ʻEkolu: PKY turns three! Honoring the intersections of Juneteenth, Pride Month, and Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea
“Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono” -Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III)
July 19, 2024 | Honolulu, O‘ahu
In the midst of a few big PKY transitions in June, we weren’t able to make our monthly blog post! June’s warmth came and went, along with a month of profound significance for multiple communities we hold near and dear. June is not only Pride Month, dedicated to honoring LGBTQ+ rights and identities, but also encompasses Juneteenth, a pivotal day in American history when the last enslaved peoples in the westernmost confederate state of Texas were finally freed in 1865. Looking forward, July brings Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea for the people of Hawaiʻi, a day of remembrance and celebration of Hawaiʻi’s restoration of sovereignty in 1843. And finally, we would be remiss not to mention that PKY is celebrating three years(!!!) as a small but mighty wellness hui dedicated to bridging yoga, cultural practice, aloha ʻāina, and social justice here in Hawaiʻi.
At Project Koa Yoga, we strive to cultivate a community grounded in respect, diversity, and accessibility – a community that honors the intersections of Juneteenth, Pride Month, Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, and beyond. We recognize the complicated relationship that some of us may have with these “holidays” as well as the importance of taking time to celebrate, reflect, mourn, or move through any other feelings that come up during this time.
Juneteenth is a significant day in American history. After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, many confederate states did not comply and, as a result, many enslaved people remained unaware of their freedom. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas and announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. Our dear friend and PKY teacher Jamel writes,
“As this has always been a part of my reality, it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate the progress that has been made while also recognizing the work that still needs to be done towards achieving true equality and justice for all. For Black yoga teachers, navigating the world and their profession can be a complex that involves both invisibility and hypervisibility. Thinking about what Juneteenth means in the yoga community is personal. I choose to treat Juneteenth as a day of rest, celebration and remembrance. As such, when I reflect on what Juneteenth means, I think of my past experiences of being requested to teach and be present for those who are not Black on this holiday. I think about all of the extra work, often time invisible, that Black yoga teachers must do to design yoga sessions around themes of freedom, liberation, resilience, and strength to those who do not understand what internalized racial oppression looks like. Black yoga teachers deserve to be taken seriously in our professions, and to create a more equitable future for ourselves and others without needing to explain why we are taking time to celebrate our history and culture, while other races don’t have to. It pains me to see the lack of ahimsa for the Black yoga community and the attempts to profit from the most important holiday of the year for Black Americans.
Let’s use this day to celebrate progress and as a reminder that Black yoga professionals must prioritize radical self-care, even when institutions demand more from us. As Black yoga teachers, it’s important to recharge and prepare for the future hurdles in yoga spaces that we will undoubtedly face. By taking the time to rest, we can control our own legacies while also paving the way for our fellow Black yoga teachers, students, and trainees to follow. It’s crucial to take care of our bodies, minds, and spirits so that we can continue the work we’re passionate about, despite the scrutiny, discrimination, and pressure that often comes in our field. Let’s use this day to celebrate our resilience and prioritize our well-being.”
Pride Month is a time for LGBTQ+ communities and allies to celebrate and commemorate our fight for diversity, visibility, and equity. It honors the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969 – a six day stand at New Yorkʻs iconic Stonewall Inn to protest the criminalization of homosexuality. The first Pride Parade was held a year later to the date (June 28), but it took over a decade for New York to finally decriminalize "same-sex relationships". As we think about our continued fight against discrimination and for equity, we also think about our shared oppression and our shared fight for liberation. As we reflect on our intersectionalities and connectedness as a PKY community as well as peoples of Hawaiʻi, we acknowledge how Yoga can be a powerfully unifying force. We are (and welcome) people from all walks of life who come together to practice mindfulness, compassion, and self-awareness. Yoga teaches us to honor and love ourselves fully, embracing our unique identities while supporting others on their own paths toward self-acceptance and self-love. It is through Yoga that we see both deeply within and, at the same time, far beyond the individual self.
“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free” – Fannie Lou Hamer.
Our PKY Pride class paid homage to Stonewall while extending that legacy of resistance to our current protests against RIMPAC (the largest maritime warfare exercise in the world, held here) and its direct link to / support of the forced, illegal occupation of Hawaiʻi. It is important for us to help create a collective space where we can acknowledge our struggles surviving alongside a movement towards thriving. We continue to offer a space where everyone can practice yoga and wellness without fear of discrimination. We stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community across the pae ʻāina (island chain) and celebrate our queer + trans + māhū staff, students, and friends.
