Thoughts on the Lindani Myeni case

Lindani Myeni, a Zulu male from South Africa, moved to Hawaii earlier this year.  His wife, Lindsay grew up in Hawaii, but she met him in South Africa when she was visiting as part of a church mission. They had 2 sons.

It was only a few months after moving to Hawaii when Lindani Myeni was shot & killed by Honolulu police. Initial reports claimed that the police were responding to a 911 call about a burglary and that Myeni attacked and injured 3 officers, and he didn't feel the effects of the taser.

People who knew Lindani Myeni had a different portrayal of him. He was seen as a gentle giant who had a great sense of humor.  He had no criminal record. There are no reported incidents before this one. 

Being that Myeni is African, there are assumptions that the police shooting is racially motivated. The identity of the officers still hasn't been made public. 

It was in the same month when Honolulu police shot & killed a 16-year old Iremamber Sykap after a car chase. Sykap was Micronesian (more specifically, Chuukese), and this incident was seen as a sign of racism against Micronesians. 

(note: Sykap and the other suspect involved in the case, Kealii Fernandez, were my former students when I used to be a substitute teacher. I blogged about it at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/04/former-students-and-tragedy-on-kalakaua.html )

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Myeni's wife mentioned that the last time she talked with him, he said he was going to take a short drive to a nearby interfaith temple.

It was night-time in a suburb-like community.

The building he went to look like the temple, was near the temple, but it was actually an Airbnb vacation rental.

Myeni didn't know that, he thought he was at the temple, which was open to the public.

However, the couple (Dexter & Sabine Wang) staying at the Airbnb vacation rental just saw him walk into the building they were staying in without permission. They didn't know who he was or what his real intentions were.

The security camera showed Myeni walking up to the building, and was told that this wasn't the temple, left and apologized.

The couple was visiting from New Jersey. They were Chinese immigrants for whom English was a new language. They didn't know there was an interfaith temple nearby.  They didn't know who Myeni was.  

Within that couple, Dexter was calm, but Sabine wasn't. She was very afraid and called 911.  The panic in her voice was very obvious in the 911 call. She said there was a "break-in" (giving an impression somebody violently intruded the building), though to be fair, it's hard to come up with the right words under stress when speaking in a language you're still learning. 

If she was calmer, she could've explained a stranger walked in & left, but that she's still worried because she doesn't know his true intentions.

The police arrived and asked the woman "where he went?" and she pointed him out in a panicked voice.

The police then yelled to Myeni "GET ON THE GROUND".

Myeni walked up to the officer, asked "who are you" and punched the officer. Another officer, who just arrived when the fight started rushed in, yelled "TASER", tased Myeni, who didn't even fall, he lunged at him instead.

Shots were fired. After that, one of the cops yelled: "POLICE" (yeah, kinda late for that).

There are many ways to analyze all this. 

It was night-time, a time of limited visibility. The 1st officer was wearing a dark uniform and shined a blinding light at Myeni. He didn't announce that he was a police officer. He just yelled "GET ON THE GROUND"

It is possible that Myeni thought he was getting robbed by street criminals. That could be why he chose to attack in what he thought was self-defense. Lord knows what could happen to you if just lie on the ground in a robbery. 

It is possible that the police officer could've de-escalated the situation by calmly approaching Myeni by saying "sir, this is the police, we need to talk with you". 

Whether that might've worked, we will never know. But at least it could've given Myeni a chance to respond in a calm manner. Myeni might've explained the situation, that he was lost and went to the wrong building. 

But given the reality that Myeni attacked the officers, I don't think the officers will get convicted in this case.

Some will claim it's a racial thing. But I think that if someone who looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger lunged at the cops, I don't think the cops would be like "he's a white guy, we'll just let him beat the crap out of us". 

I'm not sure if pepper spray is an option. You need some distance but not too much distance. But if used effectively, it could've temporarily stopped Myeni without killing him. He might still file a lawsuit over being sprayed, but even that is preferable over his family filing a suit for shooting & killing. 

If Myeni had decided to fight the issue in court instead of on the streets, he would probably be alive today. Traumatized, but alive! 

