Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Danielle Wills from the Hawai'i Black Chamber of Commerce on Black History Month

Transcript

Danielle Wills from the Hawai'i Black Chamber of Commerce on Black History Month · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:15
  Welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and this week we're joined by a very special guest,
• 0:21
  Danielle Wills, founder of the Hawaii Black Chamber of Commerce.
• 0:25
  Danielle, thanks for making some time.
• 0:26
  Thank you for having me. And very happy to be here.
• 0:28
  And, you know, we also wanted to extend a mahalo because you served
• 0:32
  as one of our scheduled speakers for that event that we had for the city's
• 0:35
  Black History Month proclamation ceremony the other week at Manoa.
• 0:39
  For those who weren't able to be there, or maybe catch a clip on YouTube, can
• 0:43
  you share a little bit about that ceremony and what your message was that day?
• 0:48
  Yes, definitely.
• 0:49
  So that ceremony was very important.
• 0:51
  I think a lot of people that I shared it with, were excited
• 0:54
  just to have Black History Month recognized.
• 0:57
  And the the the city and county city of Honolulu.
• 1:02
  And so it was just a really special moment to kind of gather and, and,
• 1:06
  show that Black History Month is important and all over, all over the U.S.
• 1:10
  and Hawaii included.
• 1:12
  And then, yo, what was your message on that day?
• 1:14
  My message that day was just acknowledging that black history exists because,
• 1:19
  if people's history is erased, the humanity's easy to lie.
• 1:23
  And I wanted to make sure that, people knew that black history here on Island
• 1:26
  is not new.
• 1:27
  That black presence in Hawaii dates back to more than 200 years ago,
• 1:32
  to the early 1800s. And,
• 1:34
  that this
• 1:35
  has been a beautiful, safe Paradise for, for many of us for many years.
• 1:39
  And that ceremony was held at Andrews Outdoor Theater at Manoa.
• 1:43
  Doctor Martin Luther King Jr delivered a speech, actually in 1964,
• 1:47
  for you to be in that same place, also delivering a speech on progress.
• 1:53
  What does that mean to you?
• 1:54
  That was really important.
• 1:55
  I think the biggest thing it showed is that, like history is continuous for me.
• 2:00
  You know, a lot of times as we're growing up and we're learning
• 2:02
  about these historical figures, it can seem so far in the past.
• 2:06
  But the fact that we were able to be in that same space
• 2:09
  and continuing the positivity,
• 2:13
  the message of bringing people together, was really, really important.
• 2:17
  Really impactful.
• 2:18
  You mentioned the black history in Hawaii.
• 2:22
  For those who aren't familiar, what kind of stories,
• 2:24
  what kind of figures, what kind of things do
• 2:26
  people need to know about that you want them to know about today?
• 2:29
  And so one of the most important figures to me, and it's
• 2:32
  because I ran the Hawaii Black Chamber of Commerce is Anthony de Allen.
• 2:36
  He arrived in 1810, and he was a very respected business
• 2:40
  owner on Island and a community leader in Honolulu.
• 2:43
  Another one was Betsey Stockton.
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  She helped establish schools for the native Hawaiian children.
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  Another really important figure, especially for us doing
• 2:52
  the ceremony at Manoa was Alice Ball.
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  She's actually a chemist who created the ball method,
• 2:58
  which was a treatment for leprosy.
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  And it actually was hidden that it was her work for many, many years.
• 3:04
  And then it was brought to light.
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  And she is celebrated every year
• 3:08
  with Alice Ball graduation, for the students at U-H Manila.
• 3:11
  So that was very special as well.
• 3:13
  And then, you know, for you, like I said, whenever
• 3:16
  I do hear stories of black history here in Hawaii, it really is so intriguing.
• 3:19
  But how did you learn about the stories of this place?
• 3:23
  Honestly, through Talking Story.
• 3:24
  I didn't know. I kind of felt it.
• 3:26
  I felt it sounds funny, but I just kind of felt it through meeting people,
• 3:30
  and I met aunties and uncles
• 3:33
  that said, oh, you know who you look like or who you should know?
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  I met, lady. She is beautiful.
• 3:39
  Lots of wisdom.
