I never needed to perform my activism because Iʻm a member of my familyʻs non profit which has been securing the protection of our ancestral homelands and burials for the past 2 years post eruption. Iʻve been working on securing our ancestral knowledge for generations to come.

Iʻve been working to perpetuate and preserve the practices of Heiau architecture, Lawaiʻa, and Lapaʻau in my home district. I donʻt need to get online and scream and yell performatively because iʻve been doing real work and investing real time.

I am an artist, and I want to serve my community. I know my function and try to serve my people to the best of my ability. you cannot take that from me.

you can call me an undercover haole skeezer all you want but the bones that were stolen from our family graves on their way home now because of the work weʻve done. our sacred spaces are being protected because of the work we are doing. you canʻt take that from me.

i try my best and strive everyday to become the pillar my community and my family needs for us to survive and regardless of what you think i said or what you want to believe i said I will continue to do right by my Land, by my people, and by my culture.

and I will always put myself on a pedestal, because i am Oiwi. my people, my family, survived genocide and i wont dishonor them by not believing in my self, and I wont dishonor the legacy they left me by being a weak Hawaiian with nothing to offer my land.

i couldʻve worded this all better, but i wanted to just say something since people are intent on mentioning my name