Celebration honors Martin Luther King Jr.
Star-Bulletin staff
The celebration of the birth of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. will culminate Monday in the 20th annual parade.
At 7 p.m. Sunday the Annual Candlelight Nagasaki Peace Bell Ringing Ceremony will be held at the Civic Center near Honolulu Hale downtown.
The 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade and Unity Rally through Waikiki on Monday are sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition-Hawaii. The parade begins at 9 a.m. at Magic Island and goes down Kalakaua Avenue to Kapiolani Park. There the Unity Rally will follow with food, community booths and other vendors.
Two other free public events will be held this weekend.
On Saturday a free one-man performance of "Black Boy," the acclaimed adaptation of Richard Wright's 1945 autobiography, is at 6:30 p.m. It will be enacted by Charles Holt, a veteran of the New York production of "The Lion King" and the TV series "Law and Order," in the University of Hawaii-Manoa Campus Center Ballroom.
On Sunday at 5:30 p.m., a screening of "From Shtetl to Swing" will be held at Temple Emanu-El, 2550 Pali Highway, with entertainment by Tennyson Stephens.
The 52-minute video begins at 7 p.m. and tells the story of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, the Marx Brothers and others who contributed to the "cross-pollination of Jewish and African-American musical influences, two traditions born out of exile and longing," a release said.
Registration is $75 for organizations that would like to participate in the parade. Applications are available online at www.mlk-hawaii.com/paradeltr.htm.
Vendors applications for the rally are at www.mlk-hawaii.com/vendorltr.htm. Completed applications may be faxed to Bill Rushing at 988-1777 or e-mailed to rushingsr@juno. com. For more information, call him at 741-4038.
Tax-deductible contributions may be mailed to MLK-Hawaii, 590 Farrington Highway No. 210, P.O. 163, Kapolei, HI 96707.