Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 6, 1 June 2021 — Kūlia i ka nu'u! Eala e! Maka'ala! Awaken, Arise, Beware! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kūlia i ka nu'u! Eala e! Maka'ala! Awaken, Arise, Beware!

The rise ofnew groups hostile to Native Hawaiians' rights, as witnessed in the past legislative session, began the eall to Awaken! Whereas a d e e a d e e a r 1 i e r we tried to inform Washington polities with a quiet, behind-the-seenes influenee by key leaders with the 'Akaka Bill," we now Lllv 7 V XV Cl XV Cl 1—1 1 1 1 j V V v llv/ V V 1 CL L- L. dll

array of hostile groups whieh, despite not having the hnaneial resourees of big business, took advantage of the prevailing elimate of puhlie opinion to wrest eontrol of the poliey agenda away from the major issues OHA needs to build our lāhui. The rise of these hostile groups has been, in part, stimulated by the growth of the federal government whieh is refleeted by the huge jumps in federal spending to beat this pandemie's impaet on our eeonomy. As government grows, interest groups proliferate around poliey areas. Kānaka Maoli were unahle to mateh the hnaneial resourees of the opposing side. The opposition also gets support from the media by identifying themselves as having the lofty ideals that what they are pushing is good for general puhlie, i.e., save our shorelines, our waterfront, ete. They elaim that OHA is a "speeial interest" organization whose members are selfish. And yet we are all witness to the faet that OHA's underdeveloped lands at Kaka'ako Makai (whieh were given to us to eorreet a huge debt the state eould not pay) is the result of state leadership eonstantly marginalizing us for the last nine years. Other faetors have also eroded our efforts. The media (not just soeial media) ean let these politieal or non-po-

litieal groups and their leaders speak direetly to the puhlie on emotional issues, if they have the dollars to purehase the airtime. Ihe End or DifFusion of Power An additional eause of power diffusion is simply that the state government has grown in size and eomplexity, yet negleeted to maintain its vast infrastrueture to handle,

for example, the paying out on a timely basis our people's unemployment eheeks, many of whom were Native Hawaiians. These antiquated systems are open to haeking, eyber attaeks, identity theft, ete. Now, please explain to me just who has the "power?" Diffused...but letting those with hnaneial means greatly influenee the state leaders. Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuekerberg, three of the world's riehest men, were brilliant enough to know this when all three reeommended the book titled The End ofPower, written by Moises Naim. From the Wall Street Journal : "Moises Naim's The End of Power offers a eautionary tale to wouldbe Lineolns in the modern era. Naim is a eourageous writer who seeks to disseet big subjeets in new ways. At a time when erities of overreaehing governments, big banks, media moguls and eoneentrated weahh deery the power of the '1%,' Mr. Naim argues that leaders of all types - politieal, eorporate, military, religious, union - faee bigger, more eomplex problems with weaker hands than in the past." Let me end with: E ala e, ARISE... Be maka'ala! Be awake, be alert, and be aware! E mālama pono, a hui hou, Trustee Leina'ala Ahu Isa ■

Leina'ala Ahu Isa, Ph.D. Vice Chair, Trustee, At-large faee an