ACTIVIST
Ascend in love is the the enduring theme in my civil rights activism and the essence of my books, particularly LAVA LOVE ! - With Heart and Art We Connect, Rebel, and Create. The rebellions of my first two decades were based in hurt, anger, and frustration triggered by the fear-guilt-shame inculcation of fundamental religion, the bullying of older brothers and others, and the crude, rude wastelands of prejudice and war. Still I survived by respecting myself and life enough so as not to retaliate by targeting our Midwest hunting guns on my brothers, or others. Rather than pile upon the already dead and nearly so, I drew, painted and wrote journals about the happier, healthier life I envisioned and manifested instead. After being a conscientious objector of the Vietnam War, cutting sugar cane in the first Venceremos Brigade to Cuba, printing for the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and LGBT liberation, and helping fellow Gay Liberation Front members organize NYC's first pride march, I increasingly utilized performing, visual arts and literary arts to demonstrate love's alternatives to furthering fear and hate. The photo below is in NYC for World Pride, where Stephanie and I danced Mauliola's "Manu 'O'o," honoring beloved mentor ancestors, with kumu Luana's Halau Hula o Na Mele ‘Ä€ina o Hawai'i.
To commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising, we in GLF organized the first march and also started NYC's first center for LGBTQ community. I hustled funding for and operated the center's food cooperative. In the Union of Community Skill's literally underground (in a basement) press I printed flyers for gay activities and for the Black Panthers and Young Lords. While passing out flyers in front of the Stonewall bar on Christopher St., I met Earnest Morgan and that began our 22 years of "loving friendship," so termed because more than anything supported each others paths in life, as good friends do. In the World Pride march Stephanie and I are carrying a banner honoring Juan Carlos' design.
In Hawai'i, while directing the Honolulu Ballet and his own Dance o Hawai'i, Earnest choreographed several works dedicated to environmental preservation and civil rights. Pictured is "Mele o Kaho'olawe," which helps reclaim and restore an island that had been used by the military for operations including targeted bombings.
