Maui’s Woman Warrior
September 28, 2007 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY - KOA: Warrior; Brave, bold, fearless;
Largest of Hawaii’s native forest trees (Acacia koa) prized for its carved beauty
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY -
“When one learns to be a warrior, one must also learn to run.”
PATSY MINK
September 28, 2002: In Honolulu, Congressperson Patsy Takemoto Mink dies of complications arising from pneumonia, which sprang from chicken pox. She was 74.
It’s a bit of an understatement to say that Mink’s life was full of ‘firsts’. She was born in Pa’ia on December 6, 1927, and her political desires became apparent early. In high school, at what is now called Old Maui High in Hamakuapoko, near Pa’ia, Mink was elected class president in 1943, the first woman to be so honored. This was all the more remarkable because she was of Japanese descent during World War II, when Japanese Americans were often reviled and even imprisoned. She graduated class valedictorian the following year.
