To honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., local community groups are organizing events that get underway this weekend and continue through Monday, the federal and state holiday.
In 1959, five years before King’s movement for equal rights inspired many lawmakers to support adoption of the Civil Rights Act, King visited Hawaii and spoke to the first state Legislature. Local community leaders have said that King’s words helped to spark a push for more inclusion not only for Black people, but for everyone in Hawaii who had experienced segregation.
MLK Jr. Day, observed every third Monday in January since 1983, is the second-newest federal holiday. (King’s birthday was Jan. 15.) The newest, Juneteenth, was established in 2021.
Among the planned local MLK Jr. Day events:
>> A virtual celebration will be held by local African American community organizations, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. The Zoom meeting ID number is 917-249-1003; the passcode is MLKDAY2022. For more information, call 808-783-8969 or send email to naacphawaii@gmail.com.
>> The Church of the Crossroads will hold its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award ceremony, which recognizes people or organizations that advocate for civil rights, social justice and peace as exemplified by King. This year’s award recipient is Josie Howard, CEO of We Are Oceania, a nonprofit that serves the Micronesian and Pacific Islander communities in Hawaii. The ceremony will be held on Zoom at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Call 808-949-2220 or email office@churchofthecrossroads hawaii.org for the Zoom link.
>> The Hawaii Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition’s annual MLK Celebration Parade is slated for Monday, starting at 9 a.m. at Magic Island. The parade will proceed along Kalakaua Avenue to Kapiolani Park. Organizers ask that attendees wear a mask. For more information, visit mlk-hawaii.com.
>> The Hawaii NAACP will host a donation drive to honor King’s public service legacy, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday. Donations will benefit the Hawaii Foodbank and the Ma‘i Movement. Drop off nonperishable food items and feminine hygiene products to the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, Pacific Buddhist Academy, Aiea Hongwanji Mission or Windward Buddhist Temple. To donate money directly, visit hawaiifoodbank.org/donate and maimovement.org/donate.
