Sunday Read: Jason Momoa committed to Mauna Kea 'ohana'

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Actor Jason Momoa and police joke around with this photo.

Jason Momoa released a photo of his "arrest" for protesting the construction of Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) on top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano. 

By the expressions on the faces of the police officers and the bemused look on Momoa, the photo was staged as a joke.

What is not a joke is Momoa's commitment to stopping the TMT, which would be 18 stories high and cover the area of a NFL stadium.

"It's kind of the umbilical cord to earth," the Hawaii-born actor tells CNN. "You know, if you think about the Hawaiian islands, that's the biggest mountain in the world, right? All the way up. So Mauna Kea is the most sacred. They call it the belly button, too. That's like our birth place. You can imagine that in the middle of the ocean. That's how our islands were formed. So how can that not be sacred?"

Since the plans for the TMT were unveiled in 2015, opposition has been building resulting in a blockade of the road leading up to the observatory site which was slated to begin July 16. Native Hawaiians and their supporters have thus far been able to stop the delivery of building materials.

In between photo shoots, TV appearances, prepping for "Aquaman 2," and spending time with his family, the 40-year old Momoa joins the protests when he can, often bringing his family and other celebrities with him.

In an Instagram post last week, he jokingly wrote, “Sorry Warner Bros we can’t shoot Aquaman 2. Because Jason got run over by a bulldozer trying to stop the desecration of his native land.”

He continued, “THIS iS NOT HAPPENING. WE ARE NOT LETTING YOU DO THIS ANYMORE. Enough is enough. Go somewhere else.”

Another joke? Momoa himself has often spoken about the cause and the sacrifice he is willing to make to fight for this cause:

“It’s definitely a fear of mine. You know, I, I love playing ‘Aquaman,’ and there may come a time where it happens that I’m on set on something that I really love and Warner Brothers, who has taken care of me and launched my career, and there’s a certain part of you that goes, ‘I’m human, this is something I care about, but it’s an injustice that I have to do something about,” he told CNN.

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Jason Momoa spends as much time he can on Mauna Kea. Above, he is holding the hands of son and daughter.

Scientists prefer the Mauna Kea site because of the clear and dark skies on the dormant volcano. That explains why there are already 13 observatories built on the mountain, some are no longer being used.

“We allowed astronomy to have a place on the Mauna Kea but they continue to ask for more and more and more, and we have to say no at this point. Because when we say yes it means saying yes to the destruction of our endangered lands,” said president of the Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, Kealoha Pisciotta, told the BBC.

"Most of them are outdated and they're not as big. They're just up there and they promised to remove them and they never have. It's just another one of those promises ... and we're done. We're over it," he says.

Nevertheless, recent negotiations between the demonstrators and scientists will allow access to the working observatories by bulldozing a temporary road that would skirt the blockade.

“The resolution to this situation will likely include accelerated removal of decommissioned telescopes and Hawaiian land rights and self-determination. TMT and the astronomy community should support these efforts,” says Thayne Currie, an astrophysicist at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, who uses Mauna Kea telescopes. 

“The state leadership really needs to be decisive, both on TMT’s access and on these broader issues faced in Hawaii,” Currie stated.

The demonstrations show no signs of abating. A community has formed, with shops, a cafeteria and a lecture program set up. At times, the number of protestors have been in the thousands.

The Aquaman star says he feels the anti TMT demonstrations are working and describes his part in it as a calling to do what feels right in his soul.

"There's massive progress that's bringing our people together," he says, adding, "I think there's a lot of problems in Hawaii. There's a lot of things that have happened in our history, a lot of injustice, and so we're shining a light on it. People like myself or Dwayne Johnson, Bruno Mars, trying to spread the awareness all around the world. For my soul I need to be there. If I'm not working, I'm trying to get over there."

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SF human rights advocate fighting for his life after being shot in the Philippines

Brandon Lee is fighting for his life after being shot in the Philippines.

A San Francisco Chinese American was shot in the Philippines Aug. 6 in what friends and family believe was an attempted extrajudicial assassination attempt by gunmen aligned with the Philippine government.

Brandon Lee, 37, became interested in the Philippines while attending San Francisco State University where he was a member of the League of Filipino Students, according to KTVU. He moved to the Philippines ten yars ago to work as a paralegal and became an advocate for the Ifugaos, an indigenous people. in the mountains of in northern Luzon.

According to media reports, Lee was outside feeding his dog outside his home when the attack occurred. He was shot three times in the back and once in the face. His attackers escaped.

Lee's friends and family are worried that whoever shot him will make another attempt on his life. After being shot, he suffered a cardiac arrest and remains in critical condition, they say. His mother and brother are at his bedside.

His supporters are blaming Philippine government forces for the assassination attempt, and they want the U.S. government to do whatever it can to protect him.

"Initially, the U.S. embassy in the Philippines said they weren't going to do anything when the family contacted them directly. That's why we're pushing our congressional representatives to intervene," said Gordon Mar, a San Francisco supervisor. .

Local authorities have formed a task force and are seeking two unidentified suspects.

While in the Philippines, Lee married a Filipina with whom are raising their daughter. Relatives want protection for Lee's family.

Because of his work as a human rights advocate and as an environmentalist and worked with the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance and the Ifugao Peasant Movement, his friends say he has been harassed, surveilled and flyers were circulated describing him as "an enemy of the state."

The Philippines' political situation has changed since Lee moved to that country. In 2010, under then President Noynoy Aquino, human rights was a priority. Under President Rodrigo Duterte, who is often compared to Donald Trump. Duterte's administration has come under harsh criticism for human rights violations. Lee continued doing human rights work when the abuses and the extrajudicial killings by the military and vigilantes became more commonplace under Duterte.

Lee is the third peasant movement member to be attacked.

In 2014, William Bugatti, another paralegal officer, was killed after being tagged as a  communist rebel. Lee's predecessor, Ricardo Mayumi, was killed in March 2018.

“Even though his own life was in danger, it didn’t make a difference,” said Carlo Montemayor, a childhood friend told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lee's friends, family and supporters have organized several fundraising events and created a gofundme to help Brandon and his family with medical and other expenses and established a Friends of Brandon Lee Facebook Page for updates about Lee's condition.

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