A shoutout to two more champions of the modern Hawaiian political and social renaissance, Randy Kalahiki (left, 1932-1993) and his older brother, Mel Kalahiki (right, 1925-2020). The brothers played a foundational, ground-level role in the early years of the modern Hawaiian Renaissance and the political awakening that gathered momentum through the 1970s and 1980s. If there were an important event in the emerging Hawaiian movement, these two would almost always be there at or near the center of the action.
I was closest to Randy, who I met in about 1974 through Kawaipuna Prejean, the first director of the Hawaiian Coalition of Native Claims. Yes, the same Kawaipuna who suggested that we fly to Maui for the January 1976 protest landing on Kahoolawe. When I met Randy, he was known as one of the founders of the Prejean’s organization, and later served as a lobbyist and board member of its successor organization, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.
Randy was a former meat cutter and truck driver who turned to youth work as a result of experiences with the Kahaluu Community Action Program. CAP was one of Lyndon B. Johnson’s signature 1960s anti-poverty initiatives that empowered local communities to design and manage their own programs. A number of well-known community activists emerged from CAP programs over the years.
It felt to me like Randy was everywhere there were activists pressing for change. He was there with the movements to stop the bombing of Kahoolawe and Makua Valley, to reform the policies of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, protect the rights of prisoners, and protect Hawaiian land rights. He spent several years with the KEY Project in Kahaluu, and retained his ties to that community throughout his life. With his quiet and gregarious personality, he was as comfortable in the hallways of the state capitol as on the streets in communities across Oahu. He mainly worked behind the scenes to keep collective emotions in check during confrontations over contentious issues, steering activists into constructive and effective social action.
I knew Mel as Randy’s brother. The one with the camera. a Nikon, as I recalled. Mel almost always carried his camera, as I did at that time.
I wonder whatever happened to his important collection of photos and negatives? It must be a treasure trove of photos of significant people and events in that period of Hawaii history. Where is that collection today?
Mel was the organization guy, serving for over a decade as chairman of the Council of Hawaiian Organizations, a coalition that brought together groups with different interests and political views to speak with one voice on Hawaiian issues. The position put him at the center of one of the most important organizations and the most vital policy issues during that period.
In 1982, Governor George Ariyoshi appointed Mel to the Hawaiian Homes Commission as the representative for Windward Oahu. He served for eight years and became the commission’s vice chairman.
He was elected a director of the Hawaii Canoe Racing Association in 1978, according to news clips, and served as its race director for many years. That connection hit close to home: my father, John M. Lind, was a co-founder of the HCRA, then known as the Hawaii Canoe Racing and Surfing Association, and was president in 1952, the year of the first Molokai to Oahu race.
Liko Martin, Kawaipuna Prejean, Mel Kalahiki, January 1977.
The brothers were a powerhouse duo, and I was lucky to spend several years as a young man rubbing shoulders with them.
