Seeking justice from
By Malakai Maumalanga
the city’s gang in blueI can't help but believe, as I'm writing this, that I'm making myself a target for harassment by the most notorious "gangstas" in Hawaii -- the Honolulu Police Department.
When I was a child I was taught to respect and trust officers of the law. My parents said the police would help and protect us from harm in any shape or size. But as time passed I witnessed and experienced harassment and brutality from the police and my view of them changed.
As a former Cross Sun gang member, and because I had a reputation as a fighter earned during 15 years on the streets, I was never given fair treatment by the law. Every time something went wrong, my friends and I were automatically blamed. When my house was rocked by rival gang members, I was the one arrested. One night when shots were fired at my house, the officers told me, "Don't waste our time. You Cross Sun, get 'em yourself."
I'm 99 percent sure my experience is being shared in ghettos across America. Maybe many middle-class citizens won't believe me, or will choose not to, but those of us who are poor know that many times the media make the police look like heroes by running only one side of a story. An example is the New Year's shooting death of Benedict Manupule at Mayor Wright Housing.
People supported the officers who shot Manupule, but nobody placed themselves in Benedict's shoes. He was surrounded by police and a crowd and probably felt more scared than murderous.
I knew Ben and he wasn't a violent person. If he had killing on his mind, why did he shoot into the air, as an officer described, instead of firing directly at the officers and crowd? Why, after he was shot, did the officer watch him get beaten by the crowd instead of breaking it up just before an ambulance arrived? What if Ben survived the shot but had been allowed to be beaten to death?
TIMES are changing so rapidly. Before, police just beat you; now it seems they're just looking for an excuse to use their guns, as with the recent Palolo Valley shooting of Rodney Laulusa. He was shot and already lying in his own blood, but officers still kept unloading rounds in him as if he were an animal. It makes me wonder if those officers have any respect for human life.
Most citizens were given the idea that Laulusa had lunged at police with a knife. But a statement from the Palolo Tenants Association said, "Mr. Laulusa was not a 'threat' to police until four police officers chose to come within 10 feet of Mr. Laulusa with guns drawn."
The sad thing is that this sanctioned violence is sending the wrong message to teens who are having a rough life. The messages are that they've got to arm themselves to survive, and never to trust any men in blue.
This is not to say that there are no officers who are straight and honest, but like any "gang" member, there are too few willing to stick their necks out and do the right thing. If police keep up all the harassment, brutality and cold-blooded murders, I can foresee Hawaii becoming more like California, where killing a teen or a cop is just a natural thing.
I want to apologize to anyone who may be offended by what I'm saying, but it's the view of many of us street people who want to be heard for once, instead of always being drowned out.
And to all you young "G's," still gang-banging, put down the guns because that's not the solution. Prove the state and everybody else wrong by going to school and becoming productive. Let them see that they are wasting their money building new prisons.
It is true when they say, "The pen is mightier than the sword." I know, for I'm one who used the sword. Now, there's a new way to fight and it ain't with my hands no more. Peace.
Malakai Maumalanga is 21, and a student of
human services at Honolulu Community College, who intends
to work with disadvantaged youth.Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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