on this episode of "united shades of america" i'm in hawaii, one of the most beautiful places on earth. many people think of hawaii as an unspoiled paradise. if you ask an hawaiian, they have different opinions. yeah, i think they do. my name is w. kamau bell. as a comedian, i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country.

this is the "united shades of america." hawaii. to an american on the mainland, the very mention of our 50th state brings to mind beautiful beaches. hula dancers, and that one brady bunch episode where the family gets cursed. >> bad things come to those who touch. >> they had it coming. today hawaii is one of america's top vacation destinations as people flock to the island. don't take it from me, listen to these people. nice to meet you, where are you from? >> minnesota. >> minnesota. this is a very long way from here. how long have you been in hawaii? >> i got here yesterday. >> have you ever been here before? >> no. >> your whole mind is expanding, i can see it. >> i don't think i'm ever going to leave. >> you have the classic tourist look with the real actual camera. >> i'm dressed like john guava

today. >> do you do this on purpose to match your cameras to your clothes? >> yes, i have a different color camera for every outfit. >> is that true? >> no. >> how long does flip-flop season last in. >> three days. i might not go home. >> you're the first person i've talked to that's not going home. >> the hawaii these people are getting is a friendly one, everything's fine all the time. if you talk to many hawaiians, they will tell you -- >> everything is not okay. it's not okay. >> in this episode, i'm showing you the side of hawaii that tourists hardly ever see. >> we are hawaiians, we have taken off from our culture, our heritage, our land. >> this is maxine and -- two elder hawaiians.

ku served as a trustee of the office of hawaiian affairs. together they've fought for fierce against what they view as the erosion of their heritage at the hands of the united states of america. what, native people screwed by america? well, i never. >> we have known each other for a long time. >> classmates. went to school together. >> in elementary school. and that was about a little -- >> oh, oh, oh. okay, okay. tell him. >> ten years ago. >> tell him, no. >> it was over 70 years ago. >> yes. >> what? you were in school together over 70 years ago. >> i'm 79. >> he's 81. >> you don't look 79. >> say that to the camera. >> she don't look 79. >> once i realized how old they were, i realized something else that kind of scared me. they had lived through pearl harbor. >> when i was 3 years old, a japanese plane came over our

house. i will never forget it. the effect of the war, yeah, of all this happening to us, i see the tears. i see the scaredness and everything. and then our neighborhood, where all this different nationality, all of a sudden we're not talking to each other. and, you know, when we grow up, we go why, what did we do? it's not us. it's the frickin system, that damn government, united states of america who turned us over 100 years, the oppression. >> maxine has a right to be hostile. the history of hawaii would make anybody upset. it starts out great though. about 1,500 years ago, polynesians, and they were united under their own kingdom.

but eventually the white man showed up. that rarely works out well for indigenous people. americans built pineapple plantations and sugar mills, which the locals didn't want. the americans did what worked so well on the mainland, they took the land from the hawaiians at gunpoint. then you know the usa playbook. in an effort to destroy the native culture, they passed racist laws banning the hawaiian language from school and government. in 1898, congress officially annexed, aka stole hawaii and they become a u.s. territory, and it also became a u.s. target. see, japan didn't bomb hawaii because they had a beef with hawaii. hawaii was just a much more convenient american place to bomb than the west coast. hours after the bombing, the united states imposed marshal law on hawaii. hawaiians had to live under strict u.s. military rule for three years because they got

bombed? so even though hawaii became our 50th state in 1959, there are many people that will never forget that their country was stolen. >> they totally took over our minds. >> yeah. >> we became subject to total indoctrination. they tried to erase our customs. >> customs. >> and our culture. and make us little americans. >> people don't realize, it's not only the desecration, it's the development, it's the realtors. it's all this kind of investment. those are worse than a bomb. >> and some of this is also related to the military, right? >> hawaii is probably the most militarized place in the so-called united states. the federal government and the military controls a large percentage of our lands. >> and we're not against the military. it's what they do. >> yup, even after world war ii

ended, even after hawaii became a state, many hawaiians still feel like the military is occupying them. the united states military holds over 200,000 acres of hawaiian land. damn. and on the other side of the island is the training area, known as the pta. the largest military installation in all the pacific. in 2015, ku actually sued the departme of land and natural resources for failure to monitor and protect the acres leased to the pta. the suit is still ongoing. they view the military desecrating their sacred land. >> hawaii is the land of aloha, the land of love, compassion, all the good stuff. this is our gift to the world. and yet, they are using our lands of aloha to do war.

