Dear Thalia Hi bobolu baby girl you're my whole world I know you're three years old and people might think you don't understand that but I know when I look in your eyes when I look in your eyes and I tell you that and your face lights up in this big smile I know you understand and that's, that's been our special moments just ours the moments that nobody else saw moments said nobody else felt what I felt the strength you gave me with that beautiful smile I love you so much Wow Hi my name is Tracy Martin I'm here with my wife Tabatha and my daughter Thalia who makes three years old today and we're homeless It made me grow into a person that knows how it feels to hit rock bottom knows how it feels to be considered dirt trash I mean I admit when I wasn't homeless I would drive by something like this and make my snide remarks saying look at these people they're lazy I said a hard life is working nine to five every day you know one day off a week you know a vacation a one week vacation and maybe every three years I tell you it didn't take me long to learn a matter of hours since being homeless a matter of hours I learned how hard these people have it you know Onaona i ka hala me ka lehua He hale lehua nö ia na ka noe ‘O ka‘u no ia e ano‘i nei, E li‘a nei ho‘i o ka hiki mai A hiki mai nö ‘oe, Hiki pü me ke aloha Aloha ë, aloha ë, aloha ë Hi my name is Tracy Martin I'm from Waipahu I worked since the age of 16. my first job was Mcdonald's minimum wage back then was three dollars and 65 cents it took us four months to get welfare when we had it like we qualified next month came we didn't get nothing we go over to the welfare office they tell us sorry we're changing system you're not the only ones but next month you should get it it happened four months and there's no back benefits or anything I can do this I mean it's possible to get off the streets it's just the government makes it hard every time you move ten steps forward they come and do a sweep moves you five steps back it's hard to explain to her why the policeman and the city workers took her toys her clothes mommy and daddy's things and it's like once that tape hit you know at your tent that's it the cops are rolling down saying you gotta leave don't step back in your tent or you get arrested I mean one time this was our third sweep we experienced she had to go to a first to work program that morning was her first appointment they were coming in I told the police officer I said look this is a situation I don't have time to break down I cannot afford to lose my stuff my daughter has a temperature of 100 I need to get her to the hospital my wife needs to go to her appointment he said you know what go take care of your family and then they came back and took all our stuff we came back to nothing and it was raining that night she was still sick we decided to go to Ala Moana Beach Park we went to Ala Moana Beach Park to go under a pavilion and a cop gave me a ticket for being in a park when it's closed since being out here we've been out here for a year now we went from being an eyesore to a liability now to criminals what's next they categorize us as dirty drug users sex offenders mental people if they could just look hard enough they'd see a lot of children a lot of families and the children are the ones who don't deserve any of this category because we don't want to go in shelters that's what a lot of people say that we choose to be homeless no I never chose to be homeless I don't want to be homeless but I also don't want to live where I don't want to live I mean if my tent can accommodate me and my family better than a shelter then that's what it's going to be so I'm here to answer your question of why we don't go to the shelters i'm going to do it in a in a way where I can relate to the younger generation and entertain the older so you all know the show MTV Cribs we're going to do it in that style but this one is HIP Cribs Homeless in Paradise don't cha know about London town don't cha know don't cha know don't cha know don't cha know yo don't cha know London town don't cha know don't cha know eh don't cha know don't cha know boom we're in Kaka'ako where they call tent city and this is it let me show you around this is where me and my family live right there I guess you can call it a three-room three-bedroom unit one thing that helps us out a lot here is a generator so if you have a generator that's your source of electricity right there a lot of us don't have money so when times get hard you need electricity you can always count on on the city there you go don't get shocked folks because trust me Mayor Kirk Caldwell had his way he charged for breathing on the sidewalk this hasn't been used in a long time anyway yeah i'm in front of what you can call my front yard it's my front door this is my workstation I got to keep myself busy trying to make a living so I fix stuff rebuild stuff we do a lot of things by solar one of these and a car battery hook you up for for a long time all your electricity needs my tools let me show you my kitchen have you ever felt are you listening this is my kitchen dam the cooking here we want to have a cookout we got a grill here water water is our necessity we always got a lot of water speaking of that let me show you my sink you always need running water and that's what we have right here wash our dishes wash our hands all our seasonings and stuff security my