In June 2017, members of the Oʻahu-based grassroots organization Women’s Voices, Women Speak attended the International Women’s Network Against Militarism Conference in Naha, Okinawa. Hosted by the group Okinawan Women Against Military Violence, the members of WVWS visited many contested sites (Camp Schwab, Henoko/Oura Bay) and public memorial sites, for Irei no Hi (lives lost in the Battle of Okinawa) and Rina Shimabukuro (raped and murdered by a former U.S. Marine in 2016). In this presentation these scholars and activists will share some of their reflections on colonial violence and women-led healing.
Speakers:
Aiko Yamashiro is a poet and PhD student of decolonial Pacific literatures at the UHM English Dept. She is a co-organizer with community group HOA (Hawaii-Okinawa Alliance).
Ellen-Rae Cachola, Ph.D., co-founded Women’s Voices Women Speak. She works as the Evening Supervisor and Archives Manager at the William S. Richardson School of Law and lectures for the Department of Ethnic Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Dr. Kim Compoc is a theater artist and instructor of English and Ethnic Studies at UH Mānoa. Her work centers on diasporic Filipin@s and decolonial alliances with indigenous movements.
Kasha Ho is a blogger and community organizer on issues of food justice. She is the Community Food Systems Strategist at Kokua Kalihi Valley and cofounder of Emergent Island Economies Collective.
Respondent:
Mari Matsuda, UHM Law Professor