Creating space, telling our stories
Highlights
2018
As part of our month-long celebration of Black futures we used the themes and visuals of Marvel Studios' "Black Panther" to frame a conversation exploring the place and promise of futurism in communities of color, the power of collective imagination and art making, and the potential for exchange between the people of Hawaiʻi and the African diaspora.
In June, we hosted Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors at the Honolulu Museum of Art as part of her book tour for her best-selling memoir When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.
“The Legacy of Language” profile in Flux issue “Tribes”
The Pōpolo Project is featured in volume 8, issue 2 of Flux Hawaii magazine, where artist Nicole Maileen Woo graces the cover. Inside, through a series of portraits, we share about our collective and individual processes for exploring Black identities in Hawai‘i.
Community Profile: “Healing Traditions”
In this short film produced by the Pōpolo Project we explore Blackness, healing, and water through the story of Prentis Hemphill, a healer and activist who, in making Hawaiʻi their home, explores the potential of interconnected healing while overcoming ancestral trauma by learning to swim and developing a relationship with the ocean.
Ta-Nehisi Coates in Conversation, at Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art
Part of HoMA’s African American Film Festival and sponsored by the Pōpolo Project, this insightful talk exploring the intersections between Blackness in the Pacific and Atlantic worlds was moderated by our founder and executive director, Dr. Akiemi Glenn.
“East African retro-pop” group Alsarah and the Nubatones visited Hawai‘i for concerts, workshops, and cultural exchange in an artist residency that explored themes of migration, home, and belonging.
2019
Black Futures Month —Shabazz Palaces, Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art
The iconic Ishmael Butler (of Digable Planets, Shabazz Palaces, Knife Knights) talked story with us about his connections to Hawai‘i, his practice as an artist, and how he encounters the occupation here.
Community Profile: Charles Lawrence
Community member Charles Lawrence on his retirement from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i. Chuck Lawrence, law professor, scholar, and author talks about his work on critical race theory, his connection to Hawaiʻi, and his hopes for Black community here.
Our executive director, Dr. Akiemi Glenn, was invited to contribute to a symposium of scholars gathered to consider connections between Oceanic, African, and African diasporic histories, political movements, and futures.
Hip-hop duo The Reminders visited Honolulu as artists in residence, providing workshops with youth from the Pōpolo Project community, free community performances, and cultural exchange.
“Want to be less racist? Move to Hawai‘i” New York Times Op-Ed
Our executive director, Dr. Akiemi Glenn, was quoted in this NYT opinion essay on the particular racial landscape of Hawai‘i. Her critique and response are here.
Summer concert series Saltwater People
Saltwater People is a summer rooftop concert series that celebrates the global flow of Black cultures, bringing African and Pacific diasporas together where our lineages and histories converge here in Hawai‘i.