The project began to pick up speed with the Estate notifying more than 51 people of their eviction and the following announcement that those people would need to find new housing, To oversee the demolition of the Kalama Valley residences and the completion of the eviction process, Ed Michael was hired by the Estate. He is quoted as saying, "in today's modern world, the Hawaiian lifestyle should be illegal". In response to the development and escalating tension, Larry Kamakawiwo'ole called together Pete Thompson, "Soli" Niheu, Kalani Ohelo, and other noted student activists to begin protests against the evictions. The most famous of these activities would be Pete Thompson who would play a major role in the later Waiahole-Waikane protests. These organizers formed the Kokua Kalama Committee (KKC) and would be part of the first wave of resistance to the early demolition. One of the people arrested in the first struggle was Kehau Lee, a scholar and University professor whose fundamental praxis involved Maoist theory and the development of "Third World" consciousness in regards to Native Hawaiian struggles. Many of the activists saw their struggle as similar to that of the Blank Panthers and Young Lords, especially in regard to the struggle for Puerto Rican autonomy.