Remembrance

Ceremonies recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the U.S. overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani

It was a celebration and a commemoration tied into one yesterday at the Nagasaki Peace Bell on the Honolulu Hale civic grounds.

About 50 people observed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and the anniversary of the U.S. overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani on Jan. 17, 1893. The activities culminated with the ringing of the Nagasaki Peace Bell.

Following a performance by the Royal Hawaiian Band and a singing of the African-American anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the celebrants lit their candles and rang the bell.

It was the 19th straight year the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition-Hawaii has held the event, said Patricia Anthony, president of the statewide organization. And it was the fifth year the organization has held the celebration jointly with the Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center to recognize the U.S. apology to native Hawaiians.

Both ceremonies are "for the younger generation to still remember what actually took place," Anthony said.

Nani Elm Sypert brought her three children, ages 2, 5 and 9, to instill King's values of equality and the loss of labels that divide people. She recalled how her mother was an activist during the civil rights movement and how she wanted to share the history with her children.

"Martin Luther King had the right idea," Sypert said. "There's a lot of injustices that are still happening in the world."

After the bell-ringing, the Hawaiian supporters headed on a candlelit march to Iolani Palace for a torch-lighting ceremony and a re-enactment of the United Church of Christ's apology to native Hawaiians in the early 1990s.

About 35 people joined in a circle around an altar of rocks that Kaleo Patterson, president of the Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center, said were brought from the Big Island on the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani.

A copy of the apology by the United Church of Christ for its association with the U.S. government during the overthrow of the kingdom was set on fire and laid on the altar, re-enacting the event performed with UCC officials 14 years ago, Patterson said.

"We're on a journey," he said, associating the peaceful push by native Hawaiian sovereignty groups for independence and last night's march.

Patterson said the group is working with the church to find reconciliation and gain the church's support for self-governance.