Nonprofit keeps Pacific Islander culture strong

This was the first San Francisco Aloha Festival, an annual event celebrating Pacific Islander culture in the Bay Area. It was also the birth of PICA, which formed to organize the Hokule’a festivities.

Three decades later, the nonprofit is still going strong. After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, it will be holding a smaller version of the festival, called the Bay Area Aloha Concert, at the San Mateo County Event Center on Sunday.

California has a large Pacific Islander community, with more Pacific Islanders living here than in any other U.S. state other than Hawai’i. According to the Regional Pacific Islander Taskforce, one fifth of the Pacific Islander population in California lives in the Bay Area.

Since its inception, the Aloha Festival has provided a gathering place for local Pacific Islanders. But it is not the only way that PICA connects with its community.

PICA’s goal is to be a resource for Pacific Islanders in Northern California, Vice President Manley Bush said. A crucial way of doing this is by offering scholarships and grants.

“[Scholarships are] very rare for a nonprofit,” PICA President Mary Leong said.

Scholarships are provided for all four years of the recipient’s college career, as long as they stay in school. One of the goals of this year’s Aloha Concert is to make sure people know that the organization is still providing scholarships, Leong’s co-chair, Donna Ong-Kimura said.

Growing up in San Francisco, Leong had never experienced Pacific Islander culture until she joined an outrigger canoeing club. From there, she started taking hula lessons and began dancing with Halau Ka Liko Pua O Kalaniakea in 1996. Through hula, she learned not just about dance, but about Hawaiian culture. Today she is a teacher at the halau and president of PICA, and describes her community as being like a family.

“I’m very proud to be the president,” she said. “It’s challenging, don’t get me wrong … but I have the most amazing board of directors.”

As a founding member of PICA, Leong is passionate about the work that she does in sharing Pacific Islander culture.

“My passion is just really to share this amazing culture, because I’m not Hawaiian, I don’t claim to be, but I do live aloha,” she said.

Ong-Kimura also became involved with PICA through hula. In fact, Leong was her hula teacher. As an active member of San Francisco’s Japantown, Ong-Kimura started taking hula classes through the local Japan Center and was soon helping Leong with PICA operations. She began working on the Aloha Festival in 2015, and now coordinates with vendors for the Aloha Festival.

“I found out how much I love the culture,” said Ong-Kimura, who often visits her husband’s family in Hawai’i.

In addition to scholarships, grants and the Aloha Festival, PICA is associated with the Northern California Canoe Association. It has participated in canoe restorations and done several other community-based projects over the years.

To Bush, one of the most meaningful projects PICA has taken part in was the One Voice Peace Pole in the wake of 9/11. It was done in partnership with the local Ohlone tribe, who have participated in previous Aloha Festivals.

“They call us ‘brothers from the ocean,’” Bush said. “They’re the first people.”

With artistic leadership from a carver from New Zealand, PICA coordinated the effort to carve a cedar log with images of endangered species and DNA. It was carved by a group of at-risk students through the One Voice Arts and Leadership Program, and consecrated in a local ceremony. It bears the handprints of local officials and firefighters, reported the Monterey County Weekly in 2002.

The log was one of 11 salvaged from a deadly explosion at Port Chicago in 1944. The pole now resides at the Bronx Zoo in New York.

“It was like handing over something from us, [and] sending our blessings over there,” Bush said.

The peace pole’s dedication in September 2002 was witnessed by New York officials and firefighters who had served during 9/11.

“To this very day, this was the highlight,” Bush said, calling the peace pole one of PICA’s “greatest accomplishments.”

Bush is one of the original founders of the Aloha Festival. In addition to his work with PICA, he is a member of Ho’omana, a Hawaiian music band based in Monterey.

Moving forward, PICA hopes to continue to be a resource for their community.

“I’m so grateful because of what PICA represents,” Leong said.

PICA’s website has several pages of resources for Northern Californians. The site lists contact information for local hula halaus, restaurants and businesses. It also has information about Pacific Islander periodicals, radio and TV in the area, and educational resources like links to cultural information, global news sources and information on different regions and islands in the Pacific.

“You can spread the aloha spirit, be an ambassador of goodwill,” Bush said about his work. “ I feel like what we do helps generate a better understanding of cultural backgrounds.”

The Hokule’a has long since sailed away from the San Francisco Bay. However, its legacy continues in the work of Leong, Bush, Ong-Kimura and a community’s dedication to preserving and promoting Pacific Islander cultures.

For more information, visit pica-org.org. For general information, email info@pica-org.org. For scholarship information, email scholarships@pica-org.org.