www.jonrawlingsphotography.com
On July 19th, 2019, my wife and I drove the Kam Highway that meanders along the coast from Kaneohe to Haleiwa. I was taking photos along the way and by the time we arrived in Haleiwa it was a little after 6pm. As we drove up to the North Shore Marketplace, we noticed a large group of protestors on both sides of the street. We parked and I walked up to the protestors to see what was going on. It was the first group I’d seen that was protesting the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. The protestors were mostly young people who were energetically waving flags, holding up signs and shouting to the honking cars of supporters who were driving by. Often a car or a truck would stop and the protestors would stream into the street for a minute, shouting and cheering each other on. Then they would go to the sides of the road again and cars would continue driving by. At 7pm, one of the kupuna signaled for all of them to gather together in the adjacent field. He spoke to them, commended them for conducting themselves so well, encouraged them to stay strong and support future protests, and urged them not to hurt or intimidate anyone while their passions were so high. One of the kupuna led the group in a pule and they dispersed. I hope my photos capture some of the energy and passion of that moment.
