ONIPAʻA
Volume 1, Issue 4 November/ December 2021
WRITTEN BY KYRA GOMES (SHE/HER) Onipaʻa To be resilient, steadfast Onipaʻa
Since childhood, I was told to stand firm in myself and my beliefs Onipaʻa An endangered tongue; traditions forbidden; history whitewashed; still we Onipaʻa silenced, bound, desecrated; still we Onipaʻa our elders arrested, reefs destroyed, Queen overthrown; still we Onipaʻa Do I move? Do I mourn? Where is the how-to manual on stolen identity I have to Onipaʻa Young children like Gladys Brandt rubbed lemons on themselves to bleach their skin They had to Onipaʻa So we Onipaʻa; for them Onipaʻa not a verb but a people We create a foundation for the future children of Hawaiʻi We are Onipaʻa We fight back for Mauna Kea and breathe the stories of Gladys; of our ancestors We are Onipaʻa I am Onipaʻa
HOMETOWN
Hilo, Hawai'i
KYRA
DOUBLE MAJOR
Music Theatre & Vocal Performance 3 THINGS ABOUT ME
I love to roller-skate! I most recently played Belle in a sold-out production of Beauty & the Beast in my hometown. My Rottweiler, Maile, can count in Hawaiian!
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