An estimated 10,000 people crowded the streets of Waikiki on Sunday to partake in the Aloha Aina Unity March. Thousands joined various organizations, schools and hālau in the two-mile march from Saratoga Road to the Kapiʻolani Bandstand.

This gathering aimed to protest the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on Haleakala, the Hoʻopili development project in East Kapolei and the use of genetically modified organisms on our aina.

The Aloha Aina Unity march proceeds along Kalakaua Avenue on Sunday as a drone flies overhead.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

As a 20-year-old who took part in this historic day, I witnessed a form of activism that had not been seen in years. I joined over 10,000 people (Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian), as we made a resilient statement to the “State” of Hawaii that “we as kanaka, people of this land, will not remain silent any longer. We have risen and we will continue to rise to rightfully protect what is sacred.”

While walking alongside hundreds of keiki, who like myself, understood the importance of this movement, it dawned on me that this march was more than just an effort to protect our lands and to make a statement.

This march became a kahea, a call, to the next generation to:

E hume i ka malo, e ho‘okala i ka ihe (Gird the malo, sharpen the spear).

As modern day warriors fighting to protect what is sacred, it is vital to our perpetuity that we continue to groom the next generation of aloha aina warriors to become the next leaders of our lahui.

We have to gird their malo: have them educated in our history, language, culture and traditions.

We have to sharpen their spears: have them attain higher education and become civically involved.

We must provide them with these adequate tools to “gird their malo” and “sharpen their spears” and ready them for future battles ahead.

We have to have them prepared, so that when it is their time to assume leadership positions, they will be makaukau.

The Aloha Aina Unity March showed our strength as a people. It showed the reawakening of kanaka who are conscious and aware of the struggles that our lāhui faces.

The march has become the kahua (foundation) on which the next generation of warriors will stand upon.

As we move toward the future and look to the next generation of leaders, more kanaka will be ready, with their malo girded and their spears sharpened, ready for future battles that may lay ahead.

We are ready! We have risen!

A hiki i ke aloha ʻāina hope loa!

Until the last aloha ʻāina!

— James Keauiluna Kaulia

Editor’s Note: We recognize the significance of diacritical markings in written Hawaiian as pronunciation guides, but have opted to use them sparingly on Civil Beat because they display inconsistently across various computer platforms and browsers.

For diacritically accurate Hawaiian spellings, consult these sources: Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised and Enlarged Edition, by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert (UH Press); Place Names of Hawaii, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert and Esther T. Mookini (UH Press).

These references can also be found online via the Hawaiian electronic library Ulukau.