Hawaii has now been part of the United States since 1898. As we all know, this is one of the states with the most tourist attractions from all around the world. Not long ago, a man named Israel Kamakawiwoʻole was born in one of the islands, what people didn't know was that this man would contribute to the culture of Hawaii in the most effective way. The Author of the book, Israel kamakawiwo'ole, is well known by many people all around the world for the delightful voice he had. An example of this would be one of his most famous songs, Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It is still listened to by people today in days. This man was a true hero for people in his town, people looked up to him and everyone in town loved him, he did many good things for …show more content…
his people. I chose this because I love his songs and I really admire him for everything he did, I also find his life to be interesting and amazing. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole was born to Henry "Hank" Kaleialoha Naniwa Kamakawiwoʻole and Evangeline "Angie" Leinani Kamakawiwoʻole.
Together, they formed part of the Kamakawiwoʻole family, along with his other two siblings Henry Kaleialoha Naniwa Kamakawiwo'ole (nicknamed Skippy) and Lydia Ehukai Kamakawiwo'ole. This small family lived together in the Island of Honolulu, Hawaii, although his family being small and poor, they were always united to succeed in life. Israel had such a great childhood living with his parents, everyone loved him and all of his family spoiled him all the time. He was able to ask his father for anything and his father would get it for him right away. As he grew up, Hawaii's population increased as well, with the introduction of fast food places to the island, Israel had so many new options of food to eat. He did not care about his looks or what others thought about him, all he wanted to was to be happy and enjoy life. During his teen years, he started to develop a passion for music, he admired many people such as Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawaii. Because of this, he decided to do something about it and follow his dream of playing music, he asked his dad for an ukulele once and he received it in no time. Time passed and people began to notice his talent and how good he was with the ukulele, he was so happy and had everything he always wanted, but things changed when his parents decided to move to the big city of …show more content…
Makana. Israel was very unhappy living in the city, he did not like all the big buildings there and he missed all of the natural beauties and friends back in town. At first, he refused to move there, he did everything he could to stay where he was; he stated that at first it was like only his parents and brothers had moved to the city while he stayed back in town with his uncle Moe. No matter how hard he tried, he eventually moved to the city with his parents but he was still not happy with that. The young man hated the place so much that he had to do something to express his feelings which led him to start skipping school. During one of his days avoiding school, he was at the beach enjoying life just staring at the sea while playing his ukulele when a young surfer came up to him to compliment his playing. The guy´s name was Jerry Koko, they both became really close friends and would always skip school together to have some fun at the beach. Israel loved him so much, he expressed that if it wasn't for them two skipping that day he would have never met his new friend. Years passed, and Israel got even better with the ukulele. Koko and Israel practiced together all the time, until the day came when they decided to make a band together. Their band was composed by Israel kamakawiwo'ole, Jerome Koko, Louis ¨Moon¨ Kauakahi, Sam Gray, and Israel´s older brother, Skippy. Their first performance together was at Nanakuli High School, but there was only one problem, they did not have a name. After a long talk deciding on which name to use, they all got together and decided to call themselves the Makaha Sons of Niihau; after announcing their official name, they played and did an excellent job. They were all happy together playing and they all decided to name Skippy their leader because he was the strongest and most responsible of them all. They started becoming famous among all of the Hawaiian Islands, but not enough as they wanted to be. During these days, israel met a beautiful dancer named Marlene; he would always tell her how pretty she was and would even tell her how he would one day marry her. They both took this as a joke, but one day after Israel was now known by many people, he proposed to her and she accepted. They got married on September 18 of 1982, and had a beautiful daughter which they named Ceslieanne "Wehi" Kamakawiwo'ole. Israel knew that he had to work very hard to provide for his family, so he decided to tell the band to look for other places to play to make more money. Together they decided to perform at a Radio Station, which made their popularity increase a lot; this helped them raise money which Israel used to provide for his family. Everything was going so great, their became really famous and everyone wanted them, but the worst thing happened when Skippy died on October 1, 1982. Due to his death, the band was devastated, and Israel was at the verge of losing his mind, but thanks to his family and friends, the band was back on track two years after Skippy´s death. Things were looking pretty good for the band, but not wuite the same for Israel.
