Synopsis:
THE SUPERFERRY CHRONICLES is the first book to describe an historically unique, spontaneous, leaderless uprising in the Hawaiian islands. In 2001, an entrepreneur got the idea to start a high-speed, interisland ferry to connect Honolulu with the neighbor islands. Within a couple of years, his idea was taken over by a corporate entity with vast military ties, and the Superferry became prototype for an important piece of America's sea-based military strategy for the 21st century.
As the story unfolds, we see this project riding on a wave of deception and corruption-from the governor's office, to the federal government, to the military, to the Hawaii Superferry corporation. The Superferry deal was never approved by the people of Hawai'i, and this lack of democratic process and its profound environmental impacts enraged many. On Kauai, citizens took to surfboards and effectively blocked the vessel from entering the harbor. Governor Lingle traveled there to admonish the people and let them know that if the boat is blocked again, stiff penalties would ensue. Instead, she found an auditorium overflowing with people whose moving, eloquent, spontaneous testimonies told her that the boat would not be permitted to return.
THE SUPERFERRY CHRONICLES is a story of personal and political empowerment- thousands of Hawaii's people from all parts of the community taking part in an unprecedented showdown against the latest expression of a centuries-old corporate-tourist-military intrusion into the Hawaiian way of life, landscape, and local sovereignty. This is a grim tale worthy of any colonized banana republic, with just as much double-dealing and intrigue. It is also a story of hope, and love for the land, the sea, and righteousness.
Koohan Paik is a media-literacy educator on Kauai, an activist, and an award-winning filmmaker. San Francisco-based Jerry Mander is founder of the International Forum on Globalization and author of the bestselling Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television and In the Absence of the Sacred.
About the Author:
Koohan Paik's films have won awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, NY Exposition of Short Film & Video, and elsewhere. Her recent work focuses on environmental and cultural issues, including a docudrama of a Hawaiian-language literarary classic, The True Story of Kaluaikoolau, and La Vendemmia, a visual ode to traditional Sicilian winemaking, which was included in the 2007 Mediterranean Environmental Award media festival. Her YouTube film, Discover Kauai, is credited with galvanizing the environmental movement on Kauai. She is a media-literacy educator on Kauai.
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