Occupy With Aloha
Should we be afraid to express ourselves (to sing, to discuss, to say what we want?)?
“You enforce your monopolies with guns/ While sacrificing our daughters and sons/ But certain things belong to everyone/ Your thievery has left the people none.”
These lyrics were sung before Obama and a whole host of world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit gala in Honolulu, Hawaii Saturday night.
Hawaiian guitarist Makana was expected to play instrumental background music during the gala. But, as he said Sunday, when he stepped on stage he unbuttoned his jacket to reveal a T-shirt that bore the handwritten words, “Occupy with Aloha.” Instead of the planned background music, he spent 45 minutes playing his Occupy-inspired protest ballad, “We are the Many.”
The footage of him playing the gala was tricky to record, he said, because Secret Service protocol made it difficult for his crew to sneak a camera in.
“It was an incredible experience to sing the words, those words, to that group of people,” said Makana, who goes by one name. “My goal was not to disturb the guests in an offensive fashion but rather to subliminally fill their ears and the entire dinner atmosphere with a message that might be more effectively received in a subconscious manner.”
Describing the room’s reaction, which reportedly included Hu Jintao of China, Stephen Harper of Canada and more than a dozen other heads of state, Makana said no one objected to his lyrics — even the ones that repeated, “the bidding of the many, not the few.”
“The event protocol was such that everyone there kept their expressions quite muffled,” he said. “Now and then I would get strange, befuddled stares from heads of state. It was a very quiet room with no waiters; only myself, the sound techs, and the leaders of almost half the world’s population.”
Despite the surprised glances he got from some of the audience members, he told AFP the Obamas seemed too absorbed with their guests to realize what was going on.
Taken on 11.12.11 in Honolulu on the grounds of the Hale Koa
My guitar tech shot this with a camera phone during my performance for the World Leaders Dinner at APEC, which was hosted by the First Family.
He had to be extremely discreet as Secret Service had warned those on site that any phones used to capture photography or video would be confiscated. Since he has a guitar tuner app on the phone we were able to justify having it out, but grabbing video was not easy. We were under constant surveillance. Personally I like to have video of every performance. It's my art and my right.
About an hour into my set of generally ambient guitar music and Hawaiian tunes, I felt inspired to share some songs that resonated with the significance of the occasion.
I sang a few verses from "Kaulana Na Pua" (a famous Hawaiian protest song in honor of the anniversary of our Queen's passing), then segued into Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", Sting's "Fragile", and finally my newest song "We Are The Many".
My goal was not to disturb the guests in an offensive fashion but rather to subliminally fill their ears and the entire dinner atmosphere with a message that might be more effectively received in a subconscious manner. I sweetly sang lines like "You enforce your monopolies with guns/ While sacrificing our daughters and sons/ But certain things belong to everyone/ Your thievery has left the people none". The event protocol was such that everyone there kept their expressions quite muffled. Now and then I would get strange, befuddled stares from heads of state. It was a very quiet room with no waiters; only myself, the sound techs, and the leaders of almost half the world's population.
If I had chosen to disrupt the dinner and force my message I would have been stopped short. I instead chose to deliver an extremely potent message in a polite manner for a prolonged interval.
I dedicate this action to those who would speak truth to power but were not allowed the opportunity.
Me ka ha'aha'a,
Makana
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