Newsmaker
Monday, June 16, 1997
Name: Lynette Cruz
Age: 53
Education: Finishing Ph.D. in cultural anthropology
Occupation: Ahupua'a Action Alliance coordinator
Hobbies: Ocean-dipping, growing taro
Lynette Cruz became an activist in 1990 when her sister opened her eyes to the struggles of the homeless. At the time, her sister was living homeless at Sand Island. An organized activist
A mother of five and grandmother of five, Cruz seems to thrive on the full-time work fighting for fishing rights, and for access to land for religious practices and medicinal-herb gathering.
"It's energy-making to work in the struggle," she said. "We're activists, we work for free. We're doing all this for the struggle."
Since then, Cruz's involvement in various protests has left her children asking, "Mom, are you going to get arrested?" she said.
Throughout the years, her children have watched their mom get booted off military bases and threatened with jail at protests. But her passion for the struggle has yet to rub off on them. "They're really unconcerned," she said.
Cruz was awarded Organizer of the Year at last month's Earth Day Celebration for her work as coordinator of the Ahupua'a Action Alliance. The coalition of more than 65 Hawaiian and environmental groups, formed two years ago, is the state's largest and some say it's the most effective way to gather activists.
Cruz's work with the alliance "has really been above and beyond previous efforts," said David Hill, committee head of the Earth Day awards.
"It's an excellent organization," he said. "There is just a ton of groups large and small who all have a slightly different focus, and some people say, 'Why don't you people get together?' This is a way of doing that."
Out of a downtown office shared with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, which funds the program, Cruz and co-coordinator Cat Brady prepare their member groups for public hearings by helping write and circulate testimony. Then, using a 150-person fax-alert list, they spread the message to the groups.
"I know people get it (the fax), because they show up," Cruz said.
Linda Aragon, Star-Bulletin