>> and now they're all woirds abo -- worried about this korean guy shooting a missile. >> and they're going to say they're here to protect us. >> does this look like people who feel they're protected? >> here is what happened, people in hawaii were ordered to take shelter because a ballistic missile or missiles were headed to hawaii. >> again, kim jong-un ain't going to launch a missile in hawaii because he's mad at hawaii, it's just the closest he can get to the guy he's actually mad at. >> you tell me how much hurt we get already. that's why, today, i still fight back. we are -- the hawaiians. >> i'm going to help spread the word, let other people know that. thank you, thank you. let's let you calm down a little bit. >> no, i can't stop. >> do you drink beer? let's get you a beer. >> i don't drink. i no smoke.

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even though i'm not in hawaii as a tourist, i couldn't resist getting my toes wet. >> that's all the time i've been contractually given to enjoy myself in hawaii. back to talking to people.

>> i'm not here to play tourist, but tourism is by far hawaii's number one business, and the stats are staggering. the annual number of visitors to hawaii in 1921 was 8,000. in 2016, it was 8.9 million. as more resorts and vacation homes are built, the cost of living in hawaii has risen to the highest in the nation, even new york is like damn. housing prices are four times higher than the national average. the lack of affordable housing has forced many locals out into the streets, which has led to the state of hawaii having the highest homeless rate per capita in the nation. the west side of oahu has one of the biggest homeless encampments in the country. it's steps away from the same pacific ocean tourists take pictures of. this encampment is home to around 300 people. although the state of hawaii does not condone this makeshift community, for now they're here. and they're led by the camp's

co-founder, mayor and aunty, twinkle borge. and that's the name on her birth certificate. many mainlanders don't believe hawaiian's birth certificates are legit. >> thank you for welcoming me today. >> oh, yeah. >> this is a lot of property. >> 19 acres to be exact. last year i ended up with 125 of them that came from the shelter here in one week. >> in one week. >> in one week. >> 125 people looking for a new place to stay. >> i still take people in. at one point they didn't want me to take anybody else in. they wanted me to not let them come in. if i didn't, then you would see camps popping up all over the place, and they can be here, and i can bring agencies in to help service. >> again, this land is owned by the state, but they do not officially condone this camp. the camp is funded solely through donations and nonfederal government organizations. >> you'll notice, it's very different in different areas. >> i can tell everybody's got a different style, like, i mean,

this is very elaborate over here. >> right. every single person that comes here, however they want to build it, that's their choice. >> see, this person has a whole chain link fence, an actual screen door. >> a door, yes. >> it's clear that people have pride, and are building homes. >> yeah. i'll help them not only physically, but spiritually also. in the back here, i do work with them intensive. i work with them one on one, give them back what they're lost, they'll be all right. >> i would imagine that you end up rehabilitating quite a few people. >> yes, i have, yes, i have, yeah. i do have now 11 captains, which i call my leaders, any problems arise, they take care of their sections. we set rules for the people to follow, basic rules as if you have in homes, no stealing, respect your neighbors. >> so it's like your own local government here. >> yeah. so even with the childrens, the

kids, they come to me. i will help with schooling and clothing. in my tent, they can eat all day long. i don't ever let them go to bed hungry. i feed almost 16 kids. >> so there's kids here, the kids who go to school, i want to be clear -- >> we have newborn all the way through high school. we have one senior. last year we had two seniors that graduated, one was sum cum laude. >> that's got to make you feel proud. >> yeah. i do push them hard. my thing is, dream big, dream big. >> yeah. >> oh, finally sitting down. >> yes, finally sitting. i bet you're on your feet a lot around here. >> yes, i am. >> you are really, in a lot of ways, running the kind of community people had in other cities, everybody knows we're all together. >> this can be the answer to solve a lot of problems for the houseless community. i want to be able to help all.

