Makana Sings Protest Song on Summit Dinner to Support Occupy Movement (Video)

Makana, a Hawaiian singer, performed to support the Occupy Movement at a dinner in Honolulu, which was hosted by President Barack Obama for Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Summit participants from 21 economies around the Asia-Pacific, including Obama family, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Makana was picked to play at a luau, or Hawaiian feast for the eminent world leaders, who gathered for the annual summit to formulate plans for a Pacific free-trade pact.

However, during Saturday dinner on Waikiki Beach, Makana abandoned the idea of performing any traditional party tunes. He pulled open his jacket to reveal a T-shirt written Occupy with Aloha, and sang a fiery protest song “We Are The Many” for about 45 minutes.

Makana sang for the guests, wavering in and out of different tempos to avoid the attendees' overt reaction for the lyric content.

“We'll occupy the streets, we'll occupy the courts, we'll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few,” he sang repeatedly.

While the singer performed, Obama seemed too busy with the guests to notice what was happening.

According to Makana, he released the song on the Internet the day before he decided to play it on the summit dinner on the fans' behest.

“I was pretty nervous. In fact I was terrified. I kept thinking 'what are the consequences going to be?” Makana told AFP.

“I found that I was afraid to do it at first,” the singer added. “I found that disturbing. That is kind of why I did it. I didn't like the idea of being afraid to sing a song that I created.”

“If that's what we've come to in this world, where you're afraid to say certain things in the company of certain people, I think that's a dangerous place to be. So for me to move out of that space I had to sing the song and that's what I did,” Makana said finally.

Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing demonstration that began in New York. The protesters denounce social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government. Now the demonstrations have developed as Occupy Together, spreading across the world.