His health slowly began to drop to the point where he was no longer able to practice with the band, this caused the band to split up. His family was so sad for Israel and did not want him to die like this, people loved him so much that they could not imagine him gone. One of his biggest fans who was also a big businessman, Stender, still saw some hope in Israel. He provided him with $50,000 to help with his medical bills and put some food on his table, before they realized, Israel was back on stage. Israel was now on his own, after the band had left him behind, but this did not stop him, he continue with his own music and called himself IZ. He was fine on his own, one of his greatest songs out there, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, went viral all across the world, hawaiians began to call him the gentle
giant. Even after coming back from the verge of dying, health did not last long. The doctor had given him around eight months to live, so he wanted to give the most he could to all of his people. Israel did not stop, he continued to perform till the day of his death. Due to his medical conditions, Israel had to stop now in then during performances to catch his breath, but people did not care, they loved him and that's all that mattered. Israel knew he was going to die early, but he was okay with it because he was finally going to be able to ¨fly¨ like he always wanted. At 12:16 a.m. on June 26, 1997, Israel passed away. His official cause of death was refractory ventricular tachycardia, but other things contributed to it such as obesity, diabetes, and many others. This came to be the second saddest day in Hawaii's history, the first one being Skippy´s death. Merlene and Wehe were both devastated over this tragedy but they did what they had to do. More than 10,000 people attended his funeral and even more people went to Makua Beach, but not to surf. Israel´s last wish was to return to the ocean, and his ashes were scattered into the sea by his wife and all of Hawaii's population. He was now happy playing in heaven with his brother Skippy. This book was really interesting because his life was really interesting and inspirational. What I liked the most about this book was the way IZ never game up no matter what, even during his last hours he was still smiling and giving the public his all. Something that I find unnecessary on this book was all of the different facts about the Hawaiian islands provided at the beginning of the book, I think this was not much necessary because the book is supposed to be mainly about Israel's life and how he contributed to hawaii, not the history of hawaii itself. I learned that no matter how bad of a situation you are in there is always an way out, and you should never give up on your dreams. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, and who want to know more about his background information and his whole life story. Personally, I think this book could be for anyone even if they're not really familiar with who this man is, the book is really entertaining and very easy to enjoy.
Often times, the history that is being told is one of Hawaiian weakness, and defeat. The Bayonet Constitution of 1887, the Overthrow of 1893, and the Annexation of 1898, are all often used as examples of moments of powerlessness in the Hawaiian Kingdom. What about all history prior to, in between, and after, these major dates? Surely, it did not just disappear. In the last few decades, Hawaiian history has changed dramatically due to the works of many Hawaiian historians. The history that was lost has been found, and new discoveries are still being made. Hawaiʻi’s history is a story of resistance, pride, and unity. Included within this history is a man named Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox. Wilcox was a revolutionist, and a leader, but he enjoyed being a politician the most. Wilcox was the beacon of hope that helped guide the people of Hawaiʻi through darkness. Wilcox was and still is today a symbolic figure in Hawaiʻi’s political history.
Ii, John Papa., Mary Kawena Pukui, and Dorothy B. Barrère. Fragments of Hawaiian History. Honolulu: Bishop Museum, 1983. Print.
As one of the few white men supportive of Hawaii’s monarchy, Claus Spreckels set a great example for others. His life started in Germany and took him to all over the United States. He formed many businesses and helped try to keep Hawaii a monarchy. He was close friends with King Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani and fought for them to remain Hawaii’s leaders. His legacy and influence live on to this day, yet most people don’t even know his name.
The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.
Israel Isidore Baline was born in the Russian village of Tyumen on May 11th, 1888. His family left in the mid 1890s to escape the persecution of the Jewish community and settled in New York City (biography.com). Israel dropped out of school at age thirteen (Kenrick 143). Baline was a street singer as a teen and in 1906 he got a job as a singing waiter in Chinatown (biography.com). The first song he ever had published was called “Marie From Sunny Italy” (biography.com). He wrote it in 1907 with Nick Nicholson writing the music. Baline’s name was misspelled on the sheet music as “I. Berlin” (biography.com). He decided to keep it and changed his name to Irving Berlin (biography.com) . It was in this way that the legend was born.
