Note: This is part of my (supposedly) Weekly AQ Wisdom special series. To see other posts in the series, click on the Best Bets tab at the top of any page here and scroll down to the “AQ McElrath” section. Material for this post was taken from information available at her Celebration of Life in February. “
“AQ was a member of the 50th Anniversary Statehood Commission. I sat in on many of the early meetings as they developed their program and agenda and she was the lone voice that anchored the commission to the issue of labor and the working people of the State of Hawai`i.
“Last summer, when a representative of a publishing company came to present a “50th Anniversary of Statehood” tribute book and sought an official status with the Statehood Commission, AQ asserted that the presentation failed to represent the people’s history, the involvement of labor, and the organizational efforts that labor had brought to statehood.
“Without fail, at every meeting, AQ questioned the point and relevance of suspect initiatives, asking how certain proposed events honor the myriad struggles and perspectives of Hawai`i citziens. She’d confront these proposals, challenging whether or not they can positively engage those most marginalized from the process, asserting that all deserved to ultimately share in the commemoration of Hawai`i statehood.”
-Arnie Saiki, Project Director, Statehood Hawaii
Mahalo!
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