Hawaii Peace and Justice

Koa futures is the campaign arm of hawai'Hawaii'i Peace & Justice. Between 2023 - 2024, hpj engaged in the second year of our, multi-year cease the lease/ aina back campaign which engaged in community education, testimony challenging current army eis and base building to prevent the renewal of the us army leases that expire in 2029 of thousands of acres that it received in 1964 for 1. Hpj also hosted the costs of war project- 4 day convening, hosting 12 pacific and asian researchers/organizers and funders to gather data on the true costs of war and the impact of the military on the climate. The convening hosted a community discussion and panel which reached 200 participants, a detour reaching another 50 participants and is in the process of producing policy papers, with the goal to create an hpj led think tank. Hpj was a core organizer of the 3 day protecting oceania summit during the festival of the pacific, which gathered in excess of 300 participants to engage in debate and provocation to discuss issues that threaten the genuine security of pacific nations such as the climate crisis, increasing militarization, deep seabed mining and other forms of extraction, and other recurring threats of colonialism with the goal of creating new formations and alliances. A new pacific island led protecting oceania demilitarization committee has been created out of this convening with the goal of producing new regional strategies and solidarity actions. Koa futures also supports the project women's voices women speak with a focus on feminist approaches to demilitarization and genuine security.

The hawai'Hawaii'i detours project promotes a more critical understanding of Hawaiian history and engagement in social and environmental Justice issues through political educational tours. In fy 2023-2024, hpj conducted 13 detours serving 272 persons.

Youth program: in the one year's time frame between june 2023 and june 2024, Hawaii Peace and Justice's youth program has worked collectively to make evident accomplishments in meeting our organization's mission to promote social Justice and Peace in Hawaii through grassroots organizing, nonviolent direct actions (nvda), popular education workshops, and art activism as tools for social change. The program has shown growth in three of the four cornerstones of organizing (as shared by the school of unity and liberation)- base building, leadership development, and organizational development; developed youth who organized and participated in nvda's; engaged and retained youth in our popular education workshops; and facilitated spaces where art functioned as the medium for our social change efforts. Between 2023 -2024, the hpj youth organizing committee hosted its second annual youth liberation camp, which doubled in size from the inaugural camp in 2022 from 12 to 25. We also hosted our first pu'uloa bike detour - a pacific islander youth led bicycle tour on the history of pu'uloa (pearl harbor) from the perspective of the kanaka maoli and the impacts of the us navy presence on the ecosystems of the harbor lochs for 25 participants from kalihi, waipahu, honolulu, waianae and kailua. Our youth organizers also held popular education workshops and field trips with local high school youth. Our youth engaged in the cease the lease campaign, Peace marches to end the siege on gaza, and cultural access trips to malama makua to support the efforts to reclaim those lands from the army. The youth organizing committee supported 6 new interns, with outreach to approximately 150 youth.

Hawai`Hawaii`i Peace & Justice (hpj) has developed strong alliances with social Justice organizations and coalitions throughout oceania. We believe that none of us are free until we are all free. Therefore, international solidarity with our pacific cousins demanding self determination and an end to the violence and ecological devastation of militarization is an absolute necessity. Learn more about the organizations we consider our allies in the global call for genuine security. Hpj hired two youth organizers and created a youth organizing committee, na `opio aloha `aina, and in partnership with hui aloha `aina o honolulu, hosted our inaugural youth liberation camp. Youth from high schools from all around the island, as well as other youth participated in a three day camp to learn about the history of the overthrow and to discuss Hawaiian sovereignty, impacts of environmental racism, us imperialism and the military industrial complex. Students were given basic organizing 101 tools to begin organizing there own campaigns. Over the summer and fall youth are gaining both cultural and political education on key sites that are tied to the army leases, to determine their position on the army lease renewals and other relevant issues impacting hawai`iHawaii`i.