Did you miss us yesterday? We’re taking a break from the mic — under the weather over here. Turns out a migraine doesn’t care how urgent the news cycle is. Who knew. Rest is not a luxury or a reward for finishing the to-do list; it’s maintenance. Burnout doesn’t make you more useful to the causes you care about, it just makes you tired and useless. So: fluids, naps, and we’ll be back next week. Take care of yourselves out there — that’s not optional, that’s strategy.
Martina and I (Savannah) walked in the Kailua-Kona parade on July 4th with State House Representative Della Au Belatti, who’s running for Lieutenant Governor. I was the coordinator for Kona Indivisible and Rep. Belatti’s team on the day of the parade. Getting to walk the route with her — on the 250th, no less — felt like exactly the right way to spend the holiday. Indivisible volunteers walked with Della in two parades that day — Kailua on Oʻahu and Kailua-Kona on the Big Island. That’s the kind of split-screen energy I want more of: showing up in person, on both islands.
Mamdani spoke on the Fourth too, and it was a reminder of what it sounds like to have a competent person in office. His address traced New York Harbor’s whole history — Washington’s retreat across the East River, waves of immigrants arriving through Ellis Island, the neighborhoods they built — to make one point: the “powerful” have always tried to define America as an “arena of supremacy” open only to a select few, while the rest of us should be “grateful for merely being allowed to visit.” He named ICE directly, describing “masked agents terrorizing our streets... eating food cooked by our undocumented neighbors before spiriting them away in unmarked vans.” And he closed by reframing dissent itself as patriotism: “who loves America more than those who have sacrificed so much to make it free?”
Somebody online pointed out that during his speech he was sitting in front of George Washington’s desk — not behind it. Everything this man does is a choice, and using the desk at all was already symbolic. But sitting in front of it, as if the camera — the audience, us — is the one behind the desk making the decisions... that’s a small staging choice that says a lot. He works for us. We’re in charge. Maybe we’re reading too much into which way the drawers were facing. Maybe not. Nothing about a moment like that happens by accident. Watch the speech here.
Tina Marie flagged this one and she was right to: on the same Fourth of July, members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front marched through the DC area — masked, in matching khakis, some carrying Confederate flags, chanting “Reclaim America.” Same day as parades and cookouts and Della waving to constituents. That contrast is the whole story right now: some of us are out there building something, and some of us are out there marching in matching outfits behind masks because they can’t say what they believe with their faces showing. Draw your own conclusions about which side has the better argument.
Kona Indivisible is co-hosting the 250th Birthday Meet & Greet the Candidates this Sunday, July 12th, 1–4pm at the Makaeo Pavilion at Old Kona Airport. Della Au Belatti will be there, along with a growing list of State House and County Council candidates and incumbents — plus live music from Larry Dupio. If you want to look primary candidates in the eye and ask your own questions before you fill out that ballot, this is the one. If you’re coming, find us. Martina: German accent, can’t miss her. Tina Marie: still blue hair. Me: I’ll be the one with the clipboard trying to look like I know what I’m doing.
We want to hear from you. We want to hear from the candidates. And we want to keep building a Kona Indivisible community that reflects the full, beautiful, diverse, principled people of this island. Details and RSVP here.
A couple of dates worth circling for Hawaiʻi’s primary: ballots go out July 21, and they have to be received — not postmarked — by August 8. Mark it now so you’re not scrambling later. Unsure why you should vote in the primary? Check out our last episode where we explain just that.
Not registered yet, or not sure? Register to vote or check your status here. It takes about two minutes and it’s the whole ballgame.
💬 Before You Go | Take our Visionaire Questionnaire.Here at Resist with Joy, we take the future very seriously. So our research department spent their entire lives developing a highly sophisticated, scientifically calibrated system for understanding someone’s vision for our world ahead. After multiple peer reviews, revisions, and at least one whiteboard diagram that made us feel incredibly intelligent, we’ve discovered the perfect formula: a simple 5-question survey. We want to hear what concerns you, what gives you hope, and what joy looks like for you right now. Take the Visionaire Questionnaire here.
Resist with Joy is a podcast about civic education, grassroots organizing, and joyful resistance. Real voices, including engaged citizens, experts, and politicians, to help build the wall against authoritarianism, one joyful action at a time.
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Aloha. 🤙
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