorkers were facing the crack epidemic. A scourge that has haunted our island for years after. Similarly, Hawaii has been fighting the evil known as Ice. When 42nd street looked like a charnel house, Waikiki looked like a scene from a zombie movie.

The mainland got their poison from Vietnam vets and Latin American drug lords. And if you wish to believe, our own government. The local boys got theirs from the surfer guys, as street legend tells it. They not only brought surfboards, clothing styles, and blond hair, they brought drugs, and Meth had the longest lasting impact.

According to recent data from the DEA website, any Meth that makes it here does so via body trafficking from Guam and Saipan, or through regular old mail. There are drug syndicates, of Asian origin, and they along with the Mexican...seriously...the Mexicans, hold sway over who sells Ice.

Everyone smokes weed. That is almost a given. But to be fair no one here believes in additives like pcp or acid. Like all natural orange juice. The negative connotation does not really exists here. Ice however, that's another story. I do not smoke weed. However, I grew up around West Indians, and I ask questions.

When it comes to beating back Ice, they have done a fair amount of work, still, there is a scar left, like a scar from an animal attack. And Hawaiians are making sure it does not happen again.

And they have to work hard at it.

Walk down any street anywhere and you might just run into someone with dilated eyes and a manner similar to a skittish squirrel. A bundle of boundless, undirected energy.

The issue is prevalent enough that its use is at the center of a plot twist in the movie Perfect Getaway.

But measures are being taken.

The aforementioned ads have been seen all over the island. On the radio there are ads where real kids describe their experience. Some of them stole, some of them did other things, sad things.

The following stats are taken from methresources.gov
Results of a 2007 survey of Hawaii students show that approximately 5.2% of 9th graders, 7.3% of 10th graders, 1.1% of 11th graders, and 3.2% of 12th graders reported using methamphetamine at least once during their lifetimes. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Online: Comprehensive Results, 2008)

It's meant to get through to an age group that thinks it can't happen to hem. The young think they are invincible, despite evidence to the contrary.

Maybe these ads are the right idea.



One can only hope.

If can

It has been some time since my last post. Since then, I left one job in the hopes of gaining another. It is one thing to work hard for the money, but another thing entirely when you work so hard you have no time to sleep.

That being said, the search for a new job took me places and showed me new angles on the story of the people of Hawaii.

Remember when I spoke about the sting that is still felt by Hawaiians, the shame of having their sovereign nation taken from them?

Yeah, well the sting is still felt, but apparently there is another feeling that bit of history illicits.

Get over it.

This, from native Hawaiians.

They more than understand what was lost. They see it all the time, that palace is still used as a tourist stop 35 minuets from Waikiki.

But they've decided to move on.

There are Hawaiians here who do the best they can with what they have. They plan for the future, not stuck in the now, or the past. They go to school, so their kids can go to school, so on and so forth.

And the thought there are some who don't do the same makes them hang their head. They feel no need to blame the white man, the white man doesn't take them AWAY from school work and other scholastic pursuits, that's all up to the individual Hawaiian.

It is a good thing to see, thinking all the people here were so downtrodden, well, that sucked. To see people here who TRY, and don't flaunt the effort. That is a nice thing to see.

Thinking back to my homeland, Brownsville BK. I wonder how much of that my people could use. Since my departure, there has been a rise in the "swagger" quotient. The number of people who feel the need to do everything on a big time level, and then making sure you know they do it. It's the peacocks and the chickens. All clucks and feathers, and pomp and circumstance.

It has it's place, don't get me wrong. Having a good time is a part of life, the good Lord deemed it necessary to have a book dedicated to the idea of "enjoy the days of they youth." However, it has gone too far. So far that there is more show than work. More swagger than grind. My time here has taught me what a grind is. It's catching the early bus to get on the early truck to go who knows where to carry who knows what. And the fellas I worked with did most of it with a smile on their face.

It's something I hope to carry with me when I leave this place. Looking back, my life might have been easier if I was more willing to grind as hard as I HAVE to now. There will be far fewer times when I think waking up early is a job deterrent. I still have my limits, but they come from experience, not a college induced sense of the world.

Long story short. I learned a little phrase, it encapsulates the lesson learned.

"If can"

Not very long, or wordy, or strong in any grammatical sense. But it's the best way to look at the future.

If can...I will make that money and get that place and all the other things I want.
If not, well then, I'll make due.

But I'll do my best to smile along the way.

Have a nice day.

An education on how to steal a culture.

Hawaii has a palace, a real one too. It's wasn't built there as a means to entice rich folks to spend unnecessary amounts of money on a view. That's what Waikiki is for.

No, Hawaii has the distinction of being the only U.S. State with a palace, a palace that once held a king and queen, princes and princesses. It was a place of royalty.

And if you show up on just the right day, you can take a tour for a minimal donation.

No one ever asks how it is Hawaii came to be an American State, we just show up and complain about the air fare.

Picture it, January 1893, a young princess Liliukalani is reigning peacefully over a small string of islands in the Pacific Ocean. For years her people have dealt kindly with Europeans and Americans, discussing trade and commerce. It was like Hawaii was the little brother to the bigger stronger ruling nations.

But, ruling nations being what they are, they decide to flip the script.

As it was told to me by a neighbor who was born and raised on the island, the queen, who at the time was of college student age, was trapped in her room in the palace, and told over a period of days that if Hawaii did pick a fight, it would be short and totally one sided. (We do love to show how big our guns are don't we?) After some time, she relented, and gave in the superior might of the American military. A tough pill to swallow for a people who like to fist fight. However, it was a decision born of wisdom, since America did have the superior firepower, and a bloodbath would have done her people no good.

