Hawaii TPP Protest Breaks Record For Conch Shell Blow
By Andrea Brower & Marti Townsend - In a galvanizing call-to-action, hundreds gathered today outside of secret TPP negotiations to put out a global kahea (call) to stop the corporate assault on people and planet. At least four hundred people took part in a unified sounding of the pū (Hawaiian conch shell), setting a new world record that will be officially submitted to Guinness Records. Event organizer Trinette Furtado said that in blowing the pū, “we are putting out a mighty kahea(call), past the shorelines of Maui, to connect with others standing up for their 'āina (land) and people.” Following the record-setting sounding of the conch, powerful ancient chants echoed down the beach, beginning with “I Ku Mau Mau”—“Stand Up Together.” Long-time Native Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte spoke, "We don’t need another layer of colonialism and bureaucracy. We had the sugar and pineapple barons, now we have the chemical-GMO barons and the tourist industry. We don’t need anymore. It’s pilau, pilau, pilau (rotten).”