Steve Okino - Honolulu, Hawaii

Aloha to Makana

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:01:53 +0000

After more than thirteen and-a-half years on the planet, Makana the Cat made her transition on the morning of Monday, September 7. I will miss her, and the unconditional love and trust she always showed.

Mahalo, Makana. You’re free of pain and now at peace.

» A gallery of relatively recent images on Makana’s Page here.
» As a small kitten: video here.
» A little later in life, as she ventures into the great outdoors.

Waipio Brush Fire (September 5)

admin — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:39:55 +0000

The view from my parking lot overlooking the H-2 Freeway. This was the largest of the series of brush fires in the Waip‘io/Waiawa area. It came as close as a quarter-mile, but stayed on the other side of the freeway.

Video after the jump…

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Why “Holding Fast The Dream”? Barack Obama Explains

admin — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:34:59 +0000

Senator Barack Obama began his week-long stay in Hawai‘i on August 8, 2008 with an explanation of what he took from his childhood here. His words also provide an apt explanation of why we’re producing our latest documentary film, Holding Fast The Dream , on the African American experience in Hawai‘i:

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The First Asian American President !!??!!

admin — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:50:17 +0000

Like so many in Hawai‘i, Senator Barack Obama is hapa. But that’s not the reason writer Jeff Yang thinks he could be the first Asian American to be President. Like Toni Morrison anointed Bill Clinton the nation’s first Black President on the basis of his early life circumstances and experiences, Yang argues that growing up in Hawai‘i (and Indonesia) gives Senator Obama a uniquely Asian American perspective:

Evidence for Obama’s affinity with the Asian American experience runs true even as one delves deeper into his history. “A lot of aspects of the senator’s story will be recognizable to many Asian Americans,” says Lu, a Harvard Law School classmate of the senator’s who joined the team in 2005. “He talks about feeling like somewhat of an outsider; about coming to terms with his self-identity; about figuring out how to reconcile the values from his unique heritage with those of larger U.S. society. These are tensions and conflicts that play out in the lives of all children of immigrants.”

Read Jeff’s full column at SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website).

Barack Obama’s Mother

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:06:13 +0000

On his blog earlier this week, Ian Lind offered interesting background on the mother of presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama:

I have been wondering about Barack Obama’s mother ever since I heard that she graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a Ph.D. in anthropology…Contrary to the rightwing screeds on the internet, nothing about Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro is text book…

The post is written by Dr. Meda Chesney-Lind, and is worth reading. Note, too, the upcoming seminar in September, part of the Women’s Studies Colloquium Series at the University.