Last Chance for Eden and Hale Koa
Both sistahs had been part of the Pinay production of the Vagina Monologues in '06. And I am proud in the ways they have transformed the experience of the play into moving out into the world and raising consciousness.
This past spring, Nicki had requested informal referral and resource support for a delicate sexual harassment case that had been emerging at the military Hale Koa hotel. Unfortunately, due to my own personal limitations and commitments, I could not personally help out in a more active way at that time.
Since then, many other Pilipino community leaders and sistahs have led the public charge to hold the Hale Koa management accountable because the case involves not just one Pinay hotel worker, but at least 5 others. The story,which broke in early June, is here.
This also, just came out on June 29 through the Star Bulletin:
A group of Hale Koa employees and other community members, frustrated with lack of information about the ongoing sexual harassment case at the Waikiki hotel, have formed a group to call attention to the problem.
"We're just not going to sit back and wait 180 days until the formal investigation is completed," said Amy Agbayani, former chairwoman of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and member of the newly formed Community Alliance Against Sexual Harassment.
Five women have federal complaints pending that allege sexual harassment by a parking manager at the hotel. Alliance members said the Hale Koa's general manager, John Jefferis, assured them he would keep them updated on the resulting investigation, but has not.
I want to offer my creative support for the above in way that empowers the survivors and fellow hotel workers themselves to wield their own corrective social power without having to wait for legal power. Manang Amy is right on: 180 days is too long to wait. Corrective social power means that the whole work environment is transformed and made safe so that women and men as workers can talk candidly, yet mindfully to prevent any further harm. It also means that an environment is thougtfully prepared so that any deeply held repressive beliefs about inappropriate sexist and racist behavior and victim blaming can be called into question without backlash.
In the context of a military hotel and its own top-down protocols, I am very dubious of how that is possible. 180 days is coded to me as time to wear down the plaintiffs and the rabble rousers.
I am glad that Lee Mun Wah is coming to town next week to screen, Last Chance for Eden. The irony of this title in a place touted as "paradise" in a Waikiki Hotel is not lost on me.
As the filmmakers describe it, "The piece is a documentary about eight men and women discussing the issues of racism and sexism in the workplace. They examine the impact of society's stereotypes on their lives in the workplace, in their personal relationships and within their families and in their communities. In the course of their dialogue, they also explore the differences and similarities between racism and sexism - an area that has seldom been researched, but has heatedly become a very important issue needing to be understood and dealt with. "
Lee Mun Wah will also be conducting a conflict resolution workshop the next day which I will be attending. The universal timing of this, ofcourse, is very interesting to me as I reflect on ways to unite restorative justice concepts with performance, community storytelling, and meta-narrative shifting.
Join me if you can:
Last Chance for Eden, film screening and discussion
Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 * 6:30-9:00 pm
Location: University of Hawaii-Manoa
Room: School of Architecture Auditorium, Room 205
Contact: Will Concepcion, 956-7927, for more information
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