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  She's been an island for over 60 years, and she kind of sat me down.
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  One day.
• 3:44
  We talked story for three hours, and she told me of all these figures
• 3:48
  I should know.
• 3:48
  And, you know, it kind of gave me some pride, too.
• 3:51
  It made me feel even more so that, like, that I belong here as well.
• 3:55
  Yeah, that's so interesting.
• 3:57
  And it's true.
• 3:58
  Hawaiian history, Korean history, Portuguese history,
• 4:00
  the stories of the plantation days, or it's well documented here in Hawai'i,
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  even taught in high schools. They have their own textbooks.
• 4:07
  You know, we have exhibits at the Bishop museum, the children's Museum in Kakaako.
• 4:11
  But black history here in Hawaii maybe isn't as popular.
• 4:16
  Yeah.
• 4:16
  When I do hear stories like the ones that you just told.
• 4:20
  It really is intriguing.
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  Is there a story or maybe a figure or, something that, you know,
• 4:24
  you tell that kind of still gives you chicken skin when you tell it or when
• 4:27
  you hear it again.
• 4:29
  So when I hear it again, I think just it's funny,
• 4:32
  but there's actually a recent movie that came out.
• 4:34
  And so just seeing like how, the resilience
• 4:37
  between the cultures is something that brought them together.
• 4:40
  I like that.
• 4:42
  We're starting to kind of see, see that be brought to the surface
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  rather than think maybe, you know, only in this new day
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  and age, we I hear from the military and different things like that.
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  You know, Hawaii is one of the places where they did not continue
• 4:55
  to even recognize slavery.
• 4:57
  So a lot of people came during that time to be able to live free.
• 5:01
  And I like the way you explained this at that ceremony that day.
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  But why do these stories need to continue to be told?
• 5:07
  I think they need to continue to be told because Hawaii is an island
• 5:11
  that's a beautiful melting pot.
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  It's actually one of the most diverse states in the country.
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  And I think that that's important to know because, I'm an island girl.
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  Islands are often just really beautiful places where families first
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  and where cultures of all kinds can come together and grow together.
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  And I think as we continue to move forward in history,
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  a lot of people are seeing the beauty of the island.
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  And so it's just an important
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  and important message that we are cousins and brothers and sisters.
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  And, that is just such a sacred place as well.
• 5:42
  Yeah.
• 5:42
  If you could share a little bit about, you know, where you grew up
• 5:45
  and you mentioned that, right?
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  People from islands, they kind of have a certain way,
• 5:48
  whether it's taking care of the land
• 5:50
  or a certain culture or the way that you go about things.
• 5:52
  So if you can ask me a little bit about you. Yeah.
• 5:54
  So I come from a very huge family from Trinidad and Tobago.
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  An island girl through and through.
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  But Trinidad and Tobago is also a big melting pot.
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  We have a huge Chinese population, huge Indian population.
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  My grandfather is Chinese.
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  My grandmother's Indian and black as well.
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  And so, we grew up just kind of embracing all of the fun differences
• 6:17
  in our lives and, learning different backgrounds, cooking different foods.
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  But also the world, you know, having family
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  and extended family that they're calling auntie and uncle.
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  And it's not always about blood.
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  It's about the bond and taking care of one another.
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  So that was something that drew me to Hawaii, like coming here
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  and seeing that they had the same values for each other,
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  the same values for our land, the respect for our elders and ancestors.
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  It kind of felt full circle.
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  And how did it feel? Like home.
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  And so when you first came here, I like that you kind of ty these,
• 6:49
  you know, people that grew up on islands kind of have these similar cultures and,
• 6:52
  and similar values.
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  When you first came to Hawaii,
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  when was it that you realized like, oh my, everyone is my auntie and uncle.
• 6:59
  Everyone you know loves to share food. Have you eaten yet?
• 7:02
  Are you hungry?
• 7:03
  That that was kind of a similarity.
• 7:05
  Yeah.
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  So actually, I so I came here with my best friend who was born and raised here.
• 7:09
  She brought me back on vacation with her to meet her mom and dad,
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  and she's been around my family.
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  So we call each other auntie and uncle all the time.
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  Moms, friends.
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  And so when I came here, she ate.
