In the face of colonial erasure, one ‘ohana’s journey into the past reveals a hidden family history about the lost Kingdom of Hawai’i and its forgotten heroes.

My film tells the story of Ethel Lawrence, the “Rosa Parks of affordable housing,” who was the lead plaintiff in the Mount Laurel Doctrine, which is widely considered the most important civil rights decision since Brown v. Board of Education. My documentary features interviews with the late Ethel Lawrence’s daughter, the current executive director of Fair Share Housing Development (an award-winning social justice nonprofit which fights for affordable housing in New Jersey), Peter O’Connor (a lead lawyer in the Mount Laurel litigation), Carl Bisgaier (co-counsel who argued landmark case before NJ State Supreme Court) and families whose lives have been transformed by Ethel Lawrence and the work of FSHD. A trailer of my Ethel documentary aired February 8, 2020 on News12 NJ show “Spotlight NJ”.