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PREFACE
Seeds Blossoms, thorns
Fragrance and bark of my life
I arrange in poems.
Tourmalines: Beyond the Ebony Portal, is a collection of poems with a focus on Black history and African Americans, named and unnamed, represented by various colorful gemstones, with a variety of characteristics, properties and histories , and reflecting their unique experiences in their worlds.
The themes include: African origins, myths, nature, spirituality, music, family, color and politics, courage, resistance, and growth, modern issues and transformation of being., of place
From the ebony of rich and lustrous old world trees and ancient tourmalines, the poems represent the world of a colorful, durable, ancient people still standing in post modern times, weathered survivors of cyclones and earthquakes of powe and race, floods of oppression, and cruel sandstorms of history.
Because dark presents the riddle of how to see, on close observation of ebony, for example, one sees the fine and intricately grained surface, designs caused by droughts and fires to make it beautiful beyond comparison. Things dark or unknown require a new way of looking at and seeing depth, nuances and the soul of its essence,
Since every tourmaline is different, one can use it as a metaphor of the complexity of African Americans, who are mixed with people of many various origins: different Native American groups, Europeans and euro Americans, Caribbeans, South Americans, Asians, and different African ethnic groups. This melange ends up with rich colorful, bi-colored and multi-colored gemstones.
I invite the reader to walk through the portal of poetry into the black world, and receive my vision of self, cultural community, history and philosophy as an African American woman carrying the blood of my Senegalese, Cherokee, Welsh, English and French ancestors. The journey follows a path of understanding my history, life experiences and the lives of a few beings who have touched, influenced and inspired me, emotionally, intellectually and in the flesh.
Clear and direct
Be more objective
Info about poems
Poems are rhymic, images are created
Listening to words to link to understanding
INTRODUCTION
The urgency to recover the history of blacks in Hawaii is becoming
more apparent with each passing day. Since the election of Barack
Obama, the first admitted African American President of the United
States, more local and national attention is being focused on Hawai`i
black history and the experiences and identity issues of blacks in
Hawaii where Obama passed a formative time of his youth. The ideas
and personal philosophy of Barack Obama were undoubtedly influenced
by his socialization and education in the Hawaiian Islands and certainly
his democratic approach to politics and his beliefs in diversity, unity,
and community (ohana) were surely in part formulated by his multi-racial
family and life in a multi cultural Hawaii.
Ayin Adams, PhD is one of a growing number of scholars and writers who understand the new historicism and the necessity of publishing African American history in Hawaii. A long time resident of Hawaii herself who has worked closely with the local community, Adams explores some of the dilemmas of identity and conflict in a place where Blacks are only 3.5% of the population as well as presenting the unknown successes and triumphs of some special black residents. Unfortunately, the media and education system have ignored, controlled, and/or marginalized blacks in local history, and thus images and perceptions of blacks have been controlled or omitted in the name of preserving the dominant American status and culture and assimilation. Identity and status in America, Hawaii, and the world have been based on the privilege of skin color for too long. Fortunately, at the beginning of the 21st Century, we have reached a plateau and now we have an emerging New People of mixed races and cultures, a growing population of young people, immigrants, full of hopeful optimism, a belief in unity, equality, environmental and social justice, health care reform, and a better understanding and acceptance of otherness. No longer is the world bent on sailing toward whiteness as the only model of success and possibility.
Adams' presentation is straight and unforgettable. Through reading these selected essays that interrogate Hawaii's African Americans' historical issues of identity, pain, and derogatory images of blacks in western art and literature that have permeated the psyche, the reader is left with fresh new images of and respect for blacks in Hawaii, their leadership roles, their successes and contributions, especially in the whaling industry, business, education, science, civil service, the arts, social work, the military, and politics, from the beginning of black settlement, some living large and often very successfully in the lushness and verdant beauty of the Hawaiian Islands.