>> do you think you're going to stay here forever? >> i'm always told to come home, you know. my parents, my brothers, my sisters. they don't understand i am home. >> to be clear, you could be living indoors right now? >> oh, yes, i have a four-bedroom house. >> this is a choice. >> this is my choice. >> this is your home. you know, people who pass by in cars, even when i walked in here, it's easy to start to judge. >> they do. >> i've heard of the spirit of aloha since i've been here. you're clearly living with that spirit. thank you very much. >> you're welcome. morrow -10am? staff meeting. noon? eating. 3:45? uh, compliance training. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios.

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if you're an island in the middle of the ocean, even when you're a part of the united states, you can tend to be forgotten, puerto rico. and sometimes you've got to remind people that you're there. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news, a second defeat for the white house on the president's travel ban, this is cnn tonight, i'm don lemon, a federal judge in hawaii blocks a new travel ban hours before it was supposed to go into effect. >> hawaii didn't just block the ban, they filed a lawsuit against it. the man behind this lawsuit was douglas chin. then hawaii's attorney general, but now the lieutenant governor. i guess in hawaii suing the president is good for your

career. >> the travel ban happens, and there's a sense, this is going to sound as ignorant as it is, how is hawaii involved in this? you know. so please speak to all that. >> sure. i think it really hit people in the heart. i think it had a lot to do with just this sounds like discriminating against people just based upon their nation of origin. this sounds just like what happened back in world war ii, when there were japanese people who were interned. >> what doug is talking about is the internment of japanese-americans during world war ii. one of america's ugliest acts. though it's a tough competition. preparations for mar shl -- when the strike came, america was ready to arrest hundreds of innocent japanese hawaiians in the community within hours of attack. a 160-acre internment camp was built. innocent people who had just been peacefully living their

lives were housed as prisoners of war, the majority of them were american citizens. and let me be absolutely clear about this. during the war, no hawaiian-american was ever found guilty of sabotage, espionage, or overt acts against the united states. the knowledge of that sickening piece of american history is what led douglas chin to oppose its return by way of the travel ban. >> so if we just start off like within the first week banning 250 million people from coming into the u.s., and we don't say anything about it, or do anything about it, then what's next? hawaii's standing up really woke up the whole country in some sense, you know, like, wait a minute, if hawaii is standing up, you know -- we're so mellow, right? >> new york's like what are we doing, why aren't we yelling? >> after the travel ban came out i went to a national meeting where all the attorneys general show up. so it's like all 50 states. it's kind of like miss america,

except it's ag. it's lawyers. and then later on we all hopped onto a bus and went to the white house to see president trump. and he took some questions. then i raised my hand and i said, okay, well, you know, we're all just kind of wondering, what are you trying to accomplish with this travel ban? what's your thinking behind it? >> he asked, are you one of the states that's suing us? i said yes. do i like you or not? do i like you? i think people started to move away from me. you know, essentially his answer is, well, i understand you have your priorities. i have mine. what's very clear is that right now the white house priorities are not hawaii's priorities. to me this feels like what you're doing is a part of that spirit of aloha, the spirit of welcome. >> maybe it's because we're all on an island and we're two degrees removed from each other. it forces people to have to listen to each other. we have to stick everybody in a room all the time and make them talk to each other.

