"It Is Okay to Spit Fire on Our Oppressors": Interview with leilani portillo and Punahele

Abstract

"It Is Okay to Spit Fire on Our Oppressors"Interview with leilani portillo and Punahele Leilani Portillo (bio), Punahele (bio), and No'u Revilla (bio) leilani portillo and Punahele are 'Ōiwi aloha 'āina who have created and performed poetry and music for Maunakea. A constant presence at the Pu'uhonua o Pu'uhuluhulu in 2019, leilani and Punahele also facilitated classes on poetry, Hip Hop, and non-violent direct action training at Pu'uhuluhulu University. Mahalo nui loa iā 'olua e leilani and Punahele for your fire. June 2020 No'u Revilla: leilani, how is poetry a pu'uhonua for you? A kind of ground on which to stand and reclaim narrative power? How is poetry uniquely suited to tell the story of a life? leilani portillo: Writing and reading poetry has often left me vulnerable and raw. So while thinking about safety in the context of a pu'uhonua, poetry has also been the only way I can create safety within myself and for myself, even if what I write surrounds trauma that has ultimately made me feel unsafe. But being able to control my narrative has given me more power and strength to write through that unsafety. Poetry has a way of being so specific, and yet still relates to someone, still moves someone. A life is able to be told through poetry because of specificity, but also because of community. NR: In your poem, you shout-out to Haunani-Kay Trask's notion of being "slyly / reproductive." As an 'Ōiwi poet, why do you think being "slyly / reproductive" is important, especially in terms of how our life stories are told? How does being "slyly / reproductive" relate to your new role as a mother? [End Page 592] lp: Being slyly reproductive and evoking Haunani-Kay Trask brings to light the myriad of ways 'Ōiwi can and do take control of our life stories. In all the videos of Trask's speeches, she always spoke with such conviction and poise while speaking our truth. Not only that, but her poetry, and especially this poem, has reproduced many poems and lines of poems because of her influence. One of the reasons I shouted out Trask here too was because of how she was treated for not "bearing" children as a wahine Hawai'i, but the reality is she has. She birthed me. She mothered me. Even if the only way I met her was through her writings. She is a perfect example of Haumea. So as a new mother/parent, being slyly reproductive reminds me of ways I can give birth and reproduce without reducing myself to my ability to physically give birth, because while I now have a child to raise, with Trask and other's teachings, my poetry is just another way for me to be slyly reproductive. It's only enhanced, because of my journey to parenthood and my chance to be able to raise a human from birth, what it means to aloha 'āina and to be an Aloha 'Āina. NR: Punahele, how does rap empower you to tell your life story? How does rap empower you to stand up for your lāhui and contribute to the movement to protect Maunakea? Punahele: Hip Hop was created by Black and Puerto Rican youth to give a voice to the voiceless. Artists like Tupac and Biggie spoke to me when a broken public-school education could not because we shared similar struggles. My siblings and parents did drugs or were incarcerated throughout my childhood, and many kids like me had to sell weed to buy school clothes. I felt like there was nothing that white teachers in Wai'anae could say to benefit Hawaiians. Rapping gave me a tool to express these negative situations in a positive manner instead of selling drugs or stealing cars like the rest of my relatives. By using my voice through Hip Hop, I say things that many Hawaiians are too privileged to say. I speak against anything that is harmful to Hawaiians and to the 'āina. And I also speak for the Hawaiians who are impoverished, on drugs, incarcerated, don't have Hawaiian homesteads, and are not in academia. Naturally it...