In this book, Adams presents a collection of essays on Hawaiian and Black histories in the Islands, discusses the historical keepers of black culture, interviews selected outstanding black residents who talk story and ethics, chewing the water. She presents significant cultural and community organizations and events of people working together. She shares speeches of Barack Obama in an effort to situate and dignify blacks in Hawaii and their significant and often overlooked and forgotten roles in the values basic to democracy: "we not me," freedom, equality and justice under the law, values of citizenship, service, community, family, the sacred environment, spirituality, compassion, health care reform, the end of poverty and homelessness, the development of a progressive and practical and empowering educational system, the history, formation and representation and diversity in the formation of the Hawaiian Islands after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Adams recognized the power in words to represent and challenge history. She presents essays that theorize on early black migrations from Africa throughout the Pacific, including the often squelched references to Black royalty in the Pacific. She includes essays documenting later migrations of blacks to Hawaii in the 1800s leaving slavery, their blues and communities behind. She affirms their initial acceptance into a generous and welcoming local community, their contributions to the small and evolving cultural and business worlds. She laments the subsequent alienation and exclusion of black immigrants in the growing immigrant community, the current paucity of blacks in the islands to present compared with other immigrants including Caucasians, Asians, Southeast Asians and Europeans, given their relatively strong representation amongst the foreigners in the early 1800s.
Black contributions to the military in the Pacific theater, in island politics, their strong role in education and cultures are highlighted. The struggle of blacks to navigate between race and culture, ethnicity and history, is energized by buckets of hope, an enduring spiritual tradition, and gallons of patience. As blacks slowly emerge from a storm of resistance and stereotypes, unseen sharks of prejudice still lurk just below the surface of respectability and fair play in the form of lingering collectibles that demonize or make blacks look different and inferior..
The role of blacks in world history is almost unknown in the islands and youth, especially those with dark skins, can be inspired to strive for success with a more balanced teaching of history including ancient dark skinned African gods and goddesses, heroes and sheroes like Osiris, Isis, Nefertiti, the Queen of Sheba, the early African architects and astronomers, the black Magi, the ancient African universities and history of medicine and surgery, the mathematicians who envisioned the Pyramids, the black Madonnas and Saints, the countless agriculturalists, environmentalists, musicians, actors, healers, dancers, the genius of the black community. If for no other reason than the future of our country is at risk, the values of continuity and connectedness seem important goals to cleave to.
There is medicine in memory. For the past 40 years, blacks have begun to research and write their own history in Hawaii, debunking the myths and stereotypes, speaking riddles of opportunities and racial harmonies and the simultaneous lack of inclusion, the absent aloha and the mixed marriages, the marginalized history and the new perceptions of blacks as a group, ethnic and racial, different yet sharing experiences of discrimination and alienation, humor and humility.
Adams understands the power of words and a strong voice, the value of the keepers of history and culture to bring dignity and respect to a group and to individuals. She includes the voices of local black writers, organizers, activists, and the black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, to show the power of collective effort, the inspiration in music, the magic of working together for a common aim. She does not accept the mantle of mind control and social and economic violence against blacks. Instead she sees a psychology of spiritual redemption in the study of black history in Hawaii as the genius, talent, and history of African Americans in Hawaii is recognized and celebrated like the many other ethnic groups in the Islands; the bonds of fear, mistrust, and color prejudice can be released in sharing and learning, history, culture and communication.
Hawaii stands first in line in intercultural communication, understanding, and respect for other and different cultures and ethnic groups. Blacks as a group must join this circle of possibility and light through the sharing of our contributions to local, national and international history. Beyond education, love is the bond that heals and social interaction, intermarriage and mixed race children all help to strengthen trust between groups and keep the soul fires burning. Miscegenation has not been an issue in the islands, although housing, and segregated facilities for the military did promote unsavory racial relations in the past. Today people and groups navigate between the liquid mirror of race and culture to accept each other, to compromise and find mutual interests, to respect our humanity.
PREFACE
The title of this book, Pacific Raven,
was a difficult choice because these poems are about a part of my
journey as a sojourner in Hawai`i. Actually, I chose the title 12 years
ago. Initially it was a feeling, black in Hawaii, a malihini,
a part of and apart from the local born community. I have lived here
three times longer than any other place in my multivarious life. But
there are no ravens in Hawai`i. I asked myself, how many times has the
raven been in and out of my life? What was going on and was there any
significance? Where was I and when? What have I learned from raven?
The raven has been around for thousands of years. In the Bible, the raven is the first bird named in Genesis, the first creature sent out of the ark by Noah after the great flood, the unique bird who carried meat and bread twice daily to the prophet Elijah while he was in hiding.
