hawaii celebrates 26th martin luther king, jr....
TRANSCRIPT
1
Dr. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
COALITION-HAWAI’I
Hawaii Celebrates 26th annual
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
Holiday Souvenir Booklet
January 20, 2014
http://mlk-hawaii.com Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Coalition – Hawai`i 2014
Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi
October 2, 1869 –January 30, 1948
Rev. DR. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968
Nelson Mandela
July 18, 1918 –
December 5, 2013
The End of an Era
50th Anniversary of the
Civil Rights Act
50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act
2
Officers: Patricia Anthony . . . . . . . . . . President
Lee Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vice President
Juliet Begley . . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary William Rushing . . . . . . . . . .Treasurer
Co-Sponsor: City & County of Honolulu
Event Chairs:
Candlelight Bell Ringing Ceremony: Marsha Joyner & Rev. Charlene Zuill
Parade Chairs: William Rushing & Pat Anthony
Unity Rally: Jewell McDonald
Vendors: Juliet Begley
Webmaster: Lee Gordon
Coalition Support Groups:
African American Association
Hawaii Government Employees Association
Hawaii National Guard
Hawaii State AFL-CIO
Hawaiian National Communications Corporation
Headquarters US Pacific Command
Kappa Alpha Phi Fraternity
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
‘Olelo: The Corporation for Community Television
State of Hawai`i
United Nations Association of Hawaii – Hawaii Division
United States Military
University of Hawaii Professional Assembly
Booklet Editor: MarshaRose Joyner
Copyright: Hawaiian National Communications Corporation, 2014. All rights reserved.
3
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Coalition – Hawai`i 2013
Contents The 26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Calendar ..........................................................4
NAGASAKI PEACE BELL .......................................................................................................................6
Grand Marshals .................................................................................................................................7
Representative Byron Rushing & Frieda Garcia................................................................................ 7
Most Influential Leader Award ...........................................................................................................9
Rededication of the Bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Nagasaki Japan .......................................... 11
The Martin Luther King You Don't See On TV .................................................................................... 12
The Long Road to Freedom ............................................................................................................... 15
In The Spirit ..................................................................................................................................... 21
1964 ................................................................................................................................................ 22
January 1964 ................................................................................................................................... 23
Civil Rights Filibuster Ended.............................................................................................................. 29
The 1964 Civil Rights Act .................................................................................................................. 30
4
The 26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Calendar
Friday January 17, 2014- Noon The Queen & Dr. King Concert with The Royal Hawaiian Band I’olani Palace Grounds
Sunday, January 19, 2014 Annual Bell Ringing Ceremony 5:30 p.m. Nagasaki Peace Bell Honolulu Hale Civic Grounds Lauhala & Beretania Streets Monday, January 20, 2014 The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Parade and Unity Rally The parade begins 9am at Magic Island and ends at Kapiolani Park – the Unity Rally follows. With entertainment, games for the kids and lots of food.
5
Friday January 17, 2014 – NOON-
The concert at the Iolani Palace is a tribute to Queen Liliuokalani and Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
121st commemoration of the overthrow of the
Hawaiian Kingdom and the 85th commemoration of
the birth of Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr
They were people of peace whose lives were notably
lacking in peace. She, a deposed Queen; He, an
embattled young minister! The Queen that would not
shed one drop of her people’s blood to save a nation and he, the young minister, whose
philosophy of non-violence won him a Nobel peace prize. Their time and place on this
earth did not overlap, but their scars came from the same source. Injustice!
Sunday January 19, 2014 -5:30 PM. The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Bell Ringing Ceremony - Nagasaki Peace Bell- Honolulu Hale Civic Grounds – Lauhala & Beretania Streets TWICE A YEAR EVERY YEAR SINCE DECEMBER 7, 1991 we have
had a Bell Ringing Ceremony to commemorate the Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Holiday and the August 9th commemoration of the
Bombing of Nagasaki.
"We are deeply moved and very much gratified that the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Holiday Coalition has chosen to hold its annual bell-ringing ceremonies at the
Nagasaki Peace Bell to honor the birthday of the American Nobel Peace prize
awardee." said Katsuichi Fukahori, leader of the Nagasaki Bell Presentation
Committee delegation and an atomic-bomb survivor. 1998
All events are FREE and open to the public
6
NAGASAKI PEACE BELL
"We are deeply moved and very much gratified that the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Coalition has chosen to
hold its annual bell-ringing ceremony at the Nagasaki Peace Bell to honor the birthday of the
American Nobel Peace prize awardee." said Katsuichi Fukahori, leader of the Nagasaki Bell
Presentation Committee delegation and an atomic-bomb survivor.