In comparison to other slaves that are discussed over time, Olaudah Equiano truly does lead an ‘interesting’ life. While his time as a slave was very poor there are certainly other slaves that he mentions that received far more damaging treatment than he did. In turn this inspires him to fight for the abolishment of slavery. By pointing out both negative and positive events that occurred, the treatment he received from all of his masters, the impact that religion had on his life and how abolishing slavery could benefit the future of everyone as a whole; Equiano develops a compelling argument that does help aid the battle against slavery. For Olaudah Equiano’s life journey expressed an array of cruelties that came with living the life of an
...e" (Trask xix). This incident beautifully illustrates and signifies tourism's impact in American society. Like most Americans, this woman uses a discourse that has been shaped by tourist advertisements and souvenirs. The woman's statement implies that Trask resembles what the tourist industry projects, as if this image created Hawaiian culture. As Trask asserts, Hawaiian culture existed long before tourism and has been exploited by tourism in the form of advertisements and items such as postcards. Along with the violence, endangered environment, and poverty, this exploitation is what the tourist industry does not want to show. However, this is the Hawai'i Haunani-Kay Trask lives in everyday. "This is Hawai'i, once the most fragile and precious of sacred places, now transformed by the American behemoth into a dying land. Only a whispering spirit remains" (Trask 19).
What is one thing that stands out in most peoples’ minds when they think of Hawaii? Most people would probably say the hula dance. The hula dance descended from, or can be traced to Polynesia and India. The Hula was a form of poetry for the Hawaiians in all of its sacred and ceremonial forms.
Racism in Hawaii has caused various issues, and one of them is racial tension. It states that “ some say…”[there are]”...racial tensions between the islands white community and native hawaiians” (Hansen, paragraph 3). Well, in history, it was quite difficult for most of the
...Hawai`i’s economy is very dependent on tourism, however many locals are possessive of their land, and as they stereotype tourists, many do not accept others as they have a unity for their own. Numerous individuals feel the desideratum to fit the local stereotype because they prefer not to be labeled as a “haole”. It becomes tough and rather intense for an individual, because becoming haole betokens that you forgot and disregarded the local or Hawaiian quality values and ways of routes, as well as the flowing stream of life in the islands. We need to remind ourselves that regardless of where we emanate from, our skin tone, race, physical characteristics, and so forth, everybody ought to acknowledge just for who we/they are and treat one another like 'ohana and show "aloha", and subsequently, we can determinately verbally express "This is it. This is Paradise" (33).
Castanha, Anthony. (1996, August). “A History of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement.” The Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement: Roles and Impacts on Non-Hawaiians, Chapter 3. <http://www.hookele.com/non-hawaiians/chapter3.html>[10/14/00]
successful lyricist. Also, it was Ira’s interest in music that made their parents purchase the
Hawaii is a top vacation destination by many tourists all over the world. When Hawaii comes to mind many people and different cultures imagine sandy beaches, warm, blue waters, lush green backdrops, Hula dancers in grass skirts with flowers in their hair and leis around their necks. These visual representations are iconic symbols of Hawaii and of what many have come to define as Hawaiian. These images and ideas painted by the visitor industry most often take place at the expense of the Hawaiians historic culture. These stereotypes conjured up by the tourist indus...
Simon Wiesenthal life and legends were extraordinary, he has expired people in many ways and was an iconic figure in modern Jewish history. Szyman Wiesenthal (was his real named and later named Simon) was born on December 31 in Buczacz, Galicia (which is now a part of Ukraine) in 1908. When Wiesenthal's father was killed in World War I, Mrs. Wiesenthal took her family to Vienna for a brief period, returning to Buczacz when she remarried. The young Wiesenthal graduated from the Humanistic Gymnasium (a high school) in 1928 and applied for admission to the Polytechnic Institute in Lvov. Turned away because of quota restrictions on Jewish students, he went instead to the Technical University