Planting Little Seeds

Kokua

Jack Johnson, Michael Franti, Kelly Slater, Willie K.,
and Amy Hānaiali‘i Gilliom star in a documentary directed by Ira
Hopper and written by Steve Barilotti. Screens on Saturday, May 13,
at the Lobero Theatre in a benefit for Growing
Solutions.

Reviewed by Matt Kettmann

In the Hawaiian language, the word “kokua” means, roughly, “to
help,” but it’s much more than that — it’s considered an ancient
form of friendship that derived from the islands’ communal
lifestyle, whereby neighbors help each other simply because it’s
the natural thing to do. So it was a no-brainer for Oahu-born Jack
Johnson to brand his island-based nonprofit organization the Kokua
Hawai‘i Foundation, which has been educating islanders about
recycling, waste reduction, sustainable eating, and all-things
environmental for more than two years now. It was even more natural
for the UCSB grad to publicize the organization by throwing a big
concert in 2004, an annual event that’s continued with increasingly
big names each year while also spreading from Oahu to Maui.