slingshot and ammo used batteries dead batteries recycle always got to recycle sometimes this works even better in MTV they show you the refrigerator what's in the refrigerator let's check out ours 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 you'll never have the sacred stone Otis you crazy mother-- my refrigerator 10 20 pound bag of ice steak and ice cream I'm sure we got some drinks down there on the bottom i'm gonna take it a step further here's my pantry can good every spam they ever made chili potatoes my wife's favorite saimin this is some nasty stuff black noodles you like eating black noodles try this I like to coat meat with this give um a little chili pepper water just like in MTV they show you the the room this is our bedroom it's where the magic happens I know about the magic whoo ain't got the magic of television with the music and stuff ta-da right here this is it yea alright that's my daughter's room thats the wall that's my wife's bed my wife's and I's bed let me show you our bathroom oh yes we have a bathroom because there's a law no urinating or defecating anywhere in public or in the bushes we have a little bathroom got our toilet daughter's toilet our bags that we use tie it up throw it in the trash we got a little shower here out here we fight fight the elements you know my wife would come out at night you know you women like the crazy hours she'd be sitting here she'd be getting bit she'd be getting bit by a lot of mosquitoes so we had this and she'd be swatting away and stuff I got tired of grumbling and I stepped it up a notch and got one of these these things are crazy turn it on you can just stand here and watch them land and fry or you can play tennis with them and fry them up people say they're scared of us to tell you the truth we're scared of you you know you guys can come in here anytime especially City and County you guys come in anytime you take it whatever you want let me show you what City and County provides for us they give us a little storage area too let me show you I need my key watch for the cops voila storage area this is a storage bin especially when they want to do sweeps hey they tell us the hide stuff good we're just listening okay we're getting blessed by the Kaka'ako rain as this all unfolds but I know we said we're going to keep it like MTV so I'm going to show you the rides this right here is the workhorse the trailer I can drive put the family in the back go to the beach which is only right there so it's no problem this is how I carry the load we came out here with just three backpacks and a little tent we got all this because I got that and that my wife's bike one of the best gifts you can get out here while being homeless is a bike if you don't have a car these babies there it is garage sale specials actually I found these found these sand them down painted them got this put it together for my daughter there's no motor in it so you got to push my daughter you know she run you I try to keep this up high so she can't get it she rides this so she pedals and I make her follow me back to that question in hand why don't we go into shelters as you can see all these tents over here I say a good 90 percent have been to shelters 90 percent just don't want to go because of what they heard what they've experienced before I got the comfort of home right here being homeless it's hard every little thing you have for a man to to gain that manhood back that dignity back I built this for my family City and County comes takes it all down rips it throws it away I build it again but I'm building my dignity back you know I'm getting my dignity back you know despite being homeless we don't have much and what she has she cherishes she loses a lot all these kids they lose a lot every sweep I mean Christmas time me and a lot of the men out here actually cried watching the truck drive by with all the kids toys still wrapped still wrapped what you mean they came like before Christmas they came two days before Christmas they took Christmas trees you know wasn't much people had little ones you know little potted plants that they decorated and they took it but that actually made us a community that day because we all got together on Christmas and still enjoyed it and still had the kids have fun some of us just made mistakes my only mistake was living paycheck to paycheck I was also mad I was mad at what was going on the way the politicians were using the homeless instead of helping them I mean were money to them you guys might think it's nothing but when it rains we're in a tent when it rains centipedes I mean big centi... they come they're looking for shelter now kids get stung by centipedes a lot around here food poisoning we had food poisoning and you know when you have food poisoning you have diarrhea there's no toilet close by that was a horrible experience and when everybody in your family has it it's crazy we basically had to just sit down on buckets sometimes it's raining  and your your kid doesn't want to take a shower because it's cold and all we have is cold water the chairs in fact the shelters are the ones that have employees that clean the showers and the bathrooms here at the beach every night I clean the showers I try to clean the bathrooms also and this is out of my own pocket but I I'll sweep down I'll scrub I'll sanitize because people get sick you know they're not doing a good enough job