University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa – Decolonizing Dis/abilities in Hawai’i Through “Seeking Asylum: A Mad Detour”

Join zoom here at 3pm PST

Presenters: Māhealani Ahia, Kahala Johnson, Leiana San Agustin Naholowa’a

The creation of the historical walking tour “Seeking Asylum: A Mad Detour” reveals layers of Native and colonial stories about disabilities and mental health. These institutional legacies from kingdom and territorial era asylums to the Hawaii State Hospital, upheld policies, experimental “treatments,” and a history of overcrowding, neglect, and racial targeting, that have all been heavily critiqued. Many of these original buildings form the Windward Community College campus. Our Hui Hawaiʻi Disabilities Justice curated dramatized scenes, poetry, and cultural protocols and ceremony to foster conversations about continuing stigma and treatment of those with mental and physical dis/abilities, deep connections between coloniality and marginalized peoples’ well-being, as well as working toward greater visibility for dis/ability justice to promote lasting changes. The latest issue of Hawaiʻi Review captures this work.