Akiemi Glenn, founder and director of The Popolo Project, began laying the foundation for the organization about 15 years ago in an effort to help Black people in Hawaii become more connected to their history, culture and identity.
At the time, she had come to realize that while Hawaii had Black-serving organizations, all were part of larger, national organizations.
“The idea behind The Popolo Project is to have a space for Black people whose home is here in Hawaii,” Glenn said. “There was really a need for us to address the specific experience of being Black in Hawaii and a part of the Hawaii community at large.”
Glenn began her efforts with a blog she started during her years as a graduate student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. About five years later it had grown to become an established organization in the community, creating opportunities for Hawaii’s Black community to gather, celebrate and learn about their cultural identity and history.
“We host a number of spaces for Black people who are of Hawaii to connect with each other and learn, sometimes for the first time, that their experience growing up here is not a singular experience,” Glenn said. “That there are other people who can relate to what they’ve gone through.”
The Popolo Project features yearlong programming with events for people of all ages, Glenn said. Some of the questions the organization aims to address include what it means to be Black in Hawaii, and what it means to have deep connections to the state while often being perceived as being from out of state.
While such question are complicated, Glenn said one way she hopes to address them is by disrupting common social narratives through the creation of media.
A feature-length documentary that the organization has been working on highlights the story of Kamakakehau Fernandez, an African American man born in Little Rock, Ark., who was adopted by a family living on Maui. Fernandez grew up to speak fluent Hawaiian and is now a remarkable falsetto singer, Glenn said.
“Exploring his story and bringing it to screens around the world eventually will help us ask and answer some of those questions,” she said.
The Popolo Project also frequently works with other community organizations to increase their visibility, some of which include the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Hawaii People’s Fund and the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design. The Popolo Project also hosts cultural events on occasions like Juneteenth, which Glenn said is often a particularly moving experience that allows descendants of those who were enslaved to honor their ancestors.
Other events, such as the organization’s Black Futures Ball, provides an opportunity for the community to recognize and celebrate African Americans who are making important impacts in the state.
With February being Black History Month, The Popolo Project has been helping the Honolulu Museum of Art put on the Honolulu African American Film Festival, happening throughout the month. The organization is also supporting the development of an art exhibition there called “Forward Together,” which is currently up until September, Glenn said.
With the observance of Black History Month come opportunities to build shared context and memories surrounding Black history and culture within the community, Glenn added. Having such knowledge is not only empowering, but also helps people to make more informed decisions in the future, she said.
“Being interested in learning about Black history will really point us to the really amazing history of this place that has always included us but was not always very accessible,” Glenn said. “Being able to refer to a shared history is part of what binds the community together.”
To learn more about The Popolo Project and its upcoming events, visit its website at thepopoloproject.org.
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Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
