A follow-up re CHI 2024 Dissent -- this letter contains things that we have achieved together, things that remain to be done, and recommendations for future work. #CHI2024#whyCHI#CripTheACM#CripCHI
Despite multiple objections at multiple phases, the majority of ACM SIGCHI leadership continue to act in service of hosting the CHI 2024 conference in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The Indigenous people of the islands of Hawai'i have long objected to overtourism on the islands, to which conferences such as CHI contribute. The recent Maui fires have displaced thousands and exacerbated water contamination, and now the islands lack the housing and resources to support the daily lives of its most vulnerable. Conference venues and hotels are known to intercept and restrict access to essential resources, depriving local people of their most basic needs. These problems have been ongoing, and will remain well after CHI 2024's scheduled event time.
As Josiah Hester asked, how can you be a good guest when you show up to a burning house uninvited, you take up all the beds, and you use all the water?
Those of us in the Human-Computer Interaction discipline who have signed below collectively affirm a commitment to solidarity with the oppressed and dispossessed - specifically, the people of Maui affected by the fires, and all Kānaka Maoli enduring and fighting occupation, resource theft, and ecological contamination.