The Nagasaki Peace Bell is a gift to the people of the City and County of Honolulu from the survivors of the
atomic bombing of Nagasaki and their supporters. Recognizing that true steps to peace must begin
with acknowledgment of harmful actions in the past, the survivors in Nagasaki wished to make a
gesture of reconciliation to the people of the city of Honolulu, which sustained a military attack by
their country on December 7, 1941.
Working through the organizing efforts of the Congress Against Atomic- and Hydrogen-Bomb Committee of
Nagasaki and the Nagasaki Prefecture Hibakusha Membership Association, these victims began a
lengthy process of raising funds and negotiating with the mayor and the city council-of Honolulu for
acceptance and placement of the peace bell monument at a location acceptable and appropriate for the
general public. Through mutual efforts the groups in both cities saw the success of the project in the
dedication ceremony which took place on December 7, 1990 on the grounds near the city hall,
Honolulu Hale, when the peace bell was rung for the first time to the great satisfaction of the
delegation of sixty or more of the Nagasaki Hibakusha in attendance.
Since that date the bell has been sounded on August 9 of the year and on the day observing the birthday of
the American peacemaker and promoter of non-violence, Martin Luther King, Jr. Additionally, it has
become the site of observances of important occasions in the continuing struggle to end the
production and use of nuclear weapons.
There are two other peace bell monuments of the same design, which were given to the city of Leningrad (now
once more St. Petersburg), Russia and to a city in Manchuria, which felt the brunt of the Japanese military
action. In 1996 the Nagasaki Hibakusha reaffirmed their commitment to the spirit of the bells by sending
each of the three cities a gift of $10,000 for the maintenance of the monuments.
At the base of the monument a plaque is inscribed with the following message:
Nagasaki, the city devastated by the bitter tragedy of a nuclear bomb, dedicates this Nagasaki bell as a symbol
of the rebirth of Nagasaki and the desire of its citizens for peace in the future through sincere reconciliation and
reflection on the folly of war.
7
Grand Marshals
We are blessed to have two people who are only 6 degrees of separation from us
here in Hawaii who are making change not only in their community of Boston but
around the world.
Representative Byron Rushing & Frieda Garcia
If the name sounds familiar, yes it is.
Byron is the younger brother of our
own MLK treasurer and parade
coordinator Bill Rushing. Byron
Rushing was elected to the
Massachusetts House of
Representatives in 1982.
In the legislature, Byron's priorities are
human and civil rights, and the
development of democracy; local human, economic and housing development; and
housing and health care for all.
Byron successfully sponsored legislation to create the Commission to develop a
comprehensive plan to end homelessness in the Commonwealth; that Commission
which he co-chaired with Undersecretary Tina Brooks released its report and 5-year
plan in 2008. The plan has been adopted by the Deval Patrick administration.
Byron was an original sponsor of the gay rights bill and the chief sponsor of the law
to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public schools. He was
one of the leaders in the constitutional convention to maintain same sex marriage in
Massachusetts. He is a spokesman against the restoration of the death penalty. He
leads the effort for size acceptance and anti-discrimination on the basis of height
and weight. He is concerned about the constructive re-entry of ex-offenders and is a
proponent of CORI reform.
8
He sponsored the law for the over-the-counter sale of sterile needles and the law
creating statewide guidelines for hospitals dealing with violence victims. He is a
chief sponsor of legislation for substance abuse "treatment on demand." He co-
chairs the state's Health Disparities Council.
He was a leader of the Commonwealth's anti-apartheid efforts and is a sponsor of
the Commonwealth's twinning relationship with the Province of the Eastern Cape
in South Africa.
During his service in the Legislature he has chaired the committees on Counties, on
Local Affairs, on Public Service, and on Insurance. When he chaired the Committee
on Insurance, he was the chief sponsor of the health reform ending pre-existing
condition refusals by insurance companies and chaired numerous meetings of
diverse stakeholders leading to the successful passage of nongroup insurance
reform law. When he chaired the Committee on Public Service he oversaw the
merger of the two state pension funds.
From 1972 to 1985, he was President of the Museum of Afro-American History.
Under his direction, the Museum of Afro-American History purchased and began
the restoration of the African Meeting House, the oldest extant black church
building in the United States. In 1979, Byron oversaw the lobbying effort in
Congress to establish the Boston African American National Historical Site, a
component of the National Park Service. Byron led the Museum in the study of the
history of Roxbury; the Museum conducted the archaeological investigation of the
Southwest Corridor for the MBTA. Byron stays involved in this work: as a legislator
he sponsored the creation of Roxbury Heritage State Park and occasionally leads
walking tours of African American and working class neighborhoods in Boston and
Roxbury.