we need to pass a law that it's illegal for politicians to leave washington, d.c. >> that's right. you're a lawyer, can we work on that? i'm just brainstorming. i'm sure there's some way we can figure that out. now, doug talks about inclusion and acceptance. but doug's not a native hawaiian. it's important to remember that those ideas were already a part of hawaiian culture long before america took it over. native hawaiians believe in living harmoniously with the earth by protecting the ground where people who pass on are buried, as their spirits live on, to nourish and protect their descendants. those beliefs lead to conflict with the united states government. on the big island of hawaii there's a prime example of this. now, when i said the other side of beautiful hawaii, i wasn't thinking about the weather. here i am, in the rain, in

hawaii. i'm headed to meet a group of native hawaiians who since late 2014 have made it their duty to protect one of their most sacred pieces of land, the dormant volcano -- this group calls themselves the monikau prote protectors. they're led by the founder of the -- which means people who pray for the mountain. and pua case, a member of idle hands no more, which fights to protect indigenous rights around the world. and my old friend ku is here. >> i know there's talk of building a telescope up here. i know you are all not in favor of the tell low scope. can you talk about that? >> we are for protecting monakau, because it's sacred, and it's a burial ground of our most sacred and revered

ancestors. it's time for us to do right by the land, by the people. >> truth and justice. >> the land and the people are one. >> truth and justice. >> today, there are 13 telescopes on the summit of our sacred mound. and this next telescope would be the one too many. >> she's right. there are already 13 telescopes here. this sight has long been considered the best place in the northern hemisphere to observe the universe. the telescopes were built and operated by institutions from around the world, including the university of hawaii. >> i just want to make clear, we're for mount makau. oftentimes we're framed as dissidents against science and so on and so forth. what we're for is protecting mount makau and taking stand. this is our stand. >> when you are standing on the mountain against our police, against officers which we all have, we are there because we

are fierce in the love of our land. >> and so this is where things get complicated. who's the person who was in charge of all those police? yup, good 'ol douglas chin. douglas whose seen as too progressive for many mainlanders is nowhere near progressive enough for a lot of native hawaiians. doug has pushed for restrictions against the protesters. when you're standing on the mountain, that doesn't seem like the most popular point of view. >> so every now and again people are honking when they go by. what's happening there? >> they know us over here. so they're giving us the -- >> our nation, standing for us. >> the mountain is only one of the things we are standing for here. some of us have stood all the way from the 70s, we have stood against the bombing, we stand against the bombing of -- we have to. >> 40 years ago i got arrested.

they were bombing the crap -- >> this is earl de leon. he's talking about the smallest of the hawaiian islands. during world war ii the u.s. military seized it and turned it into target island by testing bombs because before you drop bombs on some foreign land, you've got to test them out on someone else's sacred land. >> 40 years ago we went onto that island, they dropped us off, out in the ocean, we swam in, i was 20 years old, young kids, there were bombs all over the island. they were shooting bombs on the island. when we landed on the island. the whole island was rocking and shaking. >> and we're not talking little bombs. >> getting arrested was the greatest thing for me. i'm proud to be arrested. on an island to stop the bombing. >> earl was part of a movement led by legendary native hawaiian activist gorge helm.

the protest ended up lasting for decades. u you know what? it worked. in 1990 the first president bush terminated live fire training on the island and ordered a massive cleanup. >> everybody told us we couldn't do it. they told us you crazy hawaiians, you'll never stop the federal government. we fought, we fought, we kept on occupying, occupying, until they pulled off the island. >> let me be clear. while it may not be fast or dry, the protectors are out here because activism can work. >> we know loss. we have lost many times over, all those hotels that are built are over campgrounds and burial grounds. we know loss. still, even knowing that, we must do everything we can because these lands are sacred, and they are still speaking and teaching us. and so how can we not stand? >> at that point when the crew needed to wipe off the camera, we all decided to join the protest too.

