King’s commitment honored

Fans of the civil rights leader are urged to carry on the dream

Sounds of the Nagasaki Peace Bell emanated from the Honolulu Hale Civic Center grounds last night as almost 40 people took turns ringing it to honor slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Participants held candles to remember King at the event. Members of the Royal Hawaiian Band played songs such as "Come Sunday" and "The Impossible Dream."

Speakers recalled King's leadership and message of nonviolence and humanity.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who spoke at the event, said King stood against injustice in all of its forms, "whether it raised its ugly head at buses, lunch counters and truck stops of Alabama and Mississippi or the sugar fields of Hamakua."

Case recalled the day when King was killed in 1968. "We understand then that change takes courage and that courage sometimes carries a terribly, terribly unfair price," he said.

"I came to understand that he belonged to a vanguard of broader enlightenment of the human condition treading the same path as fellow travelers like (Mother) Teresa, Mandela and Gandhi," Case added.

"It is up to us to pass his torch forward so that those who come after us may find their own lessons, their own inspiration, their own common humanity in this amazing life."

Pastor Neal MacPherson of the Church of the Crossroads, one of the speakers at the event, said, "We all have to learn to serve the cause of peace."

Chaplain Charles Smith of the Progressive National Baptist Church said, "It has often been said that a cut flower looks good, but it does not last alone because it is cut off from its roots. The same is true of Dr. King's dream. Just to talk about King's dream is like a cut flower that is dying," Smith said, reminding listeners that they need to carry on his legacy of peace and nonviolence.

For Ansar Jeff X of the Nation of Islam, King represents strength that he hopes to exemplify one day. He said injustices and wars, especially the Iraq war, need to end for King's message to prevail and become a reality.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Parade and Unity Rally will be held today in Waikiki at 9 a.m. The "people's parade" will include community groups and organizations and will proceed through Waikiki to Kapiolani Park.