The raven is often thought to be the same as a crow, and although they come from the same family (corvus corvid), their looks, intelligence, size, and behavior patterns do differ.
My childhood roots are in the deep Jim Crow South. I was born and raised in a place and time when black was not considered a beautiful color and was associated with many negative things. Secretly, as a child, I admired the ravens for their shining beauty, their jet black glossy plumage, their iridescent blues, purples and green hues. They seemed big and strong and dominant. The old folk would say ravens are highly intelligent. They also considered ravens to be crafty agricultural pests, even aggressive scavengers of the dumps and road kill as their natural habitat was encroached upon and diminished. Some said ravens were noisy, bothersome, chatty nuisances, but who does not need a Plato’s gadfly to awaken our consciousness?
My mother, a professor of English and languages, regularly recited poetry to me including The Raven and Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe.
I went to high school and college on the East Coast where my father and his Cherokee ancestors were born and raised. The raven was an important bird to the Cherokee and the head of the clan was called Raven. I attended a Quaker boarding school in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where ravens hung out in the taller trees near the pond in the woods where we students ice-skated, dreamed and wrote poems and did homework under maple, spruce and elm trees in Fall and Spring. Ravens watched as we occasionally met close friends, seemingly as aloof and distant as the people in the East.
University study in Massachusetts provided me with other settings of Raven, on campus occasionally, and in the outlying woody areas where I would go to write, walk in the woods, look at the early spring flowers, and cut armloads of lilacs for my dormitory room. Ravens were always present when I went off the beaten path, out in Nature, seeking beauty, inspiration, and adventure. They were the observers, sitting by and looking on. I studied literature but did not learn that the ancient Greeks, Apollo and certain oracular priests, regarded the raven as sacred, prophetic, bold, wise and cunning. Later with Christianity and notions of God and purity associated with whiteness, European and American literature, folklore, and mythology demonized the black bird and used raven as a metaphor for fear, and an ill omen (see Shakespeare, Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe, Tolkien, Whitman, Thoreau, and Stephen King to mention a few).
I also lived in southern France where ravens flew, sat on rocky ledges and in tall trees on the edges of vineyards, and in the open countryside. They seemed to watch the many changes as the towns and cities expanded, the mores changed, more foreigners and tourists appeared, and immigrant phobias and hypermarch?e? began to flourish.
I spent a summer in Niger, West Africa where ravens heard incredible rhythms of drum beats and balaphones, nested near oases and watering holes, hung out near market places and in babobab trees like vultures, and scavenged and squawked over the scant food supply on the edge of the Sahara Desert, ever present, ever watching, ever waiting.
Later, I moved to the West Coast for graduate study and began to learn of the raven tradition in Native American mythology and folklore as ethnic studies programs developed and minority groups began to teach, write, and publish books about their cultures. For centuries, Native Americans have considered the Raven a spiritual figure or Creator God endowed with super powers, a trickster, a cooperative survivor, intelligent, opportunistic yet sharing, devoted to family.
More recently, I spent five summers in China. Again the raven was omnipresent wherever I was: at the Summer Palace near Beijing, in the urban gardens, the parks, at the rock garden where I wrote poetry, passing through the countryside on the train to and from Qingdao, up at the monastery in Laoshan, or at Tai Shan. If I looked, I could see them where they sat still and observed the happenings from the branches of ancient conifers, the gingko trees, and pines.
The versatile and adaptable ravens are revered as powerful flyers, able to soar effortlessly. They are known to mate and nest together for life, carving out a territory for their nest high in a big tree or perched on a precarious cliff, or telephone pole, facing out. Adaptable ravens thrive in the wilderness, even in the midst of icy winter, in the middle of the desert, in the wet Northwest Territory near the woods, in the rocky headlands, and in the great forests. Yet, wherever they are, they prefer to be close to large expanses of open land to facilitate their hunt for food such as grains, berries and small animals. In fact, ravens are found all over the northern hemisphere, but not here in the Hawaiian islands where the black birds are: the iwa (frigate) bird, the Hawaiian crow, booby birds, black noddies, sooty storm tetrals, and terns.
