We help the people of Kailua-Kona take political actions that promote inclusion, tolerance, and fairness.
What You Accomplished in 2025!
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This is a long newsletter. We try not to do that to you, but please join us to celebrate all that we accomplished together in 2025. 2025 was the year of getting organized after feeling beat up post-2024 election. Building resistance at the local and State levels was crucial. While National Indivisible and the Hawai'i Indivisible State Network in Honolulu had been up and running since 2017, we knew West Hawai'i needed its own grassroots efforts. So, in January 2025, KIND was established. It is astonishing what We, The People of the Kona Coast, have accomplished this year, and we hope reading this will bring you joy and encouragement. While MAGA is imploding, we have gained strength and increased our unity working on urgent issues, actions, and campaigns. Now, let's take time for reflection, celebration, and to set new goals. We are deeply grateful to all of you who joined us this year. Here’s what we got done together. Immigrant RightsCounty Council AdvocacyWe started reaching out to the County Council in June, working with other Big Island chapters. You can read all our testimonials here. Our campaign helped produce two unanimous resolutions to protect all residents against illegal Federal agency overreach.
Hawai'i County showed authentic leadership here. We are still the only county in the State of Hawai'i to have adopted measures to protect the constitutional rights of immigrants and all residents. Police AdvocacyPOLICE COMMISSION After an aggressive Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in May, then-Chief Moszkowicz made misleading statements to the public, including to the New York Times (Gift link). KIND joined with other groups in speaking out against the Chief, leading to his departure. Since July, KIND has testified at every Police Commission meeting on the process for selecting the new Police Chief and the values that should be prioritized in the selection. Influenced by this testimony, the selection process will now proceed to public interviews of candidates at the end of January 2026. Click here for West Hawai'i Today's coverage. INTERIM POLICE CHIEF Shortly after the Interim Police Chief Mahuna took office in September, we met privately to discuss a non-cooperation policy on immigration enforcement. We then organized activist leaders from across the Big Island to interview the Interim Chief on the record. We published the recording here for members and the public. ==> TAKE A QUICK BREAK - MORE TO COME <== ICE PreparednessWe have taken a wana (aka black spiny sea urchin) approach to resisting ICE and other DHS agencies. We want to be so unpleasant to handle that the agents leave our community alone. Know Your Rights TrainingOn July 13, in partnership with Hawai'i J20+, we organized a Know Your Rights train-the-trainer workshop. It was open to KIND members and to the North Hawai'i Action Network, our sister chapter in Waimea. Approximately 40 people attended. For more information, see Know Your Rights Training - Hawai‘i J20+ One Million RisingOn September 22, we organized a 'One Million Rising' workshop with State Representative Della Au Belatti, with over 50 people in attendance. She is one of the challengers to Ed Case for Congressional District 1. Rapid Response groupIn August, we formed a Rapid Response group to investigate reports of ICE activity on the Big Island and, if necessary, to document them. This group runs an active Signal network. If you would like to participate, hit reply to connect with Tina Marie. Fundraisers, Food and Toy Drives for Aloha LatinosWe have been working to support our Latino friends and neighbors. Yvette organized an amazing:
Aloha Over I.C.E.Starting with our first Pop-Up Protest at the King Kamehameha Hotel, August 14 & 15, we have been encouraging local businesses and institutions to post private areas and declare non-cooperation with ICE. It has evolved into the "We pour Aloha over ICE" campaign. The North Hawai'i Action Network in Waimea has now joined us in this initiative. Court SessionsWe still have a problem with people being apprehended outside the courthouse, possibly due to State Sheriffs collaborating with ICE. We now stage bilingual Pop-Up protests outside the court on days when sessions are held with Spanish interpreters. ResultsThere has been no major DHS/ICE raid on the Big Island since May. While we cannot prove a negative, we believe our advocacy and preparedness have certainly helped discourage the feds. Fingers crossed. ==> ANOTHER BREATHER HERE - STILL MORE TO COME <== State Legislature and Agency Advocacy#SpecialSessionNowAs a result of the 'One Million Rising' workshop with State Representative Belatti, we mobilized members. We called, wrote, and petitioned our elected representatives to urge a Special Legislative Session in November. While the leadership did not convene such a session, we believe we raised the awareness of the need for:
