National Geographic “Hawai'i is not the multicultural paradise some say it is” May 2021

“Akiemi Glenn identifies as Black and as a Coharie descendent (the Coharies are an Indian tribe in North Carolina). She's standing in front of a baobab tree in the African section of the Koko Crater Botanical Garden in Honolulu. As the founder and executive director of the Pōpolo Project, she works to redefine what it means to be Black in Hawai‘i.”

The Pōpolo Project in New York Times opinion article

In June 2019 Dr. Akiemi Glenn was quoted in a New York Times op-ed by Moises Velasquez-Manoff for his piece “Want to be less racist? Move to Hawai‘i,” commenting on the research of UH Mānoa psychologist Dr. Kristin Pauker whose work explores perceptions of mixed-race people in Hawai‘i. Akiemi’s resulting response appears on her blog here.

Hawai‘i Public Radio covered the story, Hawai'i As A Cure For Racism? Some Say Not in which Akiemi Glenn gives comment along with Dr. Kristin Pauker, Josie Howard of We are Oceania, and Punihei Lipe of the University of Hawai‘i Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center.

 
 

Recorded September 4, 2018 at the Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art.

Ta-Nehisi Coates in Conversation at Honolulu Museum of Art

On Sept. 4, 2018 the Honolulu Museum of Art hosted Ta-Nehisi Coates in Conversation as part of the Honolulu African American Film Festival 2018 program. Sponsored by the Pōpolo Project in observance of Black August and moderated by the founder and director of the Pōpolo Project, Dr. Akiemi Glenn, the two-part event aimed to explore the intersections between the experience of Blackness in the Pacific and the experience of Blackness in the continental United States.

The Pōpolo Project in Flux Hawai‘i Magazine

The Pōpolo Project is featured in volume 8, issue 2 of Flux Hawaii magazine. Through a series of portraits and vignettes, Dr. Akiemi Glenn and community members address collective and individual processes for exploring Black identities in Hawai‘i via the Pōpolo Project.

The Pōpolo Project. Video by Nella Media Group

Blue Hawai‘i Podcast - Episode 29 with Dr. Akiemi Glenn

Hawai‘i politics podcast where Dr. Akiemi Glenn shares her story, talks about her work in language revitalization, how racism and racial structures differ between Hawai‘i and North America, and why we're currently living through a new civil rights movement. She previews some of Pōpolo Project's Black August programming, including Ta-Nehisi Coates’s upcoming appearance at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

We're back! After a quick news recap (Aloha Poke Co, Charlottesville 2: Electric Nazi Boogaloo, and #SpaceForce), we give you the first part of our Primary Election breakdown! At 14:12, we talk about Governor David Ige holding off Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to get re-elected, Josh Green's carpenter $$$ putting him over the top (and his stand-up comedy debut at the Democrat unity breakfast), and what to expect in the November showdown between David Ige and Andria Tupola (hint: TrumpTrumpTrumpTrumpTrump). Plus, we talk about Ed Case's victory in the Hawaii CD1 primary -- a rich white guy going to Congress? How is he going to fit in??? Then, at 28:19, we've got an AMAZING interview with Dr. Akiemi Glenn, a Honolulu-based scholar and cultureworker. She is the founder and curator of the Pōpolo Project, a multimedia exploration of Blackness in Hawai‘i and the larger Pacific, and she's also the director of Tele!, a language revitalization and engagement project in Hawai‘i's Tokelauan community. She shares her story and we talk about her work in language revitalization, how racism and racial structures differ between Hawaii and the mainland, and why we're currently living through a new civil rights movement. Plus, she previews some of Popolo Project's #BlackAugust programming, including TA-NEHISI COATES COMING TO THE DORIS DUKE THEATER ON AUGUST 25TH -- GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! (PS: her "restaurant" rec is Kaimuki Superette! Check them out for #BuyLocal #sustainable fresh fish and fresh veggies). Stay tuned for our next episode -- friend of the show Alan Akao will join us to help complete our post-primary breakdown, including Congressional, local, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs races. Until then, please listen, share, rate, subscribe, and hit us up on social media! MLK Audio Credit: University of Texas

Ea, Wakanda: Visualizing Black and Hawaiʻi Futures panel, moderated by Akiemi Glenn

Recorded at the Arts at Mark’s Garage in Honolulu’s Chinatown Arts District in February 2018, Ea, Wakanda: Visualizing Black and Hawaiʻi Futures utilizes the themes and visuals of Marvel Studios's Black Panther to frame a conversation exploring the place and promise of futurism in communities of color, the power of collective imagination and artmaking, and the potential for exchange among the once colonized. This conversation centers the histories, struggles, and collective futures of the people of Hawaiʻi and the African diaspora.