Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 6, 1 June 2012 — Grand slam for Hawaiʻiʻs new poet laureate [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Grand slam for Hawaiʻiʻs new poet laureate

By Lynn Cook / / usion energy was I my thing," says the newly named poet I laureate of Hawai'i, I Kealoha. Fans agree Kealoha's dynamically delivered original slam poetry is a fusion of energy and creativity that lifts an audience to a euphoric state with no enhancement needed, not even caffeine. This poet says: "Sometimes the slam poem sugarcoats the bitter pill of truth. And sometimes it touches a single soul." Count among his admirers Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who invited Steven Kealohapau'ole Hone-Ming Wong, known simply as Kealoha, to be part of his 2010 inauguration. At that moment Abercrombie

said he realized that as governor he had a unique power: "I could make proclamations!" So, he did. On May 3 he became the 43rd govemor of a U.S. state to proclaim a poet laureate, in this case, Kealoha. Following the proclamation in the newly created Hawai'i State Art Museum Sculpture Garden, Kealoha offered words to honor the setting. In his high-energy, profound manner, the poet offered a blessing and a challenge. His message rellected the mission of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, to provide a greater understanding of the meaning and significance of the arts. Honored with his new title and fresh from performing at the White House for the first National Philanthropic Briefing for Asian

Americans and Paeihe Islanders, Kealoha called the D.C. experienee eye-opening. "These leaders gathered to explore ways that they could partner to bring about positive change, and I was the 'Art Burst' centerpiece in the policy and datafilled day." Kealoha grew up in Honolulu, surfing the waves, dancing hula, playing 'ukulele, break dancing and acing every class at Punahou School. Heading East, he graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, with honors and a degree in nuclear physics and a job in fusion energy waiting. He made an abrupt left turn and tried corporate America on for size. His clients were Mattel, Samsung, Adidas. Based in San Francisco, his job was aggressive marketing, Internet strategy, traveling across SEE LAUREATE ON PAGE 9

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Kealoha has been named the first poet laureate of Hawai'i. - Photo: Lynn Coook

LAUREATE

Continued from page 7 the country and wearing a suit. He says he helped the rich get richer, but it was a job without passion. Gathering a group of intellectuals, calling them "The Think," he says, "It was like doing mental steroids." One night he went to "a life changing" slam poetry open mie event, unaware that "slam" meant performing original work on stage. "I caught a bus home at 1 a.m., wrote all night, was late for work and determined that I wanted to surf that energy full time, for the rest of my life." "Surfing my biggest wave," is what he calls his first live performanee. "It was four-minutes long and rhymey," he says, calling the audience a large group of diverse, positive, full-of-love people who let him know that poetry had to be his life. He quit the job that he describes as, "sitting behind a desk (waiting) to be old one day," and eame home to Hawai'i to sleep on his brother's eoueh until he could take his poetry public. Those in the know agree, Kealoha has "street cred." When he went off to the Nahonal Poetry Slam, he ranked eighth out of 350 poets. He was featured on HBO's Brave New Voices and named as a master artist for a National Endowment of the Arts program. His creation, Hawai'iSlam's First Thursdays, is going into its tenth year. On the first Thursday of every month, at Honolulu's Fresh Cafe, the slam offers

a home base for Hawai'i poets. A crowd of 300 eame to his first slam, breaking mainland records; it's a trend that continues today. Forming Youth Speaks Hawai'i, he inspired hundreds of Hawai'i teenagers to exercise their poets' voice. Kealoha's challenge to longtime "Our lives are temporary art pieces. We are works in progress. ... What are the chances. That the next idea we spawn could revolutionize the world?" -Kealoha Hawai'i poet laureate fans and newbies to slam: "I want you to think about all the things you wish you could do. And tonight, I want you to do one of them. And tomorrow, another." His poetry eautions, "Our lives are temporary art pieces. We are works in progress. ... What are the chances. That the next idea we spawn could revolutionize the world?" ■

Lynn Cook is a loeal freelance journalist sharing the arts and culture of Hawai'i with a global audience.

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