Our daughter was born on November 9, 2012 at home (pictured above).  She was born at home into the loving and safe environment of family (me and my husband), our midwife who is also a naturopathic doctor, and the midwife’s awesome assistant and doula.  Choosing to have a home birth was one of the best decisions of my life, and we look forward to welcoming baby #2 into the world with a home birth too!

I LOVE telling our birth story to those who are interested, but most people think I’m crazy.  At the core, I wanted to highlight the awesome power that wahine before us, and that will come after, possess–which I refer to for the purposes of this blog post as, “women powahhh!”  While I came to believe and learn about woman powahhh through our daughter’s birth, I have often tapped back into this same core of mana for everything in life–getting through law school, continuing to grow and learn to become a mother and wife, and the list is growing!

The woman has the powah!  Coming from the perspective that the woman possesses the strength, wisdom, and know-how to birth a baby, this manaʻo resonates and is consistent with not only Hawaiian manaʻo and mythology (especially with regards to birthing), but also other knowledge about birthing shared by midwives with generations of experience in assisting with births…even before hospitals existed!

No matter if one decides to give birth in the hospital, at home, in the back of a valley, or Kahoʻolawe, praising and supporting our wahine as one who harnesses this special power is truly important.

I am so thankful to be supported, and surrounded myself, by other mana wāhine who remind me that women have the powahhh!  Let’s continue to support our wahine (hapai), especially in such a magical and precious time in bringing the next generation (babies or other forms of birthing knowledge) into this world.

(Click here for source of photo.)

Patsy Mink.  You’ve at least heard her name, and if you ask around, at least one of your family members likely worked with her, or has a personal experience to which the late Congresswoman Mink’s legacy is directly the reason for why we are afforded the opportunities we have today.  Congresswoman Mink’s legacy continues to be recognized today as President Obama posthumously awarded Congresswoman Mink with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Born on Maui, Congresswoman Mink was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1965, where she served a total of 12 terms, representing Hawai‘i’s first and second congressional districts.  Congresswoman Mink championed civil rights, peace, and integrity in the democratic process until she passed away in 2002.

The Patsy T. Mink Legislative Fellowship.  Shortly after her sudden passing, a group of students at the William S. Richardson School of Law established the Patsy T. Mink Legislative Fellowship to honor the values and integrity of Congresswoman Mink’s life work.  Each year, the Fellowship selects one Richardson law student, to work with one of Hawai‘i’s Congressional offices in Washington D.C. for the summer.

My Fellowship Experience and the Continued Impact.  I feel so fortunate to have been chosen as the 2012 Fellow.  As a Fellow, I fulfilled my appointment in the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s office in Washington, D.C.  My experience as a Fellow was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Senator Daniel K. Inouye with my mom, me, and baby Kawena in my ʻōpū.

I was hapai with Kawena at the time, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act came down, and Fast and Furious was beginning to unfold.  I attended timely workshops, meetings, hearings, and engaged in many activities only available on Capitol Hill.  Additionally, there were three major projects that I worked on over the summer while receiving outstanding mentorship by a Richardson alum.

Outside the U.S. Supreme Court on the day at the decision on the Affordable Care Act was announced.

Often times, I reflect on my Fellowship experience and continue to be amazed as to the impact of not only how Congresswoman Mink’s legacy lives on, but also continuing to afforded opportunities stemming back to  my experiences as a Fellow.  To name a few examples, I was offered and accepted a position to work with Hawaiʻi State House Representative Della Au Belatti for the legislative session following my Fellowship.  Fulfilling my Fellowship in Washington, D.C., and then being able to continue work at the state level was really awesome!  One of the three projects that I worked on while fulfilling my Fellowship developed into my Second-Year Seminar paper (a law school requirement completed during the second-year of law school), and involved the medical-legal partnership model.  Following law school, I was then offered a position with the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawaiʻi.

We Need Your Support!  My Fellowship experience, and the significance of Patsy Mink’s legacy resonates not only with all other Mink Fellows, but also state and nation-wide.  The Fellowship is funded entirely through tax-deductible donations, which are used to help Fellows with living and transportation expenses as well as to help build an endowment for future fellows.  Please support the Mink Fellowship!  To donate online to the UH Foundation Patsy T. Mink Legislative Fellowship Fund, click here.