Category: Film News

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Kauai’s Homelessness

This short film FINDING OHANA was produced by Reel Community Action. The film was shot at a homeless camp in Kapaa, Kauai.

Hawaii may be a dream destination for many non-Natives, but the homelessness crisis is a constant threat for Native Hawaiians. As the cost of living on the islands continues to rise, so does the population of those without housing. If we do not make genuine efforts to stop this crisis, Hawaiian culture may be lost forever. Hawaii is currently one of the states in the US with the highest rates of per capita homelessness, with 44.9 people without housing per 10,000 people. Unhoused Hawaiians face high rates of mental illness, addiction, and PTSD. Therefore, the life expectancy for an individual without housing in the state is 53 years, almost 30 years less than the general population. It is also crucial to note that homelessness disproportionately impacts Native Hawaiians who suffer from the housing crisis in much higher proportions than non-natives. With a constantly booming tourism industry on the Hawaiian islands, one may wonder what is causing the almost 15,000 people to be without housing. The fact that 60% of jobs on the islands pay less than $20 an hour, and 2⁄3 of jobs pay less than $15 an hour, which is why experts estimate that up to half of the Hawaiian citizens are just one to two paychecks away from homelessness.

Despite only accounting for 20% of the population, Native Hawaiians make up half of Hawaii’s homeless population, according to the 2020 Oahu Point-In-Time Count. Natives lost sovereignty over their own land in 1893 and are now facing their removal from the land through tourism and the increased cost of living. They are excluded from economic opportunities and are less able to support themselves and their family on their land. As a result, many Natives are leaving Hawaii. Their inability to sustain life on the islands is not just a threat to a few people’s livelihoods, but it is a threat to the entire culture. Hawaiian culture exists nowhere else; if we continue to allow the government to remove natives from their land, Hawaiian language, cuisine, and values will be forever lost. Adequate and affordable housing can not only save lives, but it can save entire cultures.


Written by: www.thehomemoreproject.org/blog/the-hawaiian-homelessness-crisis

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RoundUP Wine Campaign AD

RCA put together this entertaining AD campaign to bring attention to RoundUp/Glyphosate in California Wines.

Toxic pesticides like glyphosate and neonicotinoids are putting species like monarch butterflies and bees at risk of extinction – and without these critical pollinators, our food system is at risk.

How Does Glyphosate End up in Wine?
While glyphosate isn’t sprayed directly onto grapes in vineyards (it would kill the vines), it’s often used to spray the ground on either side of the grapevines.

Moms Across America reported: [3]
“This results in a 2-to 4- foot strip of Roundup sprayed the soil with grapevines in the middle. According to Dr. Don Huber at a talk given at the Acres USA farm conference in December of 2011, the vine stems are inevitably sprayed in this process and the

In California, a judge has ruled the cancer warning label on Roundup does not have to be labeled even though the state will still list the nasty herbicide as cancer causing. Monsanto has known there are serious health effects for decades and has fought to keep the public in the dark.

Wines Tested Contained Glyphosate
An anonymous supporter of advocacy group Moms Across America sent 10 wine samples to be tested for glyphosate. All of the samples tested positive for glyphosate — even organic wines, although their levels were significantly lower. [2]

The highest level detected was 18.74 parts per billion (ppb), which was found in a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from a conventional vineyard. This was more than 28 times higher than the other samples tested.

The lowest level, 0.659 ppb, was found in a 2013 Syrah, which was produced by a biodynamic and organic vineyard.

Glyphosate Now the Most-Used Agricultural Chemical Ever
newsweek.com/glyphosate-now-most-used-agricultural-chemical-ever-422419

Animated by Jared Norman

Song by Davis Ian Nicholas McElwee

Creative Director Carolyn M. Scott

Produced by Reel Community Action

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Join 350.org

Join 350.org, a powerful climate change activist organization founded by Bill McKibben.

On 10/10/10, we will celebrate climate solutions and send our politicians a clear message: “We’re getting to work—what about you?”
FIND AN EVENT NEAR YOU  http://www.350.org/map

350.org is an international campaign that’s building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis–the solutions that science and justice demand.

Our mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.

Our focus is on the number 350–as in parts per million CO2. If we can’t get below that, scientists say, the damage we’re already seeing from global warming will continue and accelerate. But 350 is more than a number–it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.

We work hard to organize in a new way–everywhere at once. In October of 2009 we coordinated 5200 simultaneous rallies and demonstrations in 181 countries, what CNN called the ‘most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.’ This October we’re organizing a ‘global work party’ all over the world. People will put up solar panels, dig community gardens–and send a strong message to our leaders: ‘If we can get to work on solutions to the climate crisis, so can you.’

Our theory of change is simple: if an international grassroots movement holds our leaders accountable to the latest climate science, we can start the global transformation we so desperately need.