State of Aloha

Ah Quon McElrath:
Sameness is deadening.

himself:
My house was next to the schoolyard and I remember running home and my grandmother was there and I was, "Grandma, Grandma, we're a state, we're a state." And I looked into my Grandma's eyes, and I realized that she had been crying. You could tell, she wasn't crying then, but you knew that she had been. Her eyes were really red. And I said, "Grandma, Grandma, we're a state. What's wrong?" And all she said was, "One day, you will understand."... And today, I understand.

himself:
What has taken place since 1898 throughout the century till today is that Hawaii as a sovereign country somehow has been erased from people's memory.