When Harriet Bouslog stepped off the plane in Honolulu, she knew exactly what she was getting into, as she jumped into the middle of the ILWU’s sugar strike. In 1946 Hawai’i, the Big Five held both economic and political dominance and she had over one hundred cases, ranging from unlawful assembly, contempt of restraining orders, conspiracy, and assault, that had arisen out of the strike. It is more than “labor folklore” to claim that the ILWU and their members couldn’t find a lawyer in the Territory to defend them. It is a truth that illuminates the far-reaching machinations of power. How could local, working-class citizens receive justice in the legal system if they couldn’t even acquire an attorney? Learn more