The Maui fires were inevitable, with Kaniela Ing

Hello again from the ongoing climate crisis! 

Kaniela Ing is a Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) organizer and former state legislator who now works as the national director of the Green New Deal Network. Kaniela joins us just days after a fire ripped through the island of Maui, decimating the town of Lāhainā and killing a yet unknown number of people. (10:40) Kaniela tells us about his relationship to the affected area and community; (13:55) the systemic causes of this tragedy, including aging infrastructure, theft of land and water, and climate change; and (24:25) what needs to happen to both support people in acute crisis and put those same people at the center of our fight for a better world. 

In this episode, we ask: 

Is this a climate turning point in Hawaiʻi? 

Why is a narrative of resistance, not resilience, more appropriate to this moment? What is the role of Native people in this resistance? 

For more: 

* Donate to the Maui Fire Relief + Recovery Fundraiser 

* Watch Kaniela’s interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!

* Listen to a parallel TTSG discussion about Guam with writer Julian Aguon, from March 2021: Loving Guam, fighting empire

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