I mean I don't know how to say this I've tried talking to them for them to manage their employees better it's still not happening I shoot Dad I'm freezing Mōkoi ʻo Tūtū me kāna moʻopuna lā A paʻa maila he iʻa ʻoniʻoniʻo lā Mea mai ka moʻo, “He aha ia iʻa lā?” Kāhāhā ʻo Tūtū a eia kāna pane lā ʻeā ʻO Punaʻaikoaʻe ē, ke kāʻeʻaʻeʻa lā Kīkahakaha mai nā ʻale o Wailua lā Hōʻea mai ka moʻo ʻo Kalamainuʻu lā A lilo Punaʻaikoa‘e i ka lelo ʻeʻepa lā ʻeā Unoho a nanakea ma Makaleha lā ʻUpu aʻe ka ʻiʻini no ka heʻenalu lā A na ia moʻo i kenākenā maila “Mai walawalaʻau i pipa alanui lā ʻeā” Na Hīnale me Akilolo i hōʻike maila Nā hana ʻāpiki a kāna wahine lā anyways but today's this morning's incident is it with the sheriffs and the security guard keeps calling the cops but the security guard the security guard he doesn't tell us himself he keeps calling the police or the sheriffs in it they put them well apparently we keep blocking the walkway or we're passing property line you know the walkway thing is understandable right because that's the security guard right he's part of UH's faculty and the property line and he's saying it's Kamehameha's schools no this is HCDA owned okay we're not animals you can't just shoo us away you can't just you know tell us go beat it you know this is my birthplace it's not my fault my parents had me on this island what gives you the right to kick me off of my my origins you know the Mayor just needs to wake up guns are firing bombs are dropping people every where running trying to hide feels like a earthquake burning in my soul dam it's hard yea see the world about to explode people are angry people are fighting see they are upset at the way things are yeah there was actually a few law enforcement officers just a handful that just started working and it was like their first week that they've ever attended and they they just cried after that day we never saw them again they don't want to you know be a part of that right they actually felt what we were feeling you know but there were some of them that actually taunted my husband to where you know words were being said and they they threatened my husband yeah you keep it up you touch any of that stuff I'm arresting you they want you to talk to them yeah they want you to and it's like wow you know isn't that illegal you know why are you doing this what's a man to do and one voice one low we better wake up yeah this world have to wake up yeah wake up you see well our time is now come on homeless are people I'm human you're human you guys bleed red too right I understand businesses need to be you know running during certain hours of the day in order to keep their you know money flowing I don't think you guys can go to work every day getting ridiculed for being homeless I work I have a job but I still get looked down at you guys remember your first day at work I'm asking this question because I'm pretty sure your first day of work you felt you guys could make a difference you had this passion desire to help people I'd like to ask a favor of you guys you guys did it for the whales I'd like to ask you guys to do with an environmental impact study citizen or neighborhood impact study we live in a state that's too expensive cost of living here is outrageous why your pocket full of money when we ain't got no jobs why you laugh and think it's funny that I'm working hard well you see gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do survive gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do survive gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do survive gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do yea gotta do what I gotta do survive wake up world wake up yea wake up world wake up yea wake up yea wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up point it Daddy point it to Daddy Daddy tell Daddy Daddy what you doing Daddy what are you doing what are you doing Daddy Daddy what are you doing what are you doing Daddy what are you doing ready a a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y and z now I know my ABC's something something something sing with me this is too much man this is time we either do it or else forget it kamehame... it happened for a reason and it gives the future more of a reason to look back on things like that you know whether it's for the better or for the worst being in a political seat influences you and your life so much that you're practically in seat to destroy people's lives I want to see the Mayor order a police officer to arrest tourists that are sitting down on the sidewalks my daughter my daughter is tough my daughter is a trooper but she understands for a little girl she understands a lot you know what the sad part is she knows what a sweep is she gets all her stuff ready and packed and she has it on her back by the time we're done ready to go telling you mommy daddy I ready you know I mean you would say oh how cute you know but it's so heartbreaking because every day that goes by we need to worry about who might take her stuff who might take her childhood this time nobody cares a lot of these people just gave up they don't care if they take their stuff they just wait and get new stuff it's not that easy not when you have a family but I don't want that jungle man because I already made Waikīkī I build a lot of highrises in Waikīkī and that's all when I got hurt the people get rich they pay me off for