I was pleasantly surprised that this big fan of hip-hop and soul music knew and cared about Kamakawiwo'ole's more traditional Hawaiian music. But yes he knew of Israel because Israel was an activist and an artist well known by everyone Hawaiian. He told me stories about Kamakawiwo'ole. He told me of the big influence Black music had on Hawaii's youth. They played stuff like TKO by Teddy Pendergrass, I'm Every Woman, Mr. Big Stuff, Billy Jean, The Stylistics, etc.
Black people have in Hawaii.
After speaking for so long we both realized we still didn't know each other's name. Our conversations were so rich it seemed our comfort with each other defied the necessity to be named. I told him my name was Cleo. He told me his was Tony. He lit up.