• 7:20
  When we were in Colorado, she did the same.
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  And I thought, oh, you know, she's just blended family.
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  When we came here and, you know, I walked into grocery stores and
• 7:27
  and saw people being respectful.
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  And they say, auntie and uncle to the elders,
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  make space for them to sit down or to get in front of them.
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  And just really that huge respect and family, was what I was like,
• 7:38
  wait a minute.
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  This is just like, it wasn't just Jade in my family.
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  It was also just the culture.
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  And so that was just beautiful to see that man.
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  And it kind of made me feel like home.
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  But with that information came responsibility, right.
• 7:52
  So what was the genesis of the Hawai'i Black Chamber of Commerce?
• 7:56
  Yeah.
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  So, I play Black Chamber started, because I would attend many events.
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  I love to network,
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  so I would attend different networking events,
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  but I didn't always see people that looked like me there.
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  And I just wondered, because I had met many of them in different situations.
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  And I did some digging.
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  I found out there was no Hawaii Black Chamber of Commerce.
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  Many people thought maybe it's not necessary because everyone
• 8:21
  was not sanctioned island, but for me, it's huge.
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  Even if you're here for a part of time and and contributing to the economy,
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  it's still it's still huge to have network and and togetherness.
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  But then on the other side, there's a huge population, a huge black population
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  that, people that have lived here for years and years and networking
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  with each other and around each other, but just getting us in some way rooms.
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  And so it was kind of like, I'd say a rebirth.
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  Of a chamber that needed to be here.
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  And, it's been really beautiful since then.
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  Can you talk about the work that the chamber does?
• 8:53
  Yeah.
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  So the chamber, first and foremost, we're here to just really establish
• 8:58
  a safe space for a lot of black business owners, let them know they're not on
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  and they're not in an island on an island that communities care for them
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  and help them be visible in the community and help them grow.
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  A lot of times it's hard for entrepreneurs to start up and to thrive.
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  And so we want to just continue to hold hand in hand.
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  We have about 100 members right now, so we provide educational opportunities,
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  networking opportunities, but also a lot of opportunities,
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  to help people look outside of just our community.
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  We work closely with the state chamber, with Hispanic Chamber
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  and many of the chambers.
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  So that way, we can show how we can grow together.
• 9:39
  Yeah.
• 9:40
  What's been the progress or the process, I guess, for getting in the room
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  or even providing the resources,
• 9:46
  kind of building the resources to provide for these businesses?
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  I think the beautiful thing of kind of getting it started was,
• 9:53
  it wasn't it wasn't difficult.
• 9:55
  It wasn't hard to get in rooms.
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  Everyone was very friendly.
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  Even the state chamber, Hispanic chamber and the rainbow chamber,
• 10:02
  they kind of held my hand and we're like, hey, these are the places you need to go.
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  Make sure you're meeting this person and this person.
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  It's two years old as of February 28th in the chamber.
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  And so in these two years, we have almost 100 members.
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  We've had over 15 events last year.
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  And so, I'd just say I didn't have to do it alone, which is a big thing.
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  Many people reached out and were happy about it.
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  And so that kind of got got the wheels turning easily.
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  And of all the events that we talked about and I guess some that you've attended
• 10:34
  so far. What's your favorite? Oh,
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  I always love the State Chamber's
• 10:40
  networking events because I think I meet so many different people.
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  And a lot of them have become mentors for me.
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  So, this past year, the state chamber celebrate 175 years.
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  And so that was just really great to think, like, wow, you know, this
• 10:53
  my chamber can be something that lasts way after I'm here. And,
• 10:59
  they'll have people in support, supportive community to keep it going.
• 11:01
  Yeah.
• 11:02
  How can our listeners support either black owned businesses
• 11:06
  or companies during this month of February and really beyond February?
• 11:10
  Yeah, I think, really it's just kind of doing a little bit of research.
• 11:13
  You can always go to our website
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  h I b l k chamber talk.
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  I directory has about 80 to 100 people on there.
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  There's some brick and white letters.
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  I've been here for 20 or 30 years that people may not have known
• 11:27
  where black owned.
• 11:29
  We have the African American Film Festival, which is,
• 11:32
  a lot of fun films, a lot of races for the community.