As I prepared this manuscript of poems written off and on over three decades, I could not decide on the title. I naturally wanted the title to include or suggest Nature’s beauty, inspiration, fruits and magic, papaya dreams, mango sunrises, ocean currents, unpredictable winds. However, I also wanted the title to go deeper, to reflect me and the influences of travel and my unique experiences, my African, Native American and European roots. I wanted to evoke my current identity as a malihini, a 40+ year resident of Oahu, Hawai’i and my evolving identity and consciousness as a world citizen.
I kept returning to the title, Pacific Raven as if the spirit of raven kept flying back into my space. I imagined that if ravens were here in the Hawaiian Islands, the adaptable ravens would inhabit a place like Ka`a`awa. I imagined that they would be in my large country garden, where they would squawk and quarrel with the minah birds in the avocado trees, sleep in the tall old mango trees, swoop down to gnaw on guava and papaya seeds, sit next to the cardinals in the plumeria trees after making peace. In my mind, I could envision them in Honolulu sitting in the shower trees, the Norfolk pines, or in the mountains by the Pali where they would like sit high in the koa and monkey pod trees. In my imaginings, I could even see them fly up to the volcano craters for a solitary visit on the Big Island, above the rain forests, sit in the o`hia trees in silent awe at the mighty hot mountain, flowing magma barely hidden beneath the earth’s crust.
Ravens did not come across the ocean, but I did. I am the raven who
observes and can survive in many climates and places. I am the cunning
trickster who taught, learned and thought secretly, when others thought
I did not pay attention. I am the raven who with powerful wings and the
spirit of the ancestors flew off to many countries, several continents,
and to the high places in my mind where I marveled and awed at the
beauty of Nature, the diversity of cultures, the changes in people, the
music of the moon and stars. I am the intelligent raven who speaks and
tells stories. I am a country dweller who can survive in the urban
areas. I am the raven, a seeker of nourishment from the earth, from the
seeds, and sometimes the leftovers. I am the raven, inspired by the
rhythms of the trees, the whispers of the winds, the flow of various
waters, oceans, rivers, ponds, pools, mists and rains. I am the raven,
creative, independent, resourceful, and loyal who prefers to dwell in
the countryside, woods, wilderness or high places. I am the Pacific
Raven, a malihini who found and adapted to a new
environment
to create this collection of observations and reflections of life in
Hawai`i. I am the old soul.
INTRODUCTION
African American, Black lawyers practiced law in the United States
before the Civil War ended. Although the number of black lawyers is
disproportionately low compared with white lawyers, the numbers are rising.
Black lawyers have been instrumental in obtaining and securing equal rights
under the U.S. Constitution. Black lawyers have a keen insight into civil
rights violations because they are descendants of an unfair slavery system
based upon skin color. Black lawyers who made their way to the Hawaiian
Islands continued the civil rights struggle and through law, politics,
government and other social acts. Their acts helped Hawaii have a more just
and egalitarian legal system.
As an African American lawyer in Hawaii, I felt it was essential to document our contributions. I start with early beginnings, recognizing two African American lawyers, T. McCants Stewart and Dr. George Johnson, both of whom attained International, National and Local prominence in Hawaii.
After presenting early African American lawyers in Hawaii, this book showcases case law and events affecting race discrimination in Hawaii as it pertains to African Americans. From the 1950's through the 1980's, African Americans were not always welcome in Hawaii. Many liquor establishments refused to serve Black military men and allow them into their establishments. Mayor Frank Fasi appointed Dr. John Edwards to the liquor commission in the 1980's. After this appointment, the Liquor Commission began to fine establishments who discriminated. In the late 1980's, the Civil Rights Commission of Hawaii was created. Several of its rulings dealt with discrimination against African Americans.
The African American Lawyers Association was formed after a prominent Hawaii Court Judge referred to an African American Bail Bondsman using the "n" word. The African American Lawyers Association (AALA) is still an active watchdog for civil rights and gives away scholarships to the youth for writing essays on civil rights. Some of the winning essays are presented. Minutes of the first meetings of AALA are included along with brief sketches of African American lawyers in Hawaii and historical events they were involved. African American lawyers of Hawaii members are active with the National Bar Association, the largest organization of African American lawyers and Judges in the world.
In 2004, AALA members traveled with the NBA to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. A travelogue of this trip concludes the book, a celebration with returning to Africa, meeting, connecting and observing the African legal system of 3 countries.
Attorney Daphne Barbee-Wooten