Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 9, 1 Kepakemapa 2014 — Q&A Ikaika Hussey [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Q&A Ikaika Hussey

lnterviewed by Lisa Asato

i I think my twitter bio is like 'entrepreneur, activist, father, musi- * * eian,' something like that," says Ikaika Hussey, 36, the man behind the Hawaiian social network Maoli World and the public-inter-est journalism site Hawai'i Independent. Hussey ean soon add "publisher" to the mix, with the anticipated launeh of Summit magazine, a quarterly targeting upwardly mohile 35- to 45-year-olds and bringing "a Hawaiian global perspective" to issues at our doorstep. The magazine is just one new project Hussey is launching in September. The other? The birth of his third child with wife Marti Townsend. "Magazine first," he said in an interview in July. "I need to get the magazine done, because onee the baby is there, I cannot work on the magazine."

KWO: Will Summit magazine have a Native Hawaiian focus? IH: I wouldn't say it has a Native Hawaiian focus, but it takes the perspective that the Hawaiian perspective is how we see the world. But I guess my orientation is that Hawai'i has always been a very global plaee and Hawaiians have always been a global people. Looking at how Kalākaua would identify certain chiefs and send them off to study, . . . like Robert Wilcox, for instance, Hawaiian chief studied

under Garibaldi in Italy. There was always this sense that Hawai'i is its own plaee but it's part of the world, and that's kind of the starting plaee for Summit magazine. KWO: What's in line for your dehut issue? IH: We have an interview with Aliee Walker. . . . We have stories about musicians like Starr Kalahiki, but we also have an in-depth look at the human rights situation in West Papua New Guinea. We have an

interview with an expert in education from Finland. KWO: When you look on the global scale, what about education in Finland catches your eye as part of this magazine? IH: They 've done an excellent job of creating a national education system. And there's a lot of folks in Hawai'i and really all over who look at Finland and hold it up as an example of what they should do with their education systems. . . . It's the kind of stuff that I think policymakers are very interested in reading. KWO: Do you see a model for your magazine out there already? IH: Yeah, we're modeling this magazine after Monoele magazine, whieh is a British publication. We're also very influenced by New Yorker to a certain extent, some of the Conde Nast publications. Our designer, she's actually from New Jersey and she worked previously at New York magazine and at the Conde Nast publications. KWO: Why a magazine? IH: Fve done digital (websites) for about five years now. We launched Maoli World in 2006 or 2007 ... and we launched the Hawai'i Independent in 2008. ... And we've been doing well just in digital. ... But I wanted to do something that's tactile and that has staying power in terms of shelf life. I don't think magazines make sense if they're a weekly where the information is supposed to be fresh and constantly updated. But I think it makes sense if the pieces are basically evergreen and always are valuable. And the actual magazine that we're building is designed to be like a keepsake item. It's like a coffee table book. It's not going to go out of style, out of date. KWO: Where ean people get a copy? IH: We 're going to be selling at Whole Foods, and we also have an advertising relationship with Whole Foods. We're also working with Honolulu Ford and a few other larger companies. We're targeting

a more premium advertiser base as well as readership base. We're going to be distributing in EcoCab. We have a partnership with a major management company, so we're going to be distributing to condos, some of the new ones in town. KWO: What about page count? IH: This one is going to be 160 pages. KWO: Is that like a September Vogue? IH: I think Vogue is heavier. But Vogue, you know, they got all those pretty people. (Laughs.) KWO: Who are some of your writers? IH: Let me think, Gerald Kato, . . . he was the political reporter for the Bulletin for a long time. Naomi Sodetani worked with us on the Aliee Walker pieee. Peter Chastagner, Will Caron, Gary Chun. . . . Solomon Enos. KWO: As a writer? IH: As an artist. We're serializing Polyfantastica on the Summit website. So we have a strategy that is print and that's more of a keepsake item. And we have a blog that we're launching and we're going to start doing video and audio podcasts. KWO: How did you eome up with the name, Summit'! IH: It's based on the motto of Queen Kapi'olani. Kūlia i ka nu'u, whieh means "strive for the summit." The reason why I chose the name is because over the last 100 years, since the plantation era, there has been a lowering of expectations for Hawai'i, for Hawaiians, I think for loeal society as a whole where we have been kind of eomplacent and been OK with sort of getting by. I think you see that manifested in a huneh of things. You see it in puhie discourse, you see it in the elections, low voter turnout. The idea that loeal culture is lackadaisical and easygoing and that we're simple, and if you rewind before the plantation era, if you lookat early 19th-century Hawaiian society, it was all based on excellenee. It was based on striving for

the summit. "Hawaiian time" used to mean doing something until it's complete. Doing something until it's ready and good. It didn't mean "be late." (Laughs.) My sense is there's a lot of people coming up in journalism, in politics, in arts, who are all trying to change that culture. They're trying to get back to a culture of striving to be as best as we ean. So Summit magazine is kind of based on that same desire, that Hawai'i ean be awesome. That Hawai'i ean be a very cosmopolitan, very forward-thinking plaee. KWO: You just edited a book (A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Lanā anā Sovereignty )? IH: Oh, that's right. Actually Noe Goodyear-Kā'opua was the lead on the project. Ed Greevy, Erin Kahunawai Wright and myself, we edited a book that is a compilation of essays and articles about the imperious social justice, land and Hawaiian sovereignty struggles over the last 30 or 40 years. It's an unwritten pieee of Hawai'i's history. KWO: How long were you guys working on it? IH: Long time. Years. Two years. . . . It's good. Fm very happy about it. Fm stoked because it's Duke University, whieh is a great partner to work with. Huge distribution. Great support. We're also doing a big event in October. KWO: Who is, Summif! IH: Summit, yeah, it's called Summit Fest. We're partnering with some folks in Kaka'ako. Our project this year is beta. It's kind of like a test, a demonstration project. Our goal is to build something that's like a South by Southwest for Hawai'i and the Pacific. KWO: What's next after Summil, are you thinking about your next project already? IH: No. (Laughs.) You want to do a project together? [His phone buzzes.] Sorry, one of my writers is texting me. . . . ■

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