HOW THE U.S. STOLE HAWAII

Anti-imperialism begins with telling the truth, starting with that Hawaii was never the US government’s to take, as author @marcojwilliams (IG) articulates in this video. 

Hawaii wasn’t ‘granted statehood’ in a fairytale handshake of mutual agreement. White business people forcefully and unapologetically seized the Hawaiian islands in 1893 in a textbook act of imperialist aggression to further corporate and geopolitical interests.

Before US boots touched the islands, Hawaii was a sovereign nation with a monarchy, constitution, thriving society, and diverse flora and fauna. A coup against Queen Liliʻuokalani allowed the businessmen to develop large-scale mono-culture plantations, featuring mainly pineapples and sugar cane to sell abroad.

This takeover fits the long pattern of US imperialism, where they engineer coups, and Washington sanitises it all as ‘strategic interest.’

In 1959, the US government granted the archipelago 'statehood.' To this day, Native Hawaiians oppose the colonisation.

Listen to this breakdown and share your thoughts. 

Note: While we think this video helps our people understand the nature of imperialism, as descendants of enslaved and colonised Africans, African Stream doesn't identify with the United States or other imperial powers and, therefore, disagrees with the use of ‘we’ to describe the United States. We never invaded and occupied other people’s lands!

Video credit: @marcojwilliams (IG)