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after doing episodes of the ku klux klan, and bear in alaska, you get to go to hawaii this time. experience paradise.

you know, be like bourdain. mother [ bleep ]. my next stop is the big island of hawaii, to check out a historic fish bond at the -- national park. by the 1970s the land had fallen into disrepair and was targeted by developers. that's when native hawaiian activists stepped in. their protests not only helped restore it, but turned it into a national park. another example of hawaiians showing the world that good can triumph over evil. today that spirit lives on with ruth alua. she's a guardian of the park's historic fish bond and she works with the federal government to continue its restoration. >> so this fish bond is hundreds of years old. it's always been used to produce fish. so we can just literally jump down and hand pick the fish you would want from the fish bond. >> so this is a way for people to sustainably fish, and it doesn't require a lot of unnatural energy or resources? >> yes, yeah, that's exactly it.

>> here's how this fish bond works. ruth's ancestors built the stone walls to create the pond and protect it from the waves of the ocean. they also used rocks to create a channel with a gate allowing the fish to come in. as the fish grow, they're unable to get out. this design kept people fed for centuries without one piece of modern technology. it's a never ending costco sample plate. >> our elders were able to sustainably live here by producing their own food, by gathering their own seafood. if you look at today, and just a little over a hundred years, what you're looking at is 60 to 70% of our seafood being shipped in when we're an island of people. 90% of our general goods are being shipped in. if for some reason, these containers can't get in, we only have enough food to survive for seven to ten days as an island. >> let's say if hawaii has never been found by the white man. >> the newcomers. >> do you think all of this

would still be happening in this way? >> i think our people, just because we are raised here, we have a gene logical connection to this landscape, the oceans and waters, that we knew better. >> how did you get pulled into this. >> through just growing up here. this is my backyard. and growing up seeing this other system, this foreign system that doesn't acknowledge that we have, doesn't acknowledge our life, that's what led me to go to school and get my degree and get back into the communities and help have those voice sz heard. if our people were caretakers, this place would be cleaned up already. we don't know everything, but we know a lot. >> thank you for talking to me today. i appreciate it. >> yeah, thank you. >> what's on your shirt? >> oh, okay. so this shirt, it says ahoha snn ino, it's loving the land like it's your family. >> who's that? >> hawaiian legend george helm. >> thank you. >> you want to hear something that will make your head

explode, hawaii produces less than 40% of its own food. 38% of its fresh fruit, 30% of its vegetables and only 9% of its pro teen. you've seen pictures of hawaii, things grow here year round. but over time hawaii's farmland was sold to property developers because hawaii farmers couldn't compete against the mainland growers. over on oahu though i found some people trying to solve the farming problem. enter ma' o farms, organic farm. this place is trying to start a food revolution to give hawaii back its food sovereignty. the head of the farm explains. >> the valley, ancestors were completely self-sufficient. how do we dig into that and find those values and put them into the 21st century context so it benefits everybody? so the way the farm works is we recruit young adults from our

community to run a daily operations of the farm. exchange for the sweat equity, we provide them a full tuition to college and $500 a month. >> wow, so it's a past, present and future, all in about a hundred yards. >> so this is our packing ship. we're trying to introduce called dij recognize. >> decolonize. but then you're also saying -- indigenize. how do you repurpose the structures? this chicken shed is a packing facility. every one you see is between 17 and 24 from our community and maintaining -- at the same time. >> so you can't do this hard work unless you're keeping up with the books? >> like everything in life, you have to work for it. this is derek parker. >> hi. >> he's in a position called a

co-manager. he went to the national part of the internship, and he's now staff now. derek is running operations, he's a full-time farmer. this is a big part of empowerment, the youth run the board. >> these are all the companies and businesses that buy the food? >> yeah, and parker is our vanna white. vanna -- >> so when you started here as an intern, was your goal to still be here nine years later? >> no, hell no. >> when i'm done with my aa, i'm out of here. i started razing i wanted a job where i felt like i was living a legacy. >> the most amazing thing about this farm is the workers, college students getting up before dawn to work hard. when i was in college, i was going to bed at dawn. and i hadn't been working. >> let's talk about the thing i keep hearing about here is food sovereignty. what is that and how important is that? >> the idea of food sovereignty is, you're growing food,

