Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 6, 1 June 2012 — Standing together in song [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Standing together in song

By Aliee Milham As if inspired by Liko Martin's anthem "All Hawai'i Stand Together," 13 Hawai-ian-focused public charter schools are standing as one on Mana Maoli's just released double CD, This is Maoli Music Vols. IV and V. The CDs, whose sales benefit the schools, are the latest from the musical arm of Mana Maoli's nonprofit, the Mana Maoli Collective, whieh refers to hundreds of artists, musicians, educators, cultural practitioners, community organizers and families dedicated to communitybased education, resource pooling and sustainability. Funded through an OHA Commu-nity-Based Eeonomie Development (CBED) grant, the eompilahon eontains 38 tracks of original music written and performed by youth from 13 Hawaiian-focused public charter schools and more than 100 professional musicians. Mana Maoli founder Keola Nakanishi conceived the multischool CD project to raise awareness of the charter schools' successes in educating youth, despite being dramatically underfunded. "These youth, along with their parents and kumu, agree that they

are doing 10 times better with 10 times less resources at these smaller, more innovative, community-based schools," says Nakanishi, adding that facilities and operational funding for the mainstream public schools is more than double that of the public charter schools. Nakanishi hopes Mana Maoli Collective's projects will help raise public support to gain equal facilities and funding from state lawmakers. Singer/songwriter Paula Fuga is a longtime supporter of Mana Maoli and the charter school model, having worked as an assistant teaching music for Hakipu'u Leaming Center, while a student at Oahu's Windward Community College, before her professional career took off. Looking ahead, Fuga says: "When my kids are born and when I enroll them in charter schools, I want to make sure that there is a school for them to go to, to learn hands-on and work, and be one with, the 'āina andlearn about their culture and their history." Kalalea Kauhane and Makana Kamahele are two 'ōpio (youth) who contributed to the music. Kamahele's mele, "Mālama Wai'aha," calling for the preservation of Wai'aha watershed, was inspired by his experience seeking its protection from development. Kamahele, 19, a graduate of Puna's Kua o Ka Lā PCS now studying at the Maui Institute of Hawaiian Music, particularly values the charter schools' emphasis on Hawaiian culture. "I like sharing my Hawaiian eulture through oli and kanikapila and being able to talk in my native language, 'ōlelo Hawai'i, means a lot to me," says Kamahele. Kauhane, 17, a student at the Kanuikapono PCS on Kaua'i, worked with Fuga on "The Land,"

a mele he co-wrote with his unele, Keli'i Sanico. Kauhane, who learned to play 'ukulele his first year at Kanuikapono, provided lead vocals and played 'ukulele. "He had these lyrics that were so profound for me," says Fuga. "I ean see generations growing up and listening to Kalalea's music." Liko Martin's connection with charter schools took root in the 1970s when he was part of a forerunner to the current charter schools. For him, charter schools are "the ultimate creative educational venue" and the resulting CD, he says, are the "voices for and of the future." His contribution, "Love Letters," references letters and documents written by Queen Lili'uokalani, such as those she sent to President Grover Cleveland and her formal protest to the U.S. State Department seeking restoration of

the Hawaiian Kingdom: "I'm begging of you please, to restore your pride and dignity," the song goes. "Love letters, I am told, were sent a long time ago, I'm waiting for an answer, please." Martin says it's through these letters and documents that the queen laid out the case for Hawai'i's sovereignty under international law. "Those letters tell me that we still exist," says Martin. "That's the promise." Other artists on the CD include John Cruz, Jack Johnson (whom Nakanishi met eanoe surfing), reggae artists Half Pint and Yami Bolo, Anuhea, Nāpua Makua, Ernie Cruz Jr., Kapali Keahi, Kimie, Irie Love, Guy Cruz, Damon Williams, vocalists from Natural Vibrations, Maoli, Ooklah the Moe, Rebel Souljahz and others. Nakanishi also praised Kelli Heath Cruz, who provided equipment along with engineering on all

of Mana Maoli's CDs; Soul Sound Studio, where a majority of tracks were recorded for the current project; and Trey Terada, who donated his time and talent to master all five volumes of the project's CDs. The limited-edition This is Maoli Music Vols. IV and V comes with two videos - an exclusive John Cruz/Jack Johnson music video and another about the Mana Maoli project - and a 24-page booklet with sketches by Solomon Enos. The CDs ean be purchased online at manamaoli.org, at any Hawaiianfocused public charter school, and at Jelly's, Sam's Club, Barnes & Noble and Hungry Ear Records. Volumes IV and V also are available separately on iTunes. ■

Mary Aliee Kaiulani Milham, a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist, is a former newspaper reporter and columnist from California's Central Coast.

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īhis is Maoli Music Vols. IV and V comes with a hooklel of sketches by Solomon Enos, including this one of Paula Fuga. - Courtesy: Mana Maoli Collective