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  On February 28th, the very last day of the month,
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  we're hosting a business and culture expo.
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  We'll have tons of vendors, great food, Caribbean food, African food, selfie,
• 11:47
  entertainment.
• 11:48
  We have great musicians,
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  so it's a fun way to come out and support some of these people in person.
• 11:54
  And also for everyone, last year we had a really great turnout.
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  We had about 400 people from the community come.
• 12:00
  And so we're looking forward to another year.
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  And, I think the other thing that's very special about it is
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  we try to make sure that we are
• 12:08
  always giving back to the Native Hawaiian community.
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  So we host it at Copley Heritage Center, where the funds will go directly
• 12:14
  to the Hawaiian homestead lands in Kapolei.
• 12:17
  I know that you just mentioned to and this is a chamber
• 12:19
  that's kind of only in its infancy, but what do you hope that your legacy is?
• 12:22
  What do you hope that this becomes?
• 12:24
  Yeah, I hope it's something that lasts and that, as more and more black
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  business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals come to island,
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  move to island, stay on the island and raise generations that,
• 12:36
  they know this the chamber can be somewhere that they can grow businesses,
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  go community and help not only connect with
• 12:43
  other chambers and businesses, but also help each other thrive.
• 12:47
  Okay.
• 12:47
  And our website again.
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  H I b l k chamber talk.
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  And you ask this question.
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  I love that you give back in that way.
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  You asked this question the other day at the ceremony.
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  You know, what history are you choosing to honor
• 13:00
  and what future are you choosing to build?
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  When you think of that question, what comes to mind?
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  What do you reflect on when you think to those questions?
• 13:08
  When I think of that question, I think, just that
• 13:11
  we're living and making history every day, and I think that's so important.
• 13:15
  A lot of times when we reflect, history can feel so far away,
• 13:18
  but we can feel so far apart from it.
• 13:21
  But the reality is that we're living in times that people will be looking back
• 13:25
  at and seeing what we did, what impacts we made, what changes we made.
• 13:29
  What things we allowed to stay with, what, causes we fought for.
• 13:34
  And so that's the really important part for me, is realizing, like,
• 13:37
  we have a chance to to write history every single day.
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  And what more can be done.
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  You know, we host these ceremonies, we host these events,
• 13:45
  we try to draw attention to, you know,
• 13:48
  the impact that black owned businesses and companies make.
• 13:51
  But what can be done, like, if you were to look ten years from now,
• 13:54
  what would you like to see being done here in Hawaii?
• 13:57
  If I were to say ten years
• 13:58
  from now or even further down the line, I would like to just see,
• 14:03
  more inclusion and understanding that I difference differences.
• 14:06
  Beautiful.
• 14:07
  But it doesn't really mean that we have to be separate,
• 14:10
  and that we can all work together.
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  I think that's the biggest thing.
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  And it's it's not only here.
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  There's still a lot of, political things going on as we speak.
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  So I think that makes tensions run high.
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  But just knowing that, that aloha that is part of the land
• 14:23
  is what brought a lot of us here and and continues to move forward.
• 14:28
  Well, Danielle, is there
• 14:29
  anything that we missed.
• 14:34
  I would just say the one thing that I would like to touch on
• 14:37
  is just how impactful the day and time we were able to have
• 14:41
  a lot of people in person attend the ceremony, but
• 14:44
  we've gotten hundreds of responses, just people happy and feeling seen,
• 14:49
  from having the mayor, have that ceremony.
• 14:52
  And make sure that Black History Month is recognized in Hawaii.
• 14:56
  And so I hope that is something that we can continue to do.
• 14:59
  Daniel Wils from the Hawaii Black Chamber of Commerce,
• 15:03
  thank you so much for your time.
• 15:04
  And we leave you now with Danielle's full speech from this year's
• 15:07
  Black History Month proclamation ceremony at Manoa.
• 15:10
  Mahalo for listening. And until next time.
• 15:13
  Aloha,
• 15:15
  Aloha.
• 15:16
  Good morning.
• 15:18
  Thank you for being here today.
• 15:19
  My name is Daniel Wills, and I'm honored to be
• 15:22
  before you as the founder of the Hawaii Black Chamber of Commerce.