producing food, everybody has access to the food, but it's mainly, i think it's about that control of what you're consuming, what you're putting into your body. it's not just what's available. >> basically, hawaii being exploited for its resources, tourism and in the community here you see the poverty, the homeless walking along the streets and stuff, the health problems. something is wrong. but the people have the power to make a difference. nobody can do it alone. >> none of us knew each other six months ago. now we know each other and we can have these kind of conversations of where do we see our food system going? in the next five, ten, 15, 20 plus years. >> it's so interesting to sit at a table that's so clearly ethnically and racially diverse. we have been everybody represented here. we can fix all the problems right now. >> this is what leadership looks like. this is like ancestral. the same type of table ancestors sat around in this valley,

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a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! with all the conversations i've had about native hawaiians fighting for their land and culture, there was one question that was unavoidable.

>> do you think hawaii should be a state or should hawaii be its own country? >> its own country. >> i think we should get it all back. we never ever said we would give it away. >> no treaty, no annexation, no state, fake state. it's a fake state. >> just give us our mountain back, for crying out loud. >> yes. >> this opinion is echoed throughout the islands. with the hawaiian sovereignty movement. starting in the 1960s, many organizations have worked together to reclaim hawaii, and return self-governance, unified under this flag, the hawaiian flag turned upside down. and maybe the most famous story involving one of these groups happened in 1993, when activists occupied koupo beach. >> we are entitled to the land that we stand on, the water in the land, the ocean and the air we breathe.

>> their goal was to stay until the government agreed to return some of their land that they rightfully felt was theirs. the state of hawaii did, in the foothills of the mountains, and on that land, bumpy created the nation of hawaii. i'm not exactly sure what that means. i brought my passport just in case. >> hello. >> hey, brother. >> kamau bell. >> nice to meet you. >> good to meet you. >> yeah. >> thank you for bringing me in here today. >> you're welcome. welcome to the nation of hawaii. >> so right now i'm in the nation of hawaii. >> that's right. this is not america. we're not standing in america. i'm not anti-american. i'm just not american. >> yes. >> that's all. >> just not anti-american, you just happen to not be american. >> yeah, i'm not. >> and while the state of hawaii and the u.s. congress might debate this, according to bumpy, i am now in an independent

country. the closest i'll ever get to icon da. >> the further we can see, the more land we can see, those are the lands that are ours, you know, because nobody can get to it anyway. >> good luck trying to claim these lands. >> yeah. >> since it's its own independent nation state are you recognized by the united nations? >> we are recognized as an indigenous people's organization under the united nations permanent forearm on indigenous issues. this past year my nephew fwagav speech at the united nations. >> i'm glad to get in on the ground floor. >> bit down at 50 cents, should have bought in, man. >> you're right, yeah, should have bought into bit coin. hopefully i'll buy into this. how many acres is this? >> we have -- the lease has 56. but like this area right here, it's all occupied.

it's not part of the 56. >> oh, really? >> yeah. >> so it's a double occupation? >> yeah. >> so there's all the hawaii islands, why is it important to have this separate land? >> for sovereignty, for national identity, you know. this land was sought out by us in '92. what we're trying to do is build shelters for homeless people because a lot of our friends, families was on the beach. and after 20, 30 years, you know, these guys live in this house and all the sudden they're on a beach. inside me, i was almost ashamed for having a house. i said, you know, some day, man, i'm going to do something to help these people. it's our responsibility. whoever was running hawaii in the last hundred years did a bad job. >> i get the sense that hawaiians knew what they were doing, and then settlers show up and kind of ruins everything and

confuses everything. >> yeah. if you look at the apology log in 1993, the united states have apologized for the overthrow of the hawaiian kingdom. it was that year that a lot of things hawaiian changed. >> tonight a most significant presidential apology. at the white house yesterday president clinton signed behalf of the u.s. government for the government's involvement 100 years ago in removing the hawaiian monarchy by force. >> this was a huge moment for the hiawaii sovereignty moment because they said the natives never gave up undindependence a even though it didn't say anything about giving the land back, bumpy is still here. >> america is going sorry for doing this. here is the keys.

