Issues of Sovereignty and Identity: Mahealani Perez-Wendt

Identity is something we are taught or we have been passed down to, we create, we claim or do not. Identity can also be something that changes or transforms as we change or transform as individuals. Poetry reflects this multiplicity and intersection of various identities as poets of color, women, lgbtq, and others not represented in the traditional literary canon make our mark. The digital era of Facebook, MySpace, and U-Tube have helped increase accessibility for non-traditional poets to enter into the field by showcasing our work, networking, and publicizing all on-line without monetary limitations or confines which have often been relegated to being produced from “the academy.”

In “We Are Not the Crime We Are the Evidence” by Mahealani Perez-Wendt from Effigies identity emerges through the theme of “the colonizer” and “the colonized.” “They” being the colonizer. The declarative title of the poem cleverly delivers irony and explains the current criminal treatment of Native Hawaiians, their very existence evidence of a crime being committed by it’s colonizer, in this case the U.S. (The U.S. colonized Hawaii making it a U.S. territory in 1900 and the 50th U.S. state in 1959.) The repetition of the lines below increases the velocity and intensity of the subject of subjugation being addressed in the poem (Effigies, p 114).

“They’ve kicked the chair

From under us”

The metaphor of a chair being kicked out from under one, provides the reader with an image of a violent and jarring action and a feeling of angst. This is very effective as anyone can relate to this feeling of being wronged and empathy is conveyed. At the same time the author challenges the reader to question and uncover this treatment. Ultimately, in addressing these undesirable actions by the U.S. upon Hawaii both past and present, Perez-Wendt places the issue of sovereignty and restorative justice “on the table.”

I identify with this because Perez-Wendt and I share a commonality of our Native peoples' intergenerational genocide and colonization. My experience within the context of the historical and present occupation of the majority of Turtle Island (North America) by the U.S. For the anthology I put forth to edit I consciously chose identity as a point of intersection and emergence. The purpose, a transgression towards a political movement for decolonization and sovereignty for Native Americans through the power of art and poetry by Native American women. Part of bringing this idea to fruition has involved participation from the artists including naming the book. The title “Turtle Island to Abya Yala” now reflects our aim of coming together from the north and south across boundaries and current borders.