Join us for a moderated conversation with award-winning author Ta-Nehisi Coates to connect the threads between the African-American experience in North America and the cultural politics and history of Hawai‘i. Moderated by Dr. Akiemi Glenn—founder and curator of the Pōpolo Project—the discussion will explore the liabilities and boons for better understanding the intersection between the experience of Blackness in the Pacific and the experience of Blackness in the continental United States. 

Join us to celebrate the close of Black August Honolulu by sharing a pau hana sunset meal together by the ocean, reflecting on this momentous month, and dreaming of our future.

We welcome contributions to the potluck feast.

Award-winning musician, performer, and educator Kamakakēhau Fernandez, or “Kumu K,” is celebrated for bringing the voice of Hawai‘i to the world. Educated in kula kaiapuni Hawaiian immersion schools, Kumu K is a fluent Hawaiian language speaker and teacher at Punana Leo and is now helping to share the indigenous language of this land by offering intro Hawaiian language classes to students of all levels.

$20 per class session. Pre-registration required here.

E Ola ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi! May the Hawaiian language live on!

Black August encourages us to learn about and engage with the systems that are obstacles to freedom and justice for our communities. The Pōpolo Project is proud to be a co-sponsor for "Lives on the Line," a panel conversation between activists and writers whose work considers how the telling and holding of each othersʻ stories counter repressive narratives about immigration, incarceration, and child abuse within those systems. Featuring moderator Ebony Coletu and panelists Aly Wane, Amita Swadhin, Michelle Jones.

Award-winning musician, performer, and educator Kamakakēhau Fernandez, or “Kumu K,” is celebrated for bringing the voice of Hawai‘i to the world. Educated in kula kaiapuni Hawaiian immersion schools, Kumu K is a fluent Hawaiian language speaker and teacher at Punana Leo and is now helping to share the indigenous language of this land by offering intro Hawaiian language classes to students of all levels.

$20 per class session. Pre-registration required here.

E Ola ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi! May the Hawaiian language live on!

Artist and activist Joy Enomoto of the Pōpolo Project shares a very special reportback from community efforts in Fiji and the Solomon Islands to organize against militarism and environmental degradation through art.

Award-winning musician, performer, and educator Kamakakēhau Fernandez, or “Kumu K,” is celebrated for bringing the voice of Hawai‘i to the world. Educated in kula kaiapuni Hawaiian immersion schools, Kumu K is a fluent Hawaiian language speaker and teacher at Punana Leo and is now helping to share the indigenous language of this land by offering intro Hawaiian language classes to students of all levels.

$20 per class session. Pre-registration required here.

E Ola ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi! May the Hawaiian language live on!

Dr. Teresia Teaiwa was born on August 12, 1968 in Honolulu to an i-Kiribati father and African American mother and was raised in Fiji.  As a scholar, poet, and activist her work engaged with the militarism, colonialism, and their impacts on Native Pacific peoples. When Dr. Teaiwa passed away in March 2017 the Pacific community lost an engaged and compassionate leader whose creativity and conviction were an inspiration to many. This year, we will gather to celebrate Teresia Teaiwa's legacy with an afternoon of poetry and performance.

Award-winning musician, performer, and educator Kamakakēhau Fernandez, or “Kumu K,” is celebrated for bringing the voice of Hawai‘i to the world. Educated in kula kaiapuni Hawaiian immersion schools, Kumu K is a fluent Hawaiian language speaker and teacher at Punana Leo and is now helping to share the indigenous language of this land by offering intro Hawaiian language classes to students of all levels.

$20 per class session. Pre-registration required here.

E Ola ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi! May the Hawaiian language live on!

In the Black August tradition of building community and improving our fitness, join us for a 4-mile hike on a trail that rises almost 1,800 feet along the ridge of the Ko‘olau with beautiful look-outs over Waimanalo and the Windward side of O‘ahu.

Black August encourages us to learn about and engage with the systems that are obstacles to freedom and justice for our communities. Throughout the month we will highlight events that give our community an opportunity to learn and strategize together.

Please join Hawaiʻi Justice Coalition for a community meeting that will focus on Bail Reform: Shrinking the Human and Financial Cost of Jails in Hawaiʻi. A penel of distinguished speakers will educate our community about bail—its original purpose and the unfairness that results from our current system where the "poor get jail" and the "rich post bail." Speakers will propose solutions to our broken bail system and connect the dots about bail reform will significantly reduce the pre-trial population at every jail within Hawaiʻi. Youʻll also hear an update on the proposed new jail to replace OCCC. The final EIS for this project, estimated to cost over $500 million for construction alone, was published on July 8.