Sunday, February 6, 2011

Act of War: Reaction

This is my first post of the semester, so I thought it might be good to introduce myself. My name is PatriceW. I am a miltiary spouse who was recently plucked from the island of Hawaii and dumped into gloomy Washington. At the moment, I am freezing. However, at some point I hope to get accustomed to the weather.

This place is truly different than any other place that I have known. Coming from the south, this is some extreme culture shock. I have to admit, I have no desire to my house. It is one of the reasons we have cable.   I am fine living in solitude as long as I have my remote to escape with characters in story.

I look forward to this semester and hope to learn some tricks to add to my arsenal.

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Coming from the mainland, my understanding of the annexation of Hawaii was limited at best. I knew there a story. But, I did not give it much thought. After living on the island, it becomes  obvious the disparity between the haves and the have nots.

After watching Act of War, I have better sense of why things are the way they are.  The documentary serves up harsh facts through the perspective of the Hawaiian people. At times, people are hostile. Issues like homelessness, poverty, and lack of education continue to plague many native islanders.

Though strategic for the U.S., the annexation proved costly to the Hawaiians. The documentary sheds a much needed spotlight on how the people of Hawaii were stripped from culture and land. It further illustrates how systematically it was done. Ironically, the documentary did lay blame solely on the U.S government. There were agitators on island who urged the government to act.

All and all, Act of War provided the alternative perspective I was looking for to  explain the situation now. 



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