The reality of human rights protection and promotion causes one to reflect on the promise of these principles. However, human rights and peace cannot be a utopian vision of a future, it must be here and now in the daily lives of all people.

From the classroom to the community, I was a witness and humble human rights organizer as individuals educated themselves on the power of rights discourse and raised awareness through grassroots efforts. The movement was organized under the title of the Hawaii Institute for Human Rights (HIHR).

Since Hawaii is a former nation on the list of decolonization at the United Nations, the movement realized we must focus on the rights of the indigenous peoples of Hawaii. Any peace and human rights efforts that dont address indigenous rights would be an injustice.

The HIHR began by building upon the successful event of a film festival. There have now been three indigenous peoples film festivals. The films focus on human rights violations in Hawaii but also connect the struggle for self-determination with other indigenous movements such as Tibetan, Yanomami, Lakota, Mayans, Ogoni and Maori. There were discussions to compare the commonality between the different indigenous peoples campaigns for human rights. The Indigenous Peoples Film Festivals offer a free evening of edutainment -- educational programs that educate and entertain and act as catalyst for future actions.

Another flower in the lei of activism was the organizing around womens rights. One campaign was to organize a display in the university library around the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. From this simple stand with basic information a series of actions evolved. The display case featured the rights guaranteed to all women. Many students read their rights for the first time. It was an awakening. The power of words touched many beginning with the librarians. A new shelf of reading was ordered to update the women studies section.

The students also began to look to assist women to attain their basic rights. The creation of a peace education program aiming at the prison began to chisel change in one of the most oppressive systems existing only miles away yet decades behind. A disproportionate number of people in incarceration are kanaka maoli. This is an international trend as nation states deemed cultures illegal making the simple acts of sustainable living became a crime. Hawaii is no different. Therefore, the HIHR decided to focus on the prison population.

The first act was a visit to the prison from the acress and activist Rena Owens from the film Once Were Warriors. It was a phenomon in the Pacific. The film raised every issue from decolonization to domestic violence. The characters of the film connect with many members of the community. Rena came into the prison to discuss the themes. She also offered hope sharing her wisdom that allowed the inmates to break beyond the bars and begin to understand their situation and to suggest paths toward personal peace and freedom. From the initial visit, the coordinators realized they couldnt allow the basic fundamental freedoms be denied to a group of women. Advocacy efforts began to guarantee the rights of their sisters. Women dont have many of the basic rights men have in the prison. When one realizes the wrongs being committed inside those walls, the women decided we must take action and raise awareness behind the bars and beyond the walls.

Women dont know their human rights, instead they are only allowed to have Harlequin romance novels. There is a book mobile but it only visits the mens side of the prison. The HIHR decided to lobby the warden and education officers to guarantee the women are able to obtain a balanced mental diet. HIHR began to donate school books to the prison breaking through the red tape of bureaucracy to the brains of the female inmates. Students also began to take pride on their papers focusing on cultural icons of the Hawaiian movement such as George Helms and indigenous women leaders such as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Students then provided copies to the inmates. No more Harlequin; Now Human Rights is read and demanded.

The final action was a forum focusing on womens rights. Women leaders from all stata of society from prisoners to professors to professionals discussed the plight of human rights for all women. The forum ignited the passion of even more participants to make a difference and to join resources and energy. The citing of human righs violations provided inspiration instead of frustration. Protests are planned for the new year that list demands. Besides diract action, there was also ample diplomacy. There will be peace education courses beginning in January where certificates will be earned. Some in the prison administration want to call it rehabiliation. We know its a moral revolution and only the beginning so all of the women realize their basic and undeniable human rights.

Another stunning flower of beauty was the students working for their right to education. In the middle of the year, administration decided to cut back on classes such as Hawaiian language and political science. The students cited the right to education from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and noted other example of education rights in international instruments. Students launched an Education is a Right campaign. The events led up to the visit of the Board of Regents. In the spirit of the great bumpersticker, It will be a great day when schools have all the money they need for classes and the navy has to have a bakesale to buy a bomber. Students sold muffins, cakes and cookies while handing out flyers explaining the proposal to raise tuition and also to eliminate courses. The pinnacle of the week was testomony before the decision-making body of the university with eloquence and energy forceful enough to challenge the choice to eliminate courses. Now, if students are interested in the course and there is enrollment, there is a promise that funds will be found. Also there will be two new courses focusing on interests of the students -- Ecological Justice and Nonviolent Political Alternatives.

On the grassroots level, the Universal Declaration of Human Rignts translated in Olelo Hawaii was signficant tool for the indigenous peoples of Hawaii. On December 10, the UDHR in Olelo Hawaii was distributed at the reconciliation talks between the U.S. government and the Kanaka Maoli community. As government representatives from Interior and Justice arrived in Hawaii to followup on U.S. Public Law 103-150 admitting the U.S. role in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the UDHR was provided as a tool for self-determination. Hawaiians educated one another on their basic human rights and also practiced one of the fundamental rights of language and expression. The Hawaiian language was banned in Hawaii for a century. Now, the ideals and principles of human rights are written, spoken and expressed by the Kanaka Maoli movement for self-determination. The distribution of the UDHR booklet in Olelo Hawaii also builds upon the publications of Hawaii Institute for Human Rights.

HIHR began in a classroom with a dozen students intoxicated with a utopian vision rooted in peace and human rights. Other works done by HIHR include pamphlets and bookmarks that summarize and simplify the legal language into common terms understood by all. Also, HIHR is coordinating a summer institute to share the message of this movement for equality and dignity for all. Today, HIHR coordinates positive programs of social change that chisel a reality in our society rooted in human rights on the islands of Hawaii. It is celebrating the milennium with a training on peace and Human rights education for parents, teachers and community leaders.

The lei* is a simple symbol of peace and human rights. However, it was amazing to witness and to assist in preparing for the world to wear. Every community can create its own programs that change their homes into a haven of human rights. Human rights and peace is a reality when people learn the laws and then internalize what the word of wisdom mean to them and most crucial develop skills and strategies to share with humanity.


* ( In Hawaii) a wreath of flowers, leaves, etc., worn around the neck.