The History of George Helm Jr. and Kaho'olawe Island

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 28! George Helm Jr. was a Native Hawaiian musician, activist, and passionate leader. He believed in Hawaiian sovereignty and protecting the land… embodying the values of Aloha ʻāina perfectly. Known for his beautiful falsetto voice and articulate reasoning, he was a founding member of the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana (the PKO or ‘Ohana for short) grassroots organization that was determined to save Kaho’olawe Island from years of decline at the hands of invasive animals, plants, and U.S. military weapons testing.

In this episode, we talk about the history of George Helm Jr., Kaho’olawe Island, and some of the other activists who spent years trying to end the military abuse of the island. The organization they started in the mid-1970s, Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana, still exists to this day, and continues to clean up all the bullets, bomb fragments, missiles, grenades, and more that were tested on Kaho’olawe. Visit the PKO site and see how you can help through donation, volunteering, and sharing their story.

To learn more about George Helm, the PKO created a video about him and Kaho‘olawe that’s available on YouTube. There’s also a great award-winning short film about him called Hawaiian Soul, the book Ho’i Ho’i Hou: A tribute to George Helm & Kimo Mitchell by Rodney Morales, and George’s posthumous album True Hawaiian.  

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Segments

• 01:22 Intro
• 02:03 The History of George Helm Jr. and Kaho’olawe Island
• 29:20 Protect Kaho’olawe ‘Ohana