Born in New York City, Byron has lived in Boston since 1964. During the 1960's he
was active in the civil rights movement--working for CORE (Congress of Racial
Equality)in Syracuse, NY--and as a community organizer for the Northern Student
Movement in Boston. He directed a group of organizers, Roxbury Associates, who
helped to found the Lower Roxbury Community Corporation, one of the first CDCs
in the nation, and who began some of the earliest organizing in a black community
against the war in Vietnam.
9
Most Influential Leader Award
Frieda Garcia is a community activist a natural born leader
and a strong advocate for her Latino community. She was
executive Director of the United South End Settlement for
20 years and was one of the founding members of the
Alianza Hispana.
Garcia, originally from the Dominican Republic, moved to
Boston from New York in 1965 and has been a long-time
community activist and leader in the South End and
Roxbury.
Freida has been a board member of many organizations among them United Way, Red Cross,
Boston Center for the Arts, HOPE and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to each she has
brought her experience and her dynamic personality.
“When I accepted the job at USES…I had no idea how I would be stretched by the philosophy of
settlement houses and its focus on neighborhoods and its residents,” said Garcia, who praised the
neighborhood organizations working to improve the community and the lives of its residents.
The South End’s Frieda Garcia Park buzzed with activity as dozens of neighborhood residents,
local and state officials, and community leaders gathered to officially open the park and honor
Garcia.
“Our hope is that this park will forever honor Frieda’s extraordinary leadership in our community
and serve as a constant reminder of the strength, the resilience, and the beauty of our city and this
community,” said Craig Bromley, president of John Hancock Financial Services. John Hancock
funded the development of the park.
“We wanted to provide them with a safe outdoor play place where they could be active, a place
where they could feel safe, a place where they could simply be kids,” Bromley said. “That vision is
now a reality.”
The park will now be cared for by The Friends of Frieda Garcia Park, which already has $1.2
million for regular maintenance.
But the praise remained focused on Garcia.
“I was always impressed and amazed of her graciousness and pleasantness every time we would
talk, but then I learned a whole lot more about this lady in terms of her commitment to her
community,” Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo told the crowd. “I’ve seen her
commitment to her family, and her love of the city of Boston, and that’s why this honor is so
greatly deserved.”
10
Michelle Howard has become the highest ranking woman in the history of the US
Navy–and the US military, period.
The U. S. Senate confirmed Vice Adm. Michelle Howard
for the service’s No. 2 post, making her the first female
four-star admiral in the Navy’s 238-year history.
Her promotion to Vice Chief of Naval Operations,
expected for early 2014, will also make her the first
African-American woman to attain four-star rank in
Pentagon history.
The 1982 Naval Academy graduate and surface warfare officer has set many firsts in
her career. She was the first black woman to command a ship — the dock landing
ship Rushmore in 1999 — and went on to command Amphibious Squadron 7 and
later Expeditionary Strike Group 2. A few days after she took charge of the
counterpiracy Combined Task Force 151 in 2009, Somali pirates overran the cargo
ship Maersk Alabama, setting off a hostage crisis followed around the world.
Howard’s voice was depicted in “Captain Phillips” — a 2013 film dramatizing the
crisis — when she speaks over the radiotelephone to the commanding officer of the
destroyer Bainbridge. Howard attended a Washington, D.C., screening of the film.
Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) is a multinational coalition naval task force
working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in
Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue
the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region (HOA) (includes operations
in the North Arabia Sea to support operations in the Indian Ocean. These activities
are referred to as Maritime Security Operations (MSO).
Howard has earned a number of distinctions from outside organizations over her 31-
year career, including receiving the Chairman’s Award from the NAACP in
February.
Howard, 53, currently serves as the deputy CNO [Chief of Naval Operations] for
operations, plans and strategy at the Pentagon.
11
Rededication of the Bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Nagasaki Japan
The Nagasaki University of Foreign
Studies is one of seven foreign
language universities in Japan invited
MarshaRose Joyner, Past President of
the Hawaii Martin Luther King, Jr.
Coalition to rededicate the Bust of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.; the only Bust
of Dr. King in Asia.
The rededication ceremony of the
bust was scheduled for December 1st,
the 68th anniversary of the founding
of the university.
