Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 10, 1 October 2015 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

f you look at the median price for a single family home, it's a wonder that any of us ean own a home. So many of us are a payeheek away from homelessness. So what ean we do about it? We ean get involved to build a better future Hawaiians and for everyone who calls Hawai'i home. What we must not do is fight eaeh other. We're never going to completely agree with eaeh other. The community of Hawaiians and for everyone is a complex one with diverse views. We aren't going to agree on everything. But we have to be able to agree to disagree, to realize that if one group of people is doing good things for our lāhui, we should thank and support them even if we might not totally agree with them. But what we cannot and should not do is to knoek eaeh other down. There are many other groups seeking to knoek us down that doing it to ourselves is unacceptable. Will we ever truly learn the lessons of the crabs in the bucket? Why do some Hawaiians endeavor to pull others down when so many external forces are trying to keep us in the metaphorical bucket? Will we ever rise to such maturity where we ean respect eaeh other for our differences yet honor eaeh other's wishes to make

a better life for our lāhui, our people and to honor our ancestors? During the next few months, there will be a lot of work put into self-determination on many different fronts. It is our duty to work toward making this a better plaee for ourselves and our children and their children. It means having your voice heard as our community discusses affordable housing, better paying jobs and careers for the next generation. It is your right as kanaka to fight to have a say in your future. Hawaiians have the right to exercise their freedom to seek, as an indigenous, native, aboriginal people, to determine their political future, and we should all do so. But we need to do so in a way that builds eaeh other up - not pull eaeh other back into the bucket. I urge you to get involved to make positive change that benefits us as a lāhui so we and our community ean heeome stronger and i better for everyone. 'O au iho nō me ke aloha a me ka 'oia'i'o,

B U I L D I N G A BETTER LĀHUI TOGETHER

v 'ōlelo a ka luna ho'okele v ^ MESSAGE FR0M THE CE0 r ^SSL

Kamana'opono M. Crabbe, Ph.D. Ka Pouhana/Chief Executive Officer