three months knock off my insurance that was it I had a heart attack at that time I was working crazy hours working from two in the afternoon to three in the morning and when I got out of the hospital the doctor said you cannot go back to that kind of hours this is my life I feel the breeze the air and my scenery is all here can see way up to the mountain down to the next corner you know it is especially when it's light up on Christmas Day and New Year's when the fireworks start going it's beautiful from here to see up there all in the mountains if the only would come down and reason up talk to us or something and they can see it for themselves all these professionals all these politicians will say I know the solution but it never works they get together with the politicians and they say yeah we'll do this we do this nobody comes down here to talk to these people and that's the bridge that needs to be built god gave me this body strong healthy and I believe it I used it in World War II and I think I can use it again yeah you just tell me there is another war I volunteer I wasn't drafted yea to save these islands I go again I volunteer they don't have to draft me I lost three brothers my mother in Pearl Harbor December 7th it melts in me I'm a man I don't believe all these monkeys we fought for these islands we won it and we came back and I want it I want some share of it don't give me nothing don't kick me out I don't like that blow my mind it does it hurts it hurts a man after what he went through and came back and get wounded plates in the head bayonet poke in the gut slice on my arm cut your chest up like this you know put the bayonet through here come out trough the back I don't believe that stuff I'm here to save this island and I did I came back and now I going to live here you gotta move back I move fine I give them the beach but I tell them make sure you rake it every morning like me this shore line is all raked every morning I mean you see me working I working because I have to it's not cause I want to I mean I like to lay around like the rest of these guys but people got to see me cleaning you know just caring about our surroundings eventually it'll rub off they not thinking of us nothing so I might as well have my primo or my boat and my net that's it my trap I do my own living I don't have to spend money I only spend money on rice and poi juice milk that's it corn beef pork chops cost me big money but that's alright once a week or once a month we eat steak all depends so I asked him about his police force what about them he said the police are not going to come in to dish out the eviction notices it's going to be done by the State now I said the only time the police force will respond if there is any kind of violence coming in from either us or the State Officials everybody just needs to start realizing that it's not just the homeless soon everybody all the locals all the residents gonna be pushed out too you know push down on the streets it's gonna be for the rich and famous soon where things are going but that's another story what's her name again?

her name is Thalia Martin thank you very much you're welcome well I can not go no place because I only receiving 257 dollars a month from the VA I cannot afford to pay that kind of rent out there I was living out there for 18 years and I went pay my rent faithfully and truthfully and finally got kicked out from over there we were living in Pearl City and our landlord at the time god bless him I mean he did as much as he could for us but it it came to the point where he said look I'm sorry I cannot you know and I mean the welfare these people are cold well I was thinking if they could give us time because we don't have wheels we don't have a car or anything to haul our stuff out if friends come we tell them take our stuff for us or my son can come take our stuff but right now we can not haul our stuff out because they're here and we can not do nothing the only thing will come well I guess the only way to go it's in the pine box man because I'm about ready to do it right here right in the gut why this we fought for this place World War II and we came back with our lives I was wounded and we expect to live free but we not going to be like this this is outrageous this is too much what they trying to do to us is that because we Hawaiian I get part Chinese too what is this I pay my tax I vote now I get kicked out like this this is too much man this is time either we do it or else forget it forget about the Hawaiians what do you guys this guy's trying to do what with us we Hawaiian people natives this is our life look my house how clean everyday I throw line and I rake um clean um clean the shoreline now what you think I never clean the shoreline what these guys doing to us we Hawaiians poor Hawaiians unrecognizing by the State the way we look at it today we in court they throw us out this is too much brah cannot go no more I can't see it it hurts over here this way it hurts right here World War II I was young I win this damn place and I get this today this is to much the hell with it man they're going to take me out in a pine box out of here E Hawai`i e ku`u one hânau e Ku`u home kulaîwi nei 'Oli nô au i nâ pono lani ou E Hawai`i, aloha ê E hau`oli nâ `ôpio o Hawai`i nei `Oli ê!

`Oli ê Mai nâ aheahe makani e pâ mai nei Mau ke aloha, no Hawai`i E hau`oli nâ `ôpio o Hawai`i nei `Oli ê!

