How long…to sing this song?
Sep 3, 2008 |
Founded in 1917 by a group of Quakers as a way to provide conscientious objectors an alternative service to combat during World War I, American Friends Service Committee works interdependently in a global effort to advance social justice and non-violent peace programs.
In 1947 AFSC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This month, the group celebrates 40 years in Hawai’i.
It was in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor that AFSC first appeared in Islands, to assist Americans of Japanese ancestry who were being punished with internment and asset confiscation. Quakers concerned about the hardships suffered by Hawai’i’s nikkei residents continued their relief efforts through 1945.
Two decades later, as the American war in Vietnam, growing draft protests and civil rights movement came to a head, the AFSC decided to open a regional office on O’ahu to support draft resisters and help conscientious objectors file claims.
The same year AFSC Hawai’i began a seven year silent vigil against the Vietnam war on the campus of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
Recognizing Hawai’i as a highly militarized state pivotal to America’s ability to wage war and project empire from the central Pacific, AFSC began to closely examine the role and impact of the military on the islands and its people.
During the first half of the 1970s, AFSC Hawai’i collaborated with a group called Catholic Action to expose the transport of nuclear weaponry in Hawai’i and educate the public about the danger it posed.
In January 1976, AFSC staff member Ian Lind was invited to participate in an attempted landing on Kaho’olawe as part of a protest against navy bombing there. The landing was considered a success even though the group was ejected for trespassing, because the event marked the beginning of AFSC’s convergence with counter-military action for Makua Valley, anti-nuclear demonstrations and various facets of the Hawaiian rights movement–efforts that continue today.
AFSC Hawai’i program director Kyle Kajihiro says that as an organization with roots in the United States, it has a responsibility to address the contradiction of U.S. overthrow and occupation of Hawai’i as well as the role Hawai’i plays in the expansion and perpetuation of American military power.
AFSC Hawai’i has cooperated with like-minded groups and organizations struggling toward a demilitarized, more just, cleaner, safer Hawai’i, it has integrated local concerns about inadequate affordable housing and dealt with ongoing questions of Hawaiian sovereignty and rights.
“Our staff has done a lot of work on land issues in Wai’anae where the symptoms of colonialism are evident,” Kajihiro says.
Since the 1970s, AFSC has been active in seeking the demilitarization, clean-up and return to traditional use of Makua Valley and Kaho’olawe, working with peace groups like Malama Makua.
AFSC also helps sponsor speaking events with people like Cindy Sheehan, Iraqi AFSC activist Raed Jarrar, Dahr Jamail (unembedded journalist in Iraq), Fernando Suarez del Solar (his son was one of the first soldiers killed in Iraq) and Navy resister Pablo Paredes.
Other AFSC-sponsored speakers include activists from Okinawa, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Korea, Guam and the Marshall Islands –all, like Hawai’i, heavily militarized. Exchanging delegations and supporting each other’s struggles has been a boon for AFSC Hawai’i and a positive way to share strategies and tactics on an international level.
Says Kajihiro, “these kind of long-term relationships are valuable in order to sustain this type of solidarity work. This is definitely not an overnight pursuit. It requires sacrifice, organization and stability to sustain the effort for a long period.”
AFSC has been the driving force to get these speakers and others to Hawai’i and, in many cases, to the neighbor islands where they can speak to local communities and in public schools where their influence may be greatest.
Kajihiro explains AFSC has promoted alternatives to the military in public schools since the mid-seventies, working to increase its training capacity and expand its outreach to students and teachers.
Also school related, AFSC has lent support to a commission that examined policies relating to gay and lesbian rights. Kajihiro says that being founded by Quakers, AFSC takes a progressive approach to LGBT issues from a standpoint of human rights, equality and gender justice.
“When we heard gay students were being beaten and saw very little support for them, we started a LGBT youth leadership group which led to the successful passage of anti-harassment policy by the Hawai’i State Board of Education,” Kajihiro says.
The new policy and partnership with AFSC has created a shelter for students and faculty advisors to increase the number of support groups and gay-straight alliances in Hawai’i, beginning with Kalaheo High School in 2002. With the success of these projects, Kajihiro sees AFSC expanding its youth work in the future.
When asked what has led to four decades of success of AFSC Hawai’i, Kajihiro points to the compatibility of core AFSC values and local conditions.
“The Quaker’s strong commitment to equality and non-violence is a good fit with Hawai’i,” says Kajihiro. “Another important thing we have done is to have people from the community who know the community leading and guiding the work locally. It’s the idea of self-determination that has enabled us to be responsive to conditions in Hawai’i.”
On Sept. 13, AFSC will celebrate 40 years in Hawai’i with a banquet at Kapi’olani Community College with a fundraising dinner and silent auction. Honored at the event will be AFSC Hawai’i founding committee member Robert Aitken, Dr. Fred Dodge of Malama Makua and Hawaiian charter school advocates Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua and Keola Nakanishi. The evening will feature food, music and a silent auction.Today is the last day to reserve tickets for this event. Call 988-6266.