To those that knew Lindani Myeni, he was a nice, loving person.

However, the couple at the Airbnb rental wouldn't know that. They just saw a stranger walking in without permission. 

The police wouldn't know that, since they heard a report of burglary and thought someone was in danger. And they sure wouldn't know that when Myeni lunged at them. 

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And the sad thing about is that Myeni children will live with the trauma that their father was killed.  

And that all this started because someone was lost and went to the wrong building by accident due to the limited visibility of night. 

And so much bad things happened due to panic. Fear of a stranger. A cop whose first instinct is to yell orders instead of using a calm approach.  

There are no easy answers to any of this. I don't even know if there are right answers.

Admittedly, all of this is based on limited information.

learn more at 

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/06/15/hawaii-news/security-camera-footage-shows-exchange-before-honolulu-police-shooting-of-lindani-myeni/

Augie T, blackface, and local ethnic humor

 Augie Tulba (aka Augie T) is a Hawaii-based comedian who was recently elected to the Honolulu City Council.

In recent years, he has toned down his act, noting that some of his past comedy has been offensive. 

After all, most of us have matured over the years.

However, this past week, his social media manager posted an old clip of Augie T's comedy skit in which he was in blackface and playing a judge in a drag queen contest. 

The comedy skit was seen as racially offensive and homophobic. 

Augie T, who is of Filipino & Puerto Rican ancestries, has an openly gay son whom he remains close to.  

Until recently, I don't think most people in Hawaii knew that painting oneself black is considered offensive to many African-Americans. Yes, we were taught in school about the civil rights movement. Most of us know that the N-word is offensive (though many wannabe gangstas of non-African-ancestries say it because they want to be 2pac or 50 Cent)! But most of us weren't taught about "blackface" and its history & controversy. The issue, while commonly discussed in activist & academic spaces, wasn't really talked about in the US mainstream media until only a few years ago.

When local media outlets in Hawaii report on these kinds of controversy, not only do we have people complaining about "political correctness", some local people claim that is "only mainland people" who complain about local ethnic humor, but they forget some important facts.

All the comedians they listed (Augie T, Frank DeLima, Andy Bumatai, Mel Cabang, the 98.5 Wake Up Crew, etc) ARE ALL OLDER THAN ME! And i'm 40 years old! I'm middle-aged!

I don't know a single popular local comedian that is younger than me that specializes in ethnic humor!

What does that tell you? It tells me it is not about "local vs outsider", it's more of a generation thing! The Wake-Up Crew style of humor is no longer popular in Hawaii like it used to be!

The younger generation don't even get involved with it! Times have changed! Hawaii has moved on!

This is not to claim "racism is over in Hawaii". When I was working at a public middle school, I reported to school admin about 2 staff members of Asian ancestries who made negative comments about Micronesians. And there are much more of those deplorable comments on social media.

But the fact remains that ethnic humor is no longer as popular in Hawaii as it was a few decades ago.

I can name you prominent local musicians who are younger than me (ie Bruno Mars, Raiatea Helm, Josh Tatofi). I can name you local athletes who made it to the pros who are younger than me (ie Marcus Mariota, Tua Tagovailoa). I can even name you local politicians who are younger than me (ie Jeanné Kapela, Adrian Tam).

But I can't even name one local comedian who specializes in ethnic humor that is younger than me.

So don't give me this crap about "it's only the people from the mainland who complain about local ethnic humor".

The younger local people may not engage in battle with those trolls, they're just interested in that type of humor, and the fact is that not one has risen up to take the place of older local comedians who specialize in ethnic humor. That shows you the interest is just not there anymore.

The old defenders of local ethnic humor claim that their generation was less sensitive and more thick-skinned. But what they don't realize is that many of their generation PRETENDED they weren't offended because they didn't want to get the abuse of "ha ha you can't take a joke! The younger generation is not afraid to openly cringe at such jokes! Plus I know many older folks who once openly laughed at such jokes but realize how wrong it was. That's NOT "becoming a snowflake", that's becoming mature!

It is the trolls who claim that "it's only the people from the mainland who complain about local ethnic humor" that are truly out of touch with modern Hawaii.