• 15:27
  Today we gather not just for a proclamation,
• 15:30
  but for remembrance, recognition and renewal.
• 15:35
  This year marks 100 years of Black History Month in America,
• 15:39
  which exists because of a powerful truth.
• 15:42
  If a people's history is raised
• 15:45
  that humanity is easier to deny
• 15:48
  if their contributions are unseen.
• 15:53
  Their future becomes easier to limit.
• 15:56
  100 years later, we're still here
• 15:59
  telling stories not because they're new, but because they are necessary.
• 16:04
  And here in Hawai'i, black history is not new either.
• 16:08
  Black presence on the islands dates back to more than 200 years ago.
• 16:13
  Black sailors, craftsmen, cowboys,
• 16:16
  educators and spiritual leaders arrived on these shores.
• 16:20
  Long before Hawaii became a U.S. state,
• 16:23
  Anthony D
• 16:24
  Allen arrived and became a respected business owner.
• 16:28
  Betsey Stockton established schools for Native Hawaiian children.
• 16:32
  Black servicemembers live and serve here
• 16:35
  and have done this throughout generations.
• 16:38
  Black families like mine
• 16:40
  planted roots here, raise their children,
• 16:44
  build their businesses, and contribute to the fabric of these islands.
• 16:47
  Every day.
• 16:50
  Black history in Hawaii is not separate from local history.
• 16:53
  It's woven into it.
• 16:55
  And that truth is deeply personal for me.
• 16:59
  My family came from Trinidad
• 17:00
  and Tobago, an island very much like Hawaii, a beautiful melting
• 17:05
  pot of cultures, histories, rhythms and resilience.
• 17:10
  A place where culture is lived, ancestors are remembered and the land holds memory.
• 17:15
  In Trinidad, and throughout that the African diaspora.
• 17:18
  We understand that land is something not to be owned, but to be respected.
• 17:23
  That our ancestors walk with us.
• 17:26
  That history lives not only in books, but in bodies,
• 17:30
  in ceremony, in language and in place.
• 17:35
  When we came to Hawaii, like
• 17:36
  many others, we felt a shared understanding.
• 17:40
  These islands embraced us with aloha
• 17:43
  and not just a word, but a way of being
• 17:46
  aloha, that welcome aloha that honors relationship,
• 17:50
  aloha that says you belong here.
• 17:53
  And that spirit matters.
• 17:54
  Because Black History Month is not only about the past.
• 17:58
  It's about visibility and the present and possibility for the future.
• 18:03
  Here on the island, many different cultures intersect
• 18:07
  through shared experiences of colonization, resilience,
• 18:11
  resistance, and the ongoing pursuit of dignity and equity.
• 18:16
  That intersection is powerful.
• 18:18
  It reminds us that solidarity is not theoretical, theoretical.
• 18:22
  It's lived.
• 18:24
  It helps us to focus on togetherness rather than our differences.
• 18:29
  The Hawai'i Black Chamber of Commerce helps to ensure
• 18:32
  that our entrepreneurs, professionals and families are not invisible.
• 18:36
  There are economic contributions I recognize
• 18:39
  and that our stories are honored as well as our presence valued.
• 18:44
  We all
• 18:45
  are blessed to call this land home, alongside brothers and sisters
• 18:48
  and cousins and aunties and uncles from all walks of life.
• 18:53
  So today's proclamation is not just symbolic.
• 18:56
  It's a commitment to education, inclusion,
• 19:01
  to telling the full story of Hawai'i honestly and boldly.
• 19:05
  So as we open up Black History Month, I invite
• 19:08
  each of us to reflect on an important question
• 19:11
  what history are we choosing to honor,
• 19:14
  and what future are we helping to build?
• 19:16
  Because history is not only what we remember, but it's what we carry forward.
• 19:21
  History is the footprint of impact that we make every day.
• 19:26
  Mahalo to the City and County of Honolulu and to Mayor Blangiardi,
• 19:30
  for having us and for every community member here today
• 19:33
  that believes that honoring black history strengthens all of Hawai'i.
• 19:37
  So let us continue to gather, to learn,
• 19:40
  and to stand together and respect truth and aloha.
• 19:45
  Thank you.