The Road to Hana

“Well I probably could turn this bus to the left a little and you would all die going down the cliff,” the elderly bus driver concluded in a joking manner, with a hefty chuckle. She had been fervently speaking about several injustices committed against Native Hawaiians, occuring during the annexation of Hawaii until the present-day in 2012. I understood immediately that she was in severe emotional pain, and that perhaps she felt that her only recourse was to inform vacationing tourists of her frustration. I wanted to speak with her, but I also didn’t want to say anything that might make her consider delivering on her offer to turn the bus to the left. I was a teenager during that ride on Maui’s Hana Highway to see Mount Haleakala, and although I couldn’t alleviate her pain or change her main grievances, I could empathize with the injustices that she described.