Malie Lyman

Name Malie Lyman

Age 17

Town/Moku Kalihi

Island Oʻahu

Social Media Handle @malielyman

Nominated by Kimie Miner

Leadership Category Art/Creative/Music

Share with us a little about yourself and what you do.

Hi! I'm Malie Lyman and I am a Hawaiian music player! I'm a senior at Kamehameha schools and am from Kalihi, ‘O’ahu. i am a part of the concert glee club and also the women’s song director for this year’s 102nd annual song contest! I play the steel guitar and perform Hawaiian music all over with my mom, Pōmaika’i Keawe. I've been playing that instrument since I was 8 years old and continue to grow with it every day.

Why is the work that you do important to you? The community?

The work that I do that’s important to me would definitely be sharing mana’o through music. Music is what brings us all together no matter what blood, no matter who we are. Through music we are able to share stories from ancestors in the past and also create some of our own for the next generation. It's important because culture survives through language, which is best taught through mele or song.

Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life.

Some of the qualities of leadership I admire are diligence, integrity, and confidence. I myself am still continuously learning more about how to apply these but I feel like I'm doing a pretty decent job. The thing that helps me most with practicing these qualities is being able to be a song director and lead my class. It gives me practice in being a leader and I get better at it everyday. It's not easy, but as long as I keep trying I'll be okay.

Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing?

The person that has inspired me to do the work I'm doing is both my close friends and my mom. My friends inspire me through all the things they do, in being able to research and learn more about the lāhui on their own. The interest they have sparks more of an interest for me and helps me to learn more about things I wouldn't have thought I needed to learn about. The conversations and kanikapila I have with them help to grow my love for the culture and it’s music.

What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui?

Thriving.

What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui?

Greed.