NASA computer, pioneering mathematician, and trailblazer Katherine Johnson passed away early this morning at the age of 101. May her memory be a blessing.
Violet Baptiste, a Cree woman living in Winnipeg, says she was waiting for her bus after work when a group of white people—who she said were issuing racist commentary about the nearby Wet’suwet’en rally—ambushed her and started hurling racist, anti-Indigenous insults.
Baptiste said that a pro-Wet’suwet’en rally, which took place on February 10, inspired the vitriol, because it forced several bus routes to change course, delaying commuters. Baptiste stood at her transit stop while others started venting about the Wet’suwet’en supporters.
The City of Winnipeg did not confirm whether bus routes were delayed on February 10.
“People got upset and mad about them, so the insults started,” Baptiste told VICE. “It was like ‘These damn Native people, why don’t they get jobs?’”
Baptiste said she’s a visibly Indigenous woman, so she didn’t want to stand in the middle of a racist diatribe. She ended up challenging the group: “I said, ‘You don’t know that they don’t have jobs.’”
The group then started verbally attacking Baptiste, she says. First at the bus stop, then on the bus. She said they repeated racist stereotypes about Indigenous peoples and even uttered “Fucking Natives” in front of her.
Baptiste said she was troubled by the fact that no one stood up to her attackers during the assault, and everytime she tried to stand up for herself, three or four people would gang up on her.
Me, a Hawaiian: “While Hawai’i had a queen we were at the forefront of innovation, technological advancement, and international alliances. All the way up until the “democratic” government of the US illegally arrested her in her own palace and threatened to kill her and massacre her people unless she signed her country over to them. I’d like to have a queen who cares more about her peoples lives than her power again. Also, fuck Trump.”
Reposting cause I can and it’s still relevant
Its worth mentioning that Hawaii is also one of the few countries with a mythic, “Hero King” who they can actually prove existed. King Kamehameha the Great (yes like in Dragon Ball Z), was seven feet tall, the guardian of the war god Kukaʻ ilimoku, and took Hawaii from an archipelago of rival Kingdoms who hadn’t really gotten out of the Bronze Age, unified him under his dominion, and turned the Kingdom of Hawaii into a global trading empire who’s monarchs were greeted at the Court of Queen Victoria.
Guys I’m legit about to cry.
A post I made has over a thousand notes!! And most importantly it’s starting a conversation and spreading knowledge about what was done to my culture.
It is also so heartwarming to go in the notes and find people sharing more information and sources! And even more so to see that only two idiots decided to chime in with their misinformation.
Like, I am damn PROUD of y’all tumblr, we out here learning how to respect each other’s cultures and it’s dooooope!!!!
Hey so, aloha kakou … I need to point out something very specific here.
Lili’uokalani yes technically inherited the throne, but Kalakaua as a King was ELECTED. There were stipulations, but he was not BORN with an inherent right to rule. In fact some would argue that Queen Emma had more right than he did. The title of “King” was evolving to becoming very similar to what we would call a “President” or “Prime Minister” today. At that point, it had not been a true monarchy.
There is a lot of good things in this post, but this is an important detail. We Kanaka Maoli historically have a cultural belief that if you cannot take care of your people, you are unworthy of being ali’i. Bloodright be damned, the best example of this goes all the way back to Hakau and ‘Umi, sons of Liloa. Hakau was (for lack of a better term) TRUEBORN and the true heir to his father’s reign. HOWEVER, ‘Umi - born to another mother and while came from a powerful bloodline of his own right still NOT trueborn - became ali’i instead. How? Liloa split the right to rule and the designation of Kukailimoku between Hakau and ‘Umi. This was UNHEARD OF, to give the right to rule to Hakau but the designation of the god of war and politics to someone else. Through his deeds, ‘Umi proved he would care for the people, and the people chose him and rejected Hakau.
This is one of the oldest records of rulers in Hawai’i, and it is an important one as it essentially demonstrated how the PEOPLE have the ultimate power over their rulers - and the rulers must follow through on their kuleana to guard, protect, and provide. Kamehameha the Great also had to prove himself against great odds, he had to earn the right to rule. He had to INSPIRE people to follow him. To rule in Hawai’i is not a right, it is a privilege.
Bloodline in Hawai’i, is nothing if your deeds are worthless. Yes, you inherit mana and inherent rights, but if you do nothing both degrade until you find yourself with nothing. Mana can be corrupted, it can be polluted, and no matter how high your parents were, you can be lower than the low.
Aloha!
Thank you for adding more info to the post! I know someone had mentioned the elections on another reboot but I didn’t have exact info on who was the first to be chosen by the people nor did I have the spoons to really debate at the time I made this post, so I really really really appreciate that you took the time to add more history to this, especially during such an important time in Hawai’i’s cultural and political history.
