Instead of United Church of Christ Hanapepe, the December 3 "Superferry Chronicles"party will take place at Storybook Theater, at 3814 Hanapepe Road in Old HanapepeTown, at 6:00 p.m.
Apparently, the church leadership became skittish after learning from a November 16 Letter to the Editor in The Garden Island that one James Rosen was planning a pro-Superferry demonstration outside the event. From the letter:
Superferry supporters, there will be a peaceful demonstration at 5 p.m., Dec. 3, at the Hanapepe Church of Christ in Hanapepe. At 6 p.m. the same evening there will be a book launch party for the “Superferry Chronicles” (an anti-ferry book) inside the church. Please come with a sign welcoming back the Alakai. I cannot do this alone, let your voice be heard. See you there.
I'm surprised, frankly, that the idea of people speaking out and trying to make their views heard on an important question would frighten the UCC, given their traditional support for progressive social movements, from abolition to the civil rights movement and beyond. The church's committment to reconciliation and diversity would indicate its ability and willingness to engage the spectrum of opinions about a local issue. Perhaps this debacle will help them revisit the question of their intended role in their community.
Certainly, those of us involved in direct democratic engagement on the question of the Superferry do not fear Rosen's efforts to build grassroots support for his side. Organizing is hard, time-consuming work and open to anyone who cares to engage in it. The more people who try it, the bigger the laboratory we create to test effective tactics for future struggles.
I hope to see Rosen outside of one of the upcoming book-signing events so I can "talk shop" with him. (No rocks! I promise!) If he manages to draw a big crowd to his demonstration, I'm eager to ask him for ideas because it's possible he has come up with an organizing technique completely new to those of us who have been working at building social movements for decades.
One of the things I find fascinating about the effort to build a strong pro-Superferry movement is that it requires that everyday working class people actively ally themselves with the business interests of a large corporation. It's one thing to tacitly support the interests of corporate profiteers - most of us do it all the time, and it's the big challenge of the Left to encourage people to stand up in defiance of them. But to organize a significant number of people to hold signs and protest in active support of a well-fed group of corporate and military profiteers - wow. Now that would be an acheivement we could learn something from.
Book Launch Parties
WHAT:
TWO SUPERFERRY CHRONICLES BOOK LAUNCH PARTIES
Come learn little-known facts about the Hawaii Superferry
WHERE & WHEN:
Wednesday, December 3
6:00 p.m. at the The Storybook Theatre, Hanapepe
Friday, December 5
6:00 p.m. at Malama Kauai, Moloaa
WHO:
Speakers will include:
Co-authors Koohan "Camera" Paik and Jerry Mander
Biologist Don Heacock
Fisherman Raymond Catania and others!
