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July 30, 2004

Through an Elector's Eyes-Part III

What So Proudly We Hailed

Aloha, again.

At the opening session of the conference I am attending here our group, over twelve thousand of us, received an offered blessing from Kumu Hula Kawaikapuokalani. A revered kahuna, he presented an oli and pule to honor the place where we were, those of us who came here, and our ancestors. This was followed by interpretive hula presentations of the story of Pele interwoven with the psychology of the native Hawaiian people. Why would I mention this, you might ask, on the eve of John Kerry's acceptance speech? Because I found our diverse American culture so vibrant during the afternoon, I felt that I had experienced our gracious country up close and personal, long before I went to the Kerry House Party in Honolulu.

I sat this afternoon watching and listening to musicians singing in native Hawaiian, being interpreted in English by our host presenter, shown simultaneously through interpretive dance by the kahuna, accompanied by hula dancers, while at the same time observing the sign-language interpreter demonstrating for the hearing impaired. I do not know if she was signing in English, or Spanish, since we were also celebrating today the 25th anniversary of the National Latina/Latino Psychological Association. Having been born in Philadelphia and growing up on the concept of America being the melting pot of the world, I was so pleasantly touched by the harmony I have found here in Hawaii.

Then the real fun began. Arriving early at the location of the Kerry House Party, I was met by my most gracious contact here, Ms. Ann Oshiro-Kauwe, and I offer her mahalo for her smile and welcoming way. Prior to Kerry's speech, I had time to shake hands and thank our fellow Americans for their support of the Party. It seemed that everyone was wearing the newly designed Hawaiian style "Run for Kerry/Edwards" theme tee shirts by the time the speech began.

It was such a wonderful opportunity to share my enthusiasm with a crowd who applauded, laughed, cried, and sustained its own positive energy throughout the speech. If Barrack Obama hit a home run during his speech, John Kerry hit a grand slam, at least among the Democrats here. The most resounding applause was by far for his comments on war and peace, and the environment. With our beautiful Pearl Harbor so near, it was easy to understand why.

Following the TV portion of our event, I had the opportunity to meet and thank the Chair of the Oahu County Democrats for his support during the evening. The Hawaiian Star-Bulletin, one of the daily newspapers, interviewed me and for those of you who are regular readers of this paper, you may read my comments tomorrow, which, of course, is already today for most of you.

I hope all our friends in Boston have safe journeys back to our beloved Virginia. While we live in different areas of the country, it seems to me the one thing that has re-captured the American spirit this week has been the expression of unity at our convention. We are one nation, and our flag is still here.

Ron Telsch
Elector, 6th District

Posted by marlana at July 30, 2004 07:04 PM

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