Alongside our Black and LGBTQ+ communities, we stand in solidarity with Kānaka Maoli, the native peoples of Hawaiʻi. This means honoring and addressing our similar traumas while also working towards collective sovereignty. Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea gave birth to the popular proclamation by Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III and what later became our “state” motto: Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono, which has a few varied translations. Those include: The sovereignty of the Hawaiian nation is restored by righteousness, The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness, and The sovereignty of the kingdom continues because we are righteous. This emphasizes our kuleana to move in pono (moral, righteous) ways as a lāhui (nation, people). This day of commemoration became one of the first national holidays of the Hawaiian Kingdom along with Lā Kūʻokoʻa, Hawaiian Independence Day.
The official Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea website shares a little more background on this important day: “In Hawaiʻi, July 31st marks Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, or Sovereignty Restoration Day. In 1843, under Kamehameha III, Kauikeaouli, Hawaiʻi saw a temporary occupation by rogue agents of the British Crown. Effective control of the government had been seized, and all Hawaiian flags were lowered and burned by order of British Lord George Paulet. Months later, Queen Victoria sent Admiral Richard Thomas to Hawaiʻi to remove Paulet and correct this unwarranted transgression against the Hawaiian Kingdom. In a large ceremony attended by thousands of Hawaiian citizens, of all ethnicities, a flag ceremony was held at what is now Thomas Square in Honolulu, where the Union Jack was lowered and the Hawaiian flag was raised to symbolize the return of effective sovereign control back into the hands of Hawaii and Kamehameha III.”
As we reflect on Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, we acknowledge the importance of supporting indigenous sovereignty and rights. We honor the resilience of our Kānaka community and the rich heritage of this place we are blessed to call home, and we recommit ourselves to fostering understanding and solidarity within our Yoga and wellness practices.
Imaikalani Winchester, one of the lead organizers of the yearly celebrations, shared with us:
“Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea is important to our collective identity as Hawaiians and as people who call Hawaiʻi home. We have a responsibility to advance a piece of history that celebrates Hawaiian independence. And by remembering our past we breathe our ea, our sovereignty, into the present and future.”
The intersections of Juneteenth, Pride Month, and Lā Hoʻi Hoʻi Ea underlie the work of Project Koa Yoga. As we create spaces for, and reclaim a practice forged by Black and brown bodies, it’s essential to continue to uplift our core communities– even after the holiday, or month, has passed.
Speaking of, we do not want Project Koa Yoga’s 3rd anniversary and the collective power of our community to go unnoticed! We usually do an in-person gathering with great eats at the beach, however—between our co-founder Laura birthing her second keiki, PKY teacher training, and COVID rates surging— we have decided IRL is not the best idea at the moment.
We still want to give our community something tangible to engage with, so WE HAVE ASKS – from our hearts to yours, especially if you have benefitted from one of our PKY spaces (Yoga classes or programs, teacher trainings, etc.) recently:
Follow us and stay updated on socials @projectkoayoga
Attend our weekly BIPOC Saturday Yoga classes at Ka Waiwai. This is to show up and build WITH US. Get connected, stay connected.
Become a member even if you can’t commit and attend every Saturday class. We have in-person and virtual options to gather in PKY community. The funds go to the teachers braving the spaces to fulfill our mission and change the Yoga and meditation landscape in Hawaii. Supporting those who commit to showing up.
Show up to at least 3 spaces you know PKY will be at! Like Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (Sunday, July 28th, 10am-6pm at Thomas Square Park), BIPOC Saturday class, and Maui Nāpili class.
Invest in your PKY community and aid in our capacity building with a donation of any size – whether it’s $30 or $300 or $3000, it makes a huge impact on our offerings and long-term sustainability.
Victoria Roland, PKY’s co-founder with Laura Toyofuku-Aki, shares her manaʻo (thoughts) on this year’s celebration:
“Showing up in different ways this year instead of an in-person gathering means COMMUNITY even more especially for BIPOC folks. If we don't center us, uplift us, build us, and invest in us— WHO WILL? Community is ever growing and it's not reliant on the same few consistent people. Healing IS experienced IN COMMUNITY.”
Cheers to many more years of co-creating spaces for diverse, accessible, and community-centered Yoga – as Yoga was always meant to be. As we continue through July and into the rest of the year, let us help each other carry forward the work that is still left to do: recognizing that our liberation is bound and co-creating a world where everyone can thrive.
BOUNCE! with Cleo
Every last Saturday at 9:30am, Ka Waiwai Mōʻiliʻili (OPEN TO ALL)
Get energized for the new month ahead with this all-in-one fitness, yoga, and dance class!
Free Prenatal and Postpartum Yoga
(Virtual or In-Person)
Every Wednesday at 2pm in partnership with Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies
Come relax your mind and body as you prepare and/or recover from birth.