“Resistance is not just an act of defiance; it is an act of survival. It is a refusal to be erased, to be forgotten.”

(Haunani-Kay Trask, “From A Native Daughter”, een bundel met essays uit 1993; dit essay voor het eerst gepubliceerd in Martin Calvin, ed., “The American Indian and the problem of history”, 1987, non vidi: https://archive.org/details/americanindianpr00martrich)

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Dit is een quote uit 1993 van Haunani-Kay Trask (1949-2021), een vooraanstaande activiste, geleerde (Professor of Hawai’ian Studies at the University of Hawai’i) en dichteres, die zich heeft ingespannen voor het zelfbeschikkingsrecht van de inheemse bevolking van Hawai’i (de Kanaka Maioli) en, uiteraard, de dekolonisatie van de Hawaiaanse samenleving.

Een recensent over deze uitspraak in context: “This quote … beautifully captures the essence of resistance, not only as an act of defiance, but as an act of survival. It signifies the unwavering strength and determination of marginalized communities to assert their existence and reclaim their voice in the face of systematic erasure and historic injustices. In refusing to be forgotten or silenced, resistance becomes a powerful means of preserving cultural heritage, ensuring that the stories and identities of oppressed peoples are acknowledged and remembered. It serves as a resolute affirmation of the inherent worth and value of every individual, defying attempts to erase their narratives and affirming their rightful place in history. Through resistance, we not only challenge the oppressive systems that seek to diminish us, but we also embrace our own resilience and commit to shaping a future that upholds justice and equality for all.” (https://www.bookey.app/quote-book/from-a-native-daughter)

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Eindnoot. Voor biografische informatie over Haunani-Kay Trask, zie algemeen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunani-Kay_Trask.

Voor de onderkenning van haar visie op het onderscheid tussen de belangen van de “lokale bevolking” met inbegrip van de kolonisten en die van de inheemse bevolking, in de context van het verdringingkskoloniale beleid van de “bloedgehaltes” (e.g. ‘halfbloed’, ‘kwartbloed’ etc.), zie J. Kêhaulani Kauanui, Hawaiian Blood. Colonialism and the Politics of Soverignty and Indigeneity, Duke University Press 2008, p. 30.

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Voor het belang van de verhalenvertelling voor de versterking en het behoud van de collectieve identiteit in weerwil van koloniale uitwissing: “For us,” verklaarde Trask in een interview in 2004, “resistance at the overthrow [van het legitieme koninkrijk door Euro-immigranten in 1893] was part of the «mo‘olelo», the long story of resistance from contact [vanaf 1778], including the ongoing resistance today. We join each other in resistance through speaking about it, even though we’re not talking about ourselves but about our parents and our grandparents. For Hawaiians, that’s important, because the behavior of the older generations confirms and supports our resistance today.” (Cynthia Franklin & Laura E. Lyons,”Land, Leadership and Nation / Haunani-Kay Trask on the Testimonial Uses of Life Writing in Hawai’i”, Biography 27.1 (Winter 2004), Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.)

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Eindnoot 2. Cynthia G. Franklin

Overigens lees ik op de profielpagina van een van deze interviewers, Cynthia G. Franklin, de flaptekst van een mogelijk erg interessant boek van haar over de inzet van levensverhalen voor de ontzenuwing van dehumanisaties, hetgeen immers zo belangrijk is voor actuele decolonisatieprocessen: “Through chapters focused on Hurricane Katrina; Black Lives Matter; the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement; and the Native Hawaiian movement to protect Mauna a Wākea, Franklin reveals how life writing can be mobilized to do more than perpetuate dominant forms of dehumanization that underwrite violence.” (Cynthia G. Franklin, “Narrating Humanity. Life Writing and Movement Politics From Palestine to Mauna Kea”, Fordham Press, 2023, non vidi). In een interview gepubliceerd op 20 mei 2023 met Jadaliya naar aanleiding van haar boek ging Cynthia Franklin in op het verband met Palestina –– Jadaliya is de “ezine” van het Arab Studies Institute in Washington DC en Beirut Libanon.

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“Although thematically central only to the fourth chapter, on Steven Salaita and the BDS movement, Palestine is the heart of this book, and is woven into each of its chapters. In the Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2, it serves as a moral compass, one that registers failures in narrative humanity’s formulations of the human and demonstrates how memoirs can break from movements with which they are aligned. For example, in Chapter 2, Ta-nehisi Coates’ relationship to Palestine evidences how his memoir departs from BLM. At the same time, attention to Oscar Grant’s story (in Chapter 2) and Cullors’ relationship to Palestine (in Chapter 3) provides a way to trace BLM’s commitments to international solidarity. As the book progresses—in Chapter 5 (on the Native Hawaiian-led movement to protect Mauna Kea) and in the postscript—Palestine becomes a greater focus as I consider the power and importance of stories that build solidarity from Hawai‘i to Palestine. Palestine is vital to the story this book tells of how, in the face of crushing violence, humans continue to rise, together, and breathe into being old and new stories of human and more-than-human becoming and belonging.” https://www.jadaliyya.com/…/Cynthia-G-Franklin…

Over “intersectionaliteit” in activisme gesproken! Goed zo.