Four Voices in Renshi: Revisiting the Massie Affair

RENSHI POETS: ANN INOSHITA,  JEAN TOYAMA,  JUJUBE ,  PLEOPARD

The Massie Case obsessed all of America in the early 1930s and remains one of the most controversial events in Hawai`i history. The case highlighted racial conflicts between locals and recently arrived haoles (military personnel, government representatives, and the territorial haole elite). On September 12, 1931, Thalia Massie, wife of Naval officer Thomas Massie, was allegedly assaulted and raped in Waikiki by five local men. What followed were two notorious trials that threatened to undermine the delicate racial balance of the Territory of Hawai`i. When a mistrial was declared and the five local men accused of the assault were set free, Lt. Massie, Thalia's mother Grace Fortescue, and two enlisted men kidnapped and murdered one of the defendants, Joseph Kahahawai. Arrested and charged with manslaughter, the four haole defendants were represented by the famous lawyer Clarence Darrow. When they were found guilty of manslaughter, Territorial Governor Lawrence Judd commuted their sentences to one hour served in his company. (Adapted from Dennis Carroll’s article in Kumu Kahua’s Viewer’s Guide .

This project was funded, in part, by a grant from the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities (HCH)--a development partner of Bamboo Ridge Press.

LATEST RENSHI POSTINGS
 

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August 2011/ 1931 by pleopard

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Massie Trial at Wikipedia
The Massie case: Injustice and courage at Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
American Experience: The Massie Affair at PBS Hawaii
Racism and corruption in the Massie Trial at YouTube
Tane talks about the Massie Case at YouTube.

TEACHERS' CORNER FEATURE ARTICLES

Feature articles by members of Teachers' Corner.  

Priory Students 'Write Like Wing Tek Lum' Published by Haken | Wednesday, December 12, 2012 9:18 PM Wing Tek Lum visits St. Andrew's Priory School to read and discuss pieces from his upcoming collection, 'The Nanjing Massacre: Poems.'

Mililani Hughes on the Volcano Renshi workshop Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, July 15, 2012 9:48 PM A participant's view of the Volcano Renshi workshop. (See my blog).

Volcano Renshi Workshop: 'Ama'uma'u Renshi Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, July 15, 2012 9:34 PM Each group decided on the line up; the first person pulled out from an envelope a piece of paper with a line taken from No Choice but to Follow. This line was the basis of the title of the link. Each member had seven minutes to write a poem using the last line of the preceding link.

Volcano Renshi Workshop: 'Olapa Renshi Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, July 15, 2012 9:28 PM Each group decided on the line up; the first person pulled out from an envelope a piece of paper with a line taken from No Choice but to Follow. This line was the basis of the title of the link. Each member had seven minutes to write a poem using the last line of the preceding link. (By chance Doodie picked a line from the first link of NCbtF. Enjoy!

Teachers Talk Back: on poets in the classroom Published by darrel | Saturday, March 26, 2011 12:23 AM Teachers respond to poetry readings and workshops by the BR renshi poets: Jean Toyama, Juliet Kono, Ann Inoshita, and Christy Passion.

Brien Hallet reviews Juliet Kono's Anshu Published by Haken | Thursday, October 28, 2010 12:15 PM Brien Hallet, Associate Professor at the University of Hawai'i's Institute for Peace reviews Juliet Kono's novel, 'Anshu'

Renshi Workshop Published by Ann Inoshita | Tuesday, September 21, 2010 7:19 PM Ann Inoshita shares idea generating techniques with students, and students produce their own renshi poems.

They Can Do It Published by Jujube | Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:17 AM My write-up shows the steps I took in getting the students to write their own renshi. The process was simple: 1. playing a word association game like--river, rocks; rocks, roll; roll, cinammon and so on. 2. dividing the class into small groups of four or five; 3. writing my own poem and having the first writer in the groups take my last line to start their own poems; 4. reading their own poems; 5. pasting all of the poems, showing the sequence, and pasting the final scroll of poems on the board.

Kickstarting Poetic Vibes Published by PLEOPARD | Tuesday, August 24, 2010 10:15 AM Tips on how to motivate the creative process for the uninitiated poetry student/teacher.

Priory Students Follow in Renshi Writers’ Footsteps by Dr. Joan Perkins Published by joykc | Monday, August 23, 2010 8:07 AM A reading by Mavis Hara and Ann Inoshita touched off a renshi-writing craze at St. Andrew’s Priory School.

TEACHERS' CORNER PROSE AND POETRY

Prose and poetry by members of Teachers' Corner.  

2012 Renshi from Ma‘ema‘e Elementary School Published by Ann Inoshita | Thursday, February 09, 2012 6:33 PM	Maui Students Want to Renshi Published by Jean Toyama | Tuesday, April 19, 2011 5:15 AM Students who learned about renshi at the Celebrate Reading events want to try a hand at it.
Renshi from Kapi‘olani Community College Published by Ann Inoshita | Thursday, September 15, 2011 7:17 PM	Renshi from Celebrate Reading at UHM Published by Ann Inoshita | Sunday, April 17, 2011 5:26 AM
Second Renshi from Saint Andrew's Priory Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, May 01, 2011 10:14 PM Students from another class continue the renshi started a while ago	Renshi from Ma‘ema‘e Elementary School Published by Ann Inoshita | Friday, April 15, 2011 5:55 PM
Pearl City High School Students write under pressure: BRAVO!! Published by Jean Toyama | Saturday, April 23, 2011 12:47 AM During a 15 minute workshop students broke up into pairs and wrote links in 5-10 minutes	Renshi from Saint Andrew's Priory Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, March 13, 2011 12:07 AM The renshi puts all the links together from Bamboo Shoots.

TEACHERS' CORNER BLOGS

Blog entries by members of Teachers' Corner.  

Eric and Darrell visit their alma mater, Maemae Elementary School Published by darrel | Thursday, January 24, 2013 3:48 AM	100 issue at Hilo Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, October 14, 2012 9:58 PM
Ka Waihona Charter School Published by Jean Toyama | Wednesday, October 31, 2012 2:37 AM	Volcano Renshi Workshop Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, July 15, 2012 9:58 PM
October 19th at Ka Waihona Charter School Published by Jean Toyama | Sunday, October 21, 2012 11:07 PM

TEACHERS' CORNER IMAGES

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