I Have a Dream ...a spoken word poem

A year ago I made an episode for my And still the waters rise podcast that offered my thoughts on racism and violence in America and its connection to the colonial-opression experienced in Hawaiʻi. As one year later, there were bombings in Bahgdad, the mass shooting in Orlando, and #BlackLivesMatter was still a necessary movement, I took up the mic again. This time I chose to express myself through spoken word poetry.

Episode 19 is the first ASTWR show done as a spoken word poem. Naiʻa was inspired by the US Independence holiday, Hawaiiʻs political history, racial and social tensions around the world––as well as her own perspectives on the meaning and purpose of her life. This show asks people to question their own existence and purpose as not only human beings but spiritual beings as well.