After that started nearly a century of native Hawaiians watching the wide spread assault on their culture that has left it a hollow shell of what it once was.

Here's a little known fact. When you go to a big tourist center to visit(NYC, London, Italy) and it seems like everyone's being nice, it's because they are daydreaming of ramming a train spike through your face.

The story of the overthrow of the Hawaiian government is not something that brings a smile to the natives faces. In fact, if you were to ask them to tell it to you, simply so you know what's going on, their countenance changes, from the easy-going nature the people here are known for, to a sad far away look. Their eyes may water, and they'll shrug, because as far as they can tell, there isn't much they can do, except...stay Hawaiian.

There was a celebration for the 50th anniversary of statehood last year, no one walked tall that day.

They had royalty here not long ago. They went from being a sovereign nation to being considered an equal with other states that have incest as it's most popular activity.

It's no wonder there is such an anti-mainland feeling here. In conversations with co-workers and neighbors, one big unspoken sentiment is "you might be from there, but you're here now, leave that other crap behind." It can appear close-minded, but if you want to make sure the unique history you have isn't ripped up and replaced with a watered down more Euro centric version, you'd think the same thing.

It also explains to a greater extent the anti-military feeling here. It might not be the main reason, but I should think that every time a Hawaiian who is up on their history sees a military base, they get slapped in the face with their own impotency when it comes to martial strength.

Granted, the empires with the greatest martial strength tend to be the most morally corrupt, but at least they can maintain that corruptness behind the shelter of a .45 caliber rifle.

I have a new found respect for Hawaiians and how the world looks to them. They were robbed, similar to the way Africans were when they were shipped over the water and dropped off in the states.

The only difference, that I can see right now, is this: African Americans get time to mourn their losses, they have holidays and months and people who go on T.V. with the idea that we shall overcome.

Hawaiians, they get told to do that cute hula dance and throw up the shaka for the camera of some well meaning foreigner who doesn't with no malicious intent, disregard centuries of history.

Places that might have once been sacred are now hotels and surf shops. People who once walked with a smile on their face now look lost and confused. It's the look of a culture lost.

By the way you can find the palace on a pretty little map they give you at the airport, it's not to far from the shave ice stand.

Have a good one.

And the somewhat interesting saga continues.

One of the things I hoped to do during my time in Hawaii is learn from the culture and draw parallels between it and African American/Afro Caribbean culture. I was sure to find some, it being an isolated locale with an indigenous people that probably date back to around the time before the Native Americans became native to America.

I didn't know exactly where I would be able to come across the culture on a regular basis when I first got here, but lo and behold I got a job. At an unnamed moving company that will remain unnamed because there will be times I have bad days at work, and will come to this blog to set someone on fire.

Needless to say, I found some parallels, and a few subtle differences that startled me a bit.

The company I work for has a large number of Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Filipino's. Didn't think you'd find Filipino's here did ya? Well about 10% of all Filipinos live away from the chain of islands. Based on its geography, and relationship with the United States, Hawaii is a logical landing spot for many.

Now, there are times when the workers like to "Talk Story" the kind of thing you find in African American culture. It happens in barber shops or on stoops, or cafeterias. People sit and talk, making themselves look good or making others look bad, or just sharing concerns without fear of judgment.

When they sit talking story, I at first notice a clear line between those who are Samoan or Hawaiian. I don't know either language, but listening to them, you would think it was close enough for them to share a base.

Made me think of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. The same root of Spanish, but with dialects that diverge at a point. I would think the same would apply to the Pacific Islanders, given geography and physical appearance.

Apparently not.

A Samoan can't understand Hawaiian and vice versa, at least as it was explained to me by a Hawaiian co-worker. They don't have the same language, and seem to have different ways of acting. It is something I plan to keep track of the longer I am here.

Another is the rate of violent crime. Coming from New York, going to sleep to the sound of gunshots might sound cliché, but at times it’s accurate. Nights are pretty tame, in fact, all I hear are firecrackers, in the middle of December, because it gets to about 90 degrees and they sell fireworks at the pharmacy.

Here, people don't get shot; they get punched in the face. Kinda like NYC before the onset of gangs and fake rappers.

The people here, fight all the time. And it's ingrained in the culture, there is an underlying idea of toughness that comes from a willingness to give as good as you get, making sure both parts in the equation come in high quantity. You will find many a local guy, with blistered hands and bruised knuckles. Honed from years of "thump"ing, for whatever reason seemed to be good at the time. In fact, one guy threatened to 'bop me in the face' for bumping into him on the bus.

It's an endearing trait, in small quantities. The idea of having a fight and going home after feeling like you stood up for yourself seems to have been lost. In its place seems to be the thought of having an actual knuckle game that lasts no more than 47 seconds before going to the trunk to get the gun.

If you have a problem, swing, if not lets sit down, talk story and finish that bottle of vodka. After which we will be drunk enough to probably start a fight with someone else anyway.

Still, to be Hawaiian means you are going to be in your share of fist fights, and not many parents will be ashamed to hear of it from the principal.

It’s it the kind of thing picked up at a young age. On one day walking home from work, a little boy, no more than 11, runs down the street and yells, "Hey fa@@ot, lets go!" Now I have no idea who the person was, or where they were going, but it was safe to say the girls ranging in age of 8 to 15 whopping and chanting "fight, fight" all around him were not going to sit him down and ask him to express his feelings in song.

They also seem to have incredibly long finger nails, which I don't get; based on my western ideas of toughness, one day I'm going to ask one of them about that.


But I digress.


Have a good one.