we took the key ask started the car and said, hey, we going to do this thing. >> and ran into the hills. >> how many people are living here? >> about 80. >> got room for more? >> we got to make that. we understand about infrastructure and putting in that stuff because the real struggle here is getting to know how to run a community. [ laughter ] >> all the stuff is one thing. >> it's easy enough to say let's move onto the land. >> yeah, oh my god. >> but you run a community, you know. you hear about something like this like a separate nation within the nation and sort of in my mind i was like who knows what it will be like. it might be luck a cult or something and come out here and it's the most peaceful i've been the whole time i've been here in hawaii. >> this is hawaii. >> the nation of hie. >> the nation of hawaii. we can claim it as ours.

we want back in to clean up the mess. >> yes. >> i like to look at it that way. >> yeah, yeah. >> right on. right on. >> apleapreciate it. so where are you robots headed? i need to tell humans to switch to sprint now! i heard they can get 4 lines of unlimited for $25 per month per line with the 5th line free. we have to hurry because this deal it's going, going, gone, baby! (vo) switch to sprint before july 12th and get 4 lines of unlimited for $25 per month per line with a 5th line free. and for a limited time, get a galaxy s9 for 50% off for people with hearing loss, with sprint flex lease. visit sprintrelay.com can make you feel unstoppable. ♪ but mania, such as unusual changes in your mood, activity or energy levels,

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while the mainland is talking about divisions, they say listen to us. a community leader and educator

but first, we drink whatever is in here. >> aloha. >> aloha. >> one time down the hatch. >> you were serious. wait a minute. okay. hold on. when in honolulu. >> and now we can begin. >> okay. what did i just drink? >> it's a drink that's offered to the gods and it intoxicant. if we drink here, we won't walk out the door. >> i have been here for a few days and one thing i heard before i came here was the idea that hawaiian culture and south pacific culture has the third gender. >> yes. >> the idea of transgender in the mainland is new.

what is it about the hawaiian culture that there is always a space for the third gender? >> because we have the word mahu, it refers to not only the physical you are referring to their mental and emotional state, as well as how they also feel spiritually and strangely enough, american people, i find, at least the larger population that gets presented on the news to us here on the islands seems so disconnected from such things. there is no understanding. there is no understanding there is a spiritual side to everybody. we are taught to embrace american mentality and american prejudice and discrimination. for me it's not acceptable. colinizers continue to come and feel so entitled they should

come over here to our shores and dictate what our people need to move like, sound like, act like, behave like. don't get me started. >> i want to get you started. you give it to me and i'll settle you back down. we invested a lot in the bleep budget. >> that [ bleep ] is not acceptable. what other question do you have for me? >> anuka, what does that mean? >> hawaiian man kind. >> does it apply to people on the hawaiian islands. could you have one from detroit? >> being hawaiian, it is what we are in our heart, our understanding. it is who we are spiritually as a people and it's more than just what we appropriate on the exterior. it's what has been engrained on the interior. and we can sum that word up. aloha ina, means love for the

land. when we love our land, we love our fellow people. we have mutual respect for each other. to the point where even if you and i didn't agree, we still know what connects us. aloha guides and leads us. that is our way. >> thank you for talking to me. >> thank you very much. ♪ ♪ i've learned a lot this week but if i'm honest, the one thing i'm taking home with me isn't a lay or a doll or a case of lava, i'm taking home the united states has screwed up hawaii. hawaii was doing fine before we got there. we trampled their culture, took away their food and made them pay the price. the way hawaiians see the world should be a louder and more prominent part instead of buried. the fact we made hawaii a state puts them under threat of attack. hopefully the next time you

visit and you will visit your eyes will be open to more just the beaches and the sunshine and the timeshare you regret. it would be easy to say hawaiians want our respect, the truth is many of them just want their land back. in my hometown in pennsylvania, nothing stood