`Oli ê Mai nâ aheahe makani e pâ mai nei Mau ke aloha, no Hawai`i Hawai’i ponoʻī Nānā i kou mōʻī Ka lani aliʻi, Ke aliʻi Makua lani ē, Kamehameha ē, Na kaua e pale, Me ka ihe Makua lani ē, Kamehameha ē, Na kaua e pale, Me ka ihe imu aloha bra you guys trip out here We'll let you go ahead and go through some stuff but for right now you need to step out okay it's all roped off this is a government operation we allow you to go in and take some stuff as soon as we get to you okay we're gonna start over there we'll work our way up okay just leave everything here and we'll let take some stuff after they don't understand that there's not enough shelters on the freaking island there's not there's too many homeless too little shelters I telling you hey Mayor check this out get your hands dirty with your boys man come down here and throw all the kid's stuff the school books the diapers all their #@&% get down here and get your hands dirty too you know you guys stealing homes yea and they think this going reduce homelessness and reduce crime I don't think so they told us that we had to wait you know and then don't let us take the rest of our stuff no we got to pay for the rest first that's how they make their money ah excuse me you're ripping my tent oh how nice there goes all my baby's stuff a bit of good news we're getting off the street you know it took a year and five months but we're getting off the street we move into our new apartment on the fifth I admit myself even looking at my place it does I mean my eyes not sore or anything but you know it does it touches me here you know it doesn't hurt my eye you know hurts my heart get to know the people and you get to see inside them and inside their home that they've created despite being homeless hey stop by talk to us we're humans you know just like you let's face it a lot of us are just a paycheck away or a natural disaster away from being homeless who's going to be here to help you know take it from somebody who's here now there's angels but not enough this homeless issue it'll take not I was going to say it would take a community but it's going to be more than that it it'll take the whole state the whole state I mean everybody from the homeless to the tax paying citizens in society to band together you know the hell with these politicians Rex yo check it out It's time to start anew between the red and blue lines that you seeing brown skin gleaming from the rays of sun that be beaming on the navels of my people since have we ever been equal and when you look for the past for a sequel my children's identity lost you screaming #@$% the Holocaust ain't got room to talk when the children outlined with chalk how you gonna act now you so stand proud in a big fat mansion just loving oppression well eh yo environmental pollution natural solution what's epidemic yo check the resource only a fool won't except the change of course cause the first invaders planned invasion stuff us in a boat was the means of transportation surface the depths to plan recreation is there a policy to democracy are we all capable of hypocrisy strategize to make generation check struggle with cause and effect till we come to some exact proportion in life strive to fight towards some light I was also mad I was mad at what was going on the way the politicians we're using the homeless instead of helping them I mean we're money to them well eh yo the methods that you teach us hey yo that's what you do to me conflicts that inflicts us says why that's what you do to me the methods that you teach us oh no that's what you do to me the conflicts that inflicts us says why that's what you to do me it's time we start anew between the red and blue lines that you seeing brown skin gleaming from the rays of sun that be beaming on the navels of my people since have we ever been equal and when you looking for the past for a sequel my children's identity lost saying #@$% the Holocaust ain't got room to talk when the children outlined with chalk how you gonna act now you so stand proud in a big fat mansion just loving oppression yo well environmental pollution natural solution what's epidemic yo check the resource only a fool won't except the change of course the first invaders and planned invasion stuff us in a boat was the means of transportation surface the depths to plan recreation surface the depths to plan education is there a policy to democracy are we all capable of hypocrisy strategize to make your generation check struggle with cause and effects so that we come to some exact proportion in life strive to fight towards some light yo the methods that you teach us oh yo that's what you do to me conflicts that inflicts us says why that's what you do to me the methods that you teach us oh no that's what you do to me the conflicts that inflicts us says why that's what you do to me a couple reasons why I can't take this #@$% I split your lip and bruise your hips put you on a conscious tip lyrical explosion from the top of my dome my head like I said once you get out of my bed new ways to get paid get made get weighed get laid you got the slave trade still existent still spinning past limits whole new critics hypocritical cries critical sighs don't despise the teachers King Salassie hold your heads up high jah rastafari the methods that you teach us hey yo that's what you do to me the conflicts that inflicts us says why that's what you do to me the methods that you teach us oh no that's what you do to me conflicts that inflicts us says why that's what you do to me mother mother mother mother #@$% say what mother mother mother mother mother #@$% say what mother #@$% say what you're better than you'll ever be mother #@$% say what is that all I thought so now then