Preparation for 2026 SessionSteve now leads our legislative committee, tracking and recommending legislation for our consideration (he does this for the League of Women Voters (LWV) as well). David, a retired judge, also makes sure we're paying attention to the right issues. Starting in November, we have been engaging with partners American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights (HCIR), Hawai'i J20+, and LWV on legislative priorities for the 2026 legislative session. We are jointly focusing on 9 of the 10 provisions of the No Secret Police toolkit, developed by Indivisible, ACLU, and others. We'll share calls to action in January, as the Legislature convenes. State Elections CommissionAlso starting in November, our members have been testifying to the State Elections Commission on the need to retain mail-in voting, opposing election conspiracy theorists’ calls to eliminate it. Standing Up TogetherIf you subscribe to this newsletter, then you have probably been to one of our major protests. The "No Dictators (No Kings on the Continent)" event on October 18 attracted 22,000 participants locally and 7 million nationally, making it the largest protest in US history. Do you ever wonder whether these events have an impact? The Guardian answered that question in this excellent article: How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: VERY. Major Protest EventsWe could not have pulled these off without Yvette's leadership and her experience with Matriarchy Rising since 2017. Flawless execution is a whole-team effort, with advance coordination, traffic direction, signage, information tables, voter registration, KIND email signups, and petitions. Can you remember how many we've held? How many have you attended?
Our next major event will be on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 19, 2026. Details will be shared in the next newsletter. Pop-Up ProtestsEllen has been organizing Pop-Up Protests. The first one focused on ICE raids was held at the King Kamehameha Hotel on August 14 & 15, 2025. Now they are held on a biweekly cadence. ==> ONE MORE BREAK - STILL A BIT MORE TO REPORT ON <== Helping Elect Representation We DeserveSupporting Elections through PostcardingIn 6 months, we have written to 25,782 voters!! There were 14 member postcarding parties and there is an ongoing distribution of postcard packets for people to do at home. Franny, Stacy, and Maryellen have all been organizing postcarding campaigns. Some of the campaigns we have participated in include:
In 2026, we plan to take voter outreach to a new level, both statewide and nationally. Mala makes sure we register every eligible voter. Congressional District 1 Democratic Primary 2026We supported the Indivisible Hawai'i Statewide Network's strategic goal regarding the 2026 Primary for CD1 by:
Member CommunicationThere are 2,700 Indivisible groups across the country. While there isn't a Webby Award category for Indivisible, we would eagerly submit the KIND website and newsletters if there were. At the beginning of the year, we were unsure about the necessity of either, but they have now become best-in-class resources. The emails you receive have been a joyful collaboration among Sam's drafts, Martina’s inspiration, and Maryellen's efforts to make them readable for all of you. We also need to keep the organization running. Yvonne manages the contributions made through the website, while Lisa leverages her extensive network to connect us with partners and attract attendees to our events. Building a Resistance Community in West Hawai'iThere's an African proverb, If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We are ever so grateful that we've been going together. KIND has come a long way since a dozen people showed up at the picnic tables at Old Airport Park in January. If you're nostalgic, flip through the 26 back issues of our newsletter archive. ==> LOOKING AHEAD <== January Member Meeting and PotluckMARK YOUR CALENDARS: Our next member meeting is on January 4, 2026, at Kahaluʻu Beach Park. Sign up here. We're trying something new this time.
Mahalo nui loa for all your efforts to fight for our democracy in 2025. Together, we're ready for 2026! With Aloha PS. It would be wonderful to have more family, friends, and neighbors support and engage in our local grassroots efforts. At the next get-together, ask if they want to stay up to date, and sign them up here to get our emails, too. |
Kona Indivisible
We help the people of Kailua-Kona take political actions that promote inclusion, tolerance, and fairness.
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