This episode of Sesame Street (#1094) is a little too old to be included in my critique of Hawaiians in Mainstream Media, but its still fun to watch none the less.
The Amazing Nona Beamer Counts to ‘Umi
Keola Beamer Dancing Hula
Bilingual Three Blind Mice
The Borders in Torrance used to carry out of state newspapers, including the local Maui paper. Unfortunantly, around the time I quit working there the first time, they stopped carrying them.
An endogenous paper has come out though, called Ka Hoku Newsletter: Hawaiian Living in Southern California. The newsletter is bi-monthly and began in June/July 2008. Subscriptions are $25/year for paper or electronic. Each edition features a “Hawaiians in Highlight”, interviewing diasporic Hawaiians living on the mainland who are active within the Hawaiian community. They also feature a local Hawaiian Business Owner, giving their personal history, history of the company, and goals of the company and how they plan to help perpetuate Hawaiian culture. Other contributions include recipes, events calendar, hawaiian heritage, learning opportunities, and an ʻolelo section. They also feature a different keiki in each newsletter and have a learning section dedicated to keiki. The June/July edition features colors in hawaiian.
On the website, a list of available Free editions are provided, which all can be found at local Hawaiian restaurants:
Torrance: The Local Place, Hong Kong Bakery and Deli, Island Grinds, Kingʻs Hawaiian Restaurant, the Loft, Teriʻs Place, TNT Aloha Cafe, Rascalʻs
Gardena: L&Ls, Bobʻs Hawaiian Style Okazu-ya, Bruddahʻs, Happa Restaurant, Harryʻs Cafe
Carson: Back Home in Lahaina, L&Ls.
The editor welcomes ideas and submissions, and hopes to get a classified section going.
commentary: the overall impact of the newsletter is difficult to determine since it is a fledgling publication. The heart and intent appears to be in the right place, and the events calendar is pretty complete, including small events that normally donʻt get a lot of advertisement. My main concern for the success of the newsletter is the substance portion – it seems a little scant at times, and I wonder how they select those people they feature and how they determine the articles they write, such as the start of “Aloha Friday”. Although this is interesting, I can think of many other Hawaiian traditions I would be more concerned about than a tradition which began in the U.S. Senate – but then, that may be my own personal feelings on the relationship between Native Hawaiians and the U.S. Government speaking out. I think though, that they highlight important issues, such as Kau Inoa sponsored coffee hours and the Hawaiian Caucus held in Irvine at the Asian/Pacific Islander American Presidential Town Hall in May. i also like the census statistics they provide, particularly because they create awareness to issues many Hawaiians may not think about. Although these are more political issues than cultural issues, they are very important to Native Hawaiian issues. As far as cultural heritage is concerned, Na Hoku promotes primarily thorugh the ʻolelo section and the hawaiian heritage/hawaiian at home.
Unfortunantly, hawaiian radio in southern california doesn’t have a lot of stability. In the 80s, my kumu had a radio show, but that eventually ended.
As of Friday, August 29, the most recent hawaiian radio program, “Aloha Friday Radio” on 88.5 FM, KCSN and sponsored by CSU Northridge, ended its broadcast, being replaced by an “Americana” format. Aloha Friday Radio was hosted by Bruddah Mike Friday evenings from 9pm-12am for 4.5 years. You can still access the playlists from previous shows, but the podcasts found on underheard.org are no longer there.
There are a few online radio stations, most streaming out of Hawai’i, such as Hawaiian Rainbow and Hawaiian 105, based out of Honolulu.
There is an online radio station based in Lakewood, California, called Aloha Joe Radio, which calls itself “America’s Premier Hawaiian Internet Radio Station” and broadcasts 24 hours a day. The site also sells hawaiiana merchandise and has sponsor links galore, and includes some recipes.
