February is Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i, or Hawaiian Language Month. We need Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i to pause and look back at the success of our collective achievements to revitalize the Hawaiian language and to move public policy forward to ensure contexts and conditions that allow ‘Olelo Hawai‘i to thrive in state of the Hawaii.

Recent events in January have shifted the tone of this month’s celebration and have renewed attention to the status of the Hawaiian language. One event, a peace march commemorating the 125th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom on Jan. 17, signaled that Native Hawaiians, descendants of the citizens of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and others, are still here and continue to push to maintain a distinct cultural and political identity.

The other event, something that no one expected yet seemed to follow a historical pattern, occurred on Jan. 24, when a defendant in the Maui District Court was not allowed to use Hawaiian language to state his presence to the judge at his arraignment hearing. The Maui courtroom event dealt a swift psychological and policy blow to many of us who felt we had gained so much in our efforts to revitalize Hawaiian language.

The Maui incident brought into question Section 4 of the state Constitution that states English and Hawaiian are both “official state languages.” Ironically, what could be more official than a court of law? Furthermore, it seemed as if the court’s actions summarily dismissed over 30 years of efforts of Native Hawaiian families to provide K-12 education to their children in the medium of Hawaiian via the Department of Education’s Papahana Kaiapuni-Hawaiian Language Immersion Program, a program that was made a regular instructional program of the DOE as a result of intensive parent and community advocacy, sacrifice and policy change.

The 125th anniversary of the overthrow, and the Maui judge’s actions have combined to give Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i a new momentum that has recharged proponents of the Hawaiian language during this monthlong observance.

Moving forward, we need Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i to remind us how far we have come in our collective efforts to revitalize the Hawaiian language. The language never died and it continues to grow in terms of number of speakers.

We need Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i to recognize how there remain many barriers and challenges. We need Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i to seek solutions and answers to what “as provided by law” means in Section 4 of the state constitution. We need Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i to engage us in democratic processes, so that equity and justice can be realized.

And perhaps most important, we need Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i to provide us a time and space for deep reflection on our next steps to re-normalize the Hawaiian language in Hawaii.

The state of Hawaii has an obligation to protect, promote and provide for the Hawaiian language. Native Hawaiians have the kuleana to ensure that happens.

Manuwai Peters, Ed.D., is a Hawaiian language educator who taught K-12 students in the Hawaiian Immersion Program on Molokai from 1992-2013.