For those hunkered down at the Occupy Honolulu encampment at the edge of Thomas Square, disenchantment with the direction in which government and corporate institutions have taken the world comes with an unwavering sense that their movement can improve the situation.
Now well into their second month at Ward Avenue and South Beretania Street, Occupy Honolulu members say they are not going away any time soon.
Barred by long-standing rules from staying at the park after it closes at 10 p.m., anywhere from 10 to 30 Occupy Honolulu members have been camping overnight on the concrete just outside the park walls since Nov. 5.
Unlike a growing number of mainland cities where state and city governments have been trying to break up encampments spawned by New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement, the city has made no move to evict campers at Thomas Square.
But Occupy Honolulu members are wary after Mayor Peter Carlisle signed City Council Bill 54 on Friday. The new law makes it a violation for anyone to "store" property on a city sidewalk for more than 24 hours. Occupy Honolulu members say city officials intend to use the new language to break down the encampment.
Carlisle told reporters the law would apply to Occupy Honolulu members if they are violating it.
City spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said the mayor still intends to meet with members of the movement at their request, although the two sides have not yet agreed on a date and time.
The campers represent a wide spectrum of local society, as is evident from just a few interviews.
Maui native Aimi Watanabe is a 22-year-old MIT graduate and first-year student at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine. She’s been spending an average of one or two nights a week at Thomas Square — "not as often as I’d like to."
In an example of what she calls "lifestyle activism," Watanabe cooks, holds signs, passes out brochures and "works a night shift," talking to passers-by.
"For me, Occupy Honolulu is about hoping to re-invoke the conversation about how democracy works and trying to create some sort of dialogue to take a critical look at what’s going on with our government," she said. "I don’t believe there is enough empathy between the different classes. There’s a little bit of a class war at the moment. There’s a lot of social inequality."
She added, "The way our government works currently, it’s not a democracy. The law that’s laid down is determined by the people who are at the top."
Ewa Beach resident Madori Rumpungworn, 22, is a one-time Leeward Community College student, barista, plumbing apprentice, boat cleaner, swap meet merchant and welder.
"People are here for all kinds of different reasons," Rumpungworn said. "Some people are here for big-picture stuff — international and national corporations. Some are here for human rights, some people are here for civil rights, some people are here for equality of all races, colors and sexes and sexualities. Some people are here for the animal lovers because, in case you haven’t noticed, a lot of us are vegans and vegetarians. And some people are here for the environment, for the land, preserving the oceans and the planet."
Rumpungworn, a former foster child with Thai roots, said she wants to support Native Hawaiian causes.
"Essentially, in the end we’re all here for one reason, and that’s to do what’s right. To raise our voices, but together. Because when you stand alone, it’s really hard to do."
Lucas Miller, a 29-year-old teacher, joined the Occupy Honolulu movement the weekend it was formed in mid-October.
"People need to start thinking more for themselves, because I think our society in general has been dumbed down to, kept busy and distracted from what’s really been going on," he said. "And the direction we’re heading in is consolidation of power — one world government, one world military, one world bank. Those are not good things. It’s not appreciating individual cultures or individual persons."
Miller was among eight Occupy Honolulu members arrested Nov. 5, the night the group began to stay overnight within park grounds.
Following the arrests, the encampment moved to the concrete area between the park walls and the sidewalk. Miller said he’s slept at the encampment ever since, except on three nights when he went back to his Makiki home to rest.
Miller said that besides being arrested, he was cited one night when he walked across the park lawn to use the restroom. Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said the restroom is technically part of the park, and is closed when the park is closed.
Stephanie Keenan, 51, is a freelance photographer and former book editor who was booted a few months ago from low-rent housing that is being converted into a senior living facility.
She had been living in different encampments for several months before joining the Occupy Honolulu group at Thomas Square about three weeks ago. She has started to document her stay there with photographs that can be accessed through her Twitter account, @iquanyin.
A Los Angeles native, Keenan said decisions by the courts and lawmakers have eroded the rights of individuals in favor of corporate interests.
"There’s an incredible amount of money that’s going into politics right now," she said. "The laws are not really going in favor of the general population."
Blade Walsh, 22, is taking time off from his job as a computer specialist to participate in the movement and has been at Thomas Square from the beginning.
For Walsh the key message is, "The powers that be don’t have our best interest. And because we all come from different backgrounds and walks of life, we need to come together to make everything work for us as people."
D’Angelo McIntyre, a 25-year-old Ewa Beach resident, is a University of Hawaii geophysics major who aspires to work at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. He details cars and baby-sits to make ends meet.
McIntyre, who first showed up at Thomas Square on Nov. 11, said there needs to be "a transformation, a complete tear-down and rebuild" of the democratic process in the U.S. and abroad.
"It’s broken," he said. "It’s been broken for a very long time."
Health care, education, the justice system and energy production are all areas where the system "is all set to benefit the corporate interests and not our interests," he said.
McIntyre said he has also been involved in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.
"The occupation of Hawaii actually ties into corporate greed," he said. "It was the businessmen that started the coup."
