The Rock joins protest against telescope on sacred volcano

Actor Dwayne the Rock Johnson trekked up to Mauna Kea on the Big Island to voice support for a blockade preventing crews from constructing a giant telescope on the sacred volcano.

The actor produced a six minute video of his trip on Instagram, generating more than 9 million views in 24 hours.

“This issue is much greater than a thirty meter telescope to be constructed on the Mauna. It’s humanity and compassion. It’s respect for culture and approaching this with deep care and sensitivity,” he wrote. Johnson called the land sacred. “It’s church for Native Hawaiians.”

View this post on Instagram

Hard to express how strong the mana and how heavy the heart was when I walked this sacred land with these people – our people. This issue is much greater than a thirty meter telescope to be constructed on the Mauna. It’s humanity and compassion. Its respect for culture and approaching this with deep care and sensitivity. I’ll always be strong advocate for the advancement of science and technology, but never at the sacrifice of human beings who’s hearts are hurting thru mismanagement and breach of trust. I believe in forward progress, but only when it comes thru humanity. I don’t believe in leaving people behind, I believe in bringing people with us. The best of leaders find a way to make progress thru humanity and will always lead with empathy. I’m hopeful that leader will emerge to take care of the thing that matters most in this situation – the people. I appreciate the views shared with me from reps on both sides of this issue. It’s always healthy and critical to have open heart to heart dialogue. In the end, I stand with the people. #ProgressThruHumanity #LeadWithEmpathy #MaunaKea

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Jul 27, 2019 at 11:53am PDT

The construction of the telescope has been a source of controversy since 2009. Hawaii Governor David Ige recently announced that construction would begin this month. He pledged to find a peaceful solution to the protests.

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