From Hawaiʻi to Okinawa: Confronting Militarization, Healing Trauma, Strengthening Solidarity

(roundtable discussion and photo essay): Three women of color activists from Hawaiʻi discuss their participation in the Ninth International Women’s Network Against Militarism (IWNAM) gathering in Okinawa in 2017. IWNAM began twenty years ago in Okinawa and now includes delegations from South Korea, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guåhan (Guam), Hawaiʻi, Japan, and the United States. Kasha Hoʻokili Ho, Joy Lehuanani Enomoto, and Kim Compoc reflect on the trip and how Okinawa, site of one of the most vibrant peace movements in the region, has influenced their work for a free and independent Hawaiʻi. They discuss how their families have been both victims and perpetrators of US militarism, the pleasures and the difficulties of doing demilitarization work, and the profound lessons they learned about war and peace in Okinawa. They offer this conversation as an example of decolonial feminist world-building, particularly as women in the Pacific build transnational solidarity for more peaceful and sustainable futures.