The university is based on Christian spirit it has decided to share the spirit of peace
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The date December 1st shares in common the date
when Rosa Parks was arrested that triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The inscription at the base of the Bust: “We must learn to live together as brothers or
perish together as fools”. Speech in St. Louis, Missouri, March 22, 1964. It was just
a practical way to say “love your enemies”.
The bust has recently been given to Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies (NUFS),
to be re-erected in its campus. NUFS was founded in December 1945, after the
atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It is the only university founded by YMCA in Japan,
aiming to break down the dividing wall of hostility to establish world peace
through languages.
The original bust was made by Nagasaki Hibakusha- Techo Tomono Kai (Nagasaki
Association of Hibakusha Certificate Holders). Techo Tomono Kai is a sculptor and
professor of Nagasaki Junshin University at that time of the original dedication.
Mrs. Joyner also unveiled the Bust of Dr. King at the Junshin University the campus
for the first time, August 8, 1998.
MarshaRose Joyner & Kenneth Joyner at the dedication
12
The Martin Luther King You Don't See On TV By Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon
It's become a TV ritual: Every year in mid-January, around the time of Martin Luther
King's birthday, we get perfunctory network news reports about "the slain civil
rights leader."
The remarkable thing about this annual review of King's life is that several years --
his last years -- are totally missing, as if flushed down a memory hole. What TV
viewers see is a closed loop of familiar file footage: King battling desegregation in
Birmingham (1963); reciting his dream of racial harmony at the rally in Washington
(1963); marching for voting rights in Selma, Alabama (1965); and finally, lying dead
on the motel balcony in Memphis (1968).
An alert viewer might notice that the chronology jumps from 1965 to 1968. Yet King
didn't take a sabbatical near the end of his life. In fact, he was speaking and
organizing as diligently as ever. Almost all of those speeches were filmed or taped.
But they're not shown today on TV. Why? It's because national news media have
never come to terms with what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for during his final
years.
In the early 1960s, when King focused his challenge on legalized racial
discrimination in the South, most major media were his allies. Network TV and
national publications graphically showed the police dogs and bullwhips and cattle
prods used against Southern blacks who sought the right to vote or to eat at a public
lunch counter.
But after passage of civil rights acts in 1964 and 1965, King began challenging the
nation's fundamental priorities. He maintained that civil rights laws were empty
without "human rights" -- including economic rights. For people too poor to eat at a
restaurant or afford a decent home, King said, anti-discrimination laws were hollow.
Noting that a majority of Americans below the poverty line were white, King
developed a class perspective. He decried the huge income gaps between rich and
poor, and called for "radical changes in the structure of our society" to redistribute
wealth and power.
13
"True compassion," King declared, "is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes
to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
By 1967, King had also become the country's most prominent opponent of the
Vietnam War, and a staunch critic of overall U.S. foreign policy, which he deemed
militaristic. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech delivered at New York's Riverside
Church on April 4, 1967 -- a year to the day before he was murdered -- King called
the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."
From Vietnam to South Africa to Latin America, King said, the U.S. was "on the
wrong side of a world revolution." King questioned "our alliance with the landed
gentry of Latin America," and asked why the U.S. was suppressing revolutions "of
the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World, instead of supporting them.
In foreign policy, King also offered an economic critique, complaining about
"capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South
America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the
countries."
You haven't heard the "Beyond Vietnam" speech on network news retrospectives,
but national media heard it loud and clear back in 1967 -- and loudly denounced it.
Time magazine called it "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio
Hanoi." The Washington Post patronized that "King has diminished his usefulness
to his cause, his country, his people."
In his last months, King was organizing the most militant project of his life: the
Poor People's Campaign. He crisscrossed the country to assemble "a multiracial
army of the poor" that would descend on Washington -- engaging in nonviolent civil
disobedience at the Capitol, if need be -- until Congress enacted a poor people's bill
of rights. Reader's Digest warned of an "insurrection."
King's economic bill of rights called for massive government jobs programs to
rebuild America's cities. He saw a crying need to confront a Congress that had
demonstrated its "hostility to the poor" -- appropriating "military funds with alacrity
and generosity," but providing "poverty funds with miserliness." How familiar that
14
sounds today, more than a quarter-century after King's efforts on behalf of the poor
people's mobilization were cut short by an assassin's bullet.
As the year gets underway, in this nation of immense wealth, the White House and
Congress continue to accept the perpetuation of poverty. And so do most mass
media. Perhaps it's no surprise that they tell us little about the last years of Martin
Luther King's life.
Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon are syndicated columnists and authors of Adventures in Medialand:
Behind the News, Beyond the Pundits (Common Courage Press).
"When Silence is Betrayal" On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination, Martin Luther
King, Jr. delivered his first major speech on the war in Vietnam.
http://youtu.be/OC1Ru2p8OfU In the speech, to the group Clergy and
Layman Concerned, King calls for a "shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to
a 'person-oriented' society"- and insists that the "demands of inner truth"
supercede unquestioning loyalty to government.
“I've been to the Mountaintop”
King spoke on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple (Church of God in
Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tennessee. On the next day, King was
assassinated.
The speech primarily concerns the Memphis Sanitation Strike. King calls
for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and nonviolent protest, while
challenging the United States to live up to its ideals. At the end of the
speech, he discusses the possibility of an untimely death.
Please watch the speech http://youtu.be/IDl84vusXos and pay attention to the part of the speech that begins
at 22:18 “The Power of Economic Withdrawal”. You will understand why the power structure wanted to do
away with him.
“Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that
now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountaintop. And I've looked over.
And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we,
as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything.
I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” Martin Luther
King, Jr. April 4, 1967
http://youtu.be/OC1Ru2p8OfU
http://youtu.be/IDl84vusXo
s
15
The Long Road to Freedom
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader and freedom fighter of
Indian nationalism in British-ruled India.
Born: October 2, 1869, Porbandar, India
Assassinated: January 30, 1948, New Delhi, India
Mohandas Gandhi is considered the father of the
Indian independence movement. Gandhi spent 20
years in South Africa working to fight
discrimination. It was there that he created his
concept of Satyagraha, a non-violent way of
protesting against injustices. While in India,
Gandhi's obvious virtue, simplistic lifestyle, and
minimal dress endeared him to the people. He
spent his remaining years working diligently to
both remove British rule from India as well as to
better the lives of India's poorest classes. Many
civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., used Gandhi's concept of non-
violent protest as a model for their own struggles.
In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all coloured people. He
was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-
class.
Upon his death, Mohandas K. Gandhi was hailed by the London Times as ‘‘the most
influential figure India has produced for generations’’ (‘‘Mr. Gandhi’’). Gandhi
protested against racism in South Africa and colonial rule in India using nonviolent
resistance. A testament to the revolutionary power of nonviolence, Gandhi’s
approach directly influenced Martin Luther King, Jr., who argued that the Gandhian
philosophy was ‘‘the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed
people in their struggle for freedom’’ (Papers 4:478).
16
Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968
was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his
name changed to Martin. Atlanta, Georgia. King, both
a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a
seismic impact on race relations in the United States,
beginning in the mid-1950s. Among many efforts,
King headed the SCLC. Through his activism, he
played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of
African-American citizens in the United States.
King was convinced from an early age that there are
some things in the world that are simply morally
unacceptable. The extreme racial oppression of Black
Americans that he experienced was one obvious example, but certainly poverty and
war and many other issues were important to him. In his view, these had to be
opposed, had to be combated with all the strength, intelligence, and courage one
could muster. Yet at the same time, King's commitment to Christian principles
meant he felt obligated to love even his enemies, to wish ill to know one, certainly
to seek to kill no one.
It was a dilemma, the same dilemma that people of conscience have always faced.
He wanted to fight for truth and justice, but he didn't want to hate and kill.
His discovery of Gandhi offered him a way out of the dilemma. It showed him that
it would be possible to fight for the civil rights of Black people not with guns and
bombs or with lies and propaganda, but with love and truth. Under his leadership,
the Civil Rights Movement was nonviolent without being passive.
What he discovered excited him greatly. "As I read, I became deeply fascinated by
his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of
Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I
came to see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform."
King had believed that "The 'turn-the-other-cheek' philosophy and the 'love-your-
enemies' philosophy were only valid when individuals were in conflict with other
individuals; when racial groups and nations were in conflict, a more realistic
17
approach seemed necessary. But after reading Gandhi, I saw how utterly mistaken I
was."
Thus it was that starting in 1955 when King became actively involved in planning
and implementing strategies to fight against the crippling racial discrimination
practiced in America at the time, he chose exclusively Gandhian methods of
nonviolent direct action.
Over the years, King was further influenced by other key figures in the civil rights
movement who were admirers of Gandhi and proponents of nonviolence, such as
Bayard Rustin.
Born: July 18, 1918
Passed: December 5, 2013
Nelson Mandela was born in Mveso, Transkei,
South Africa. Becoming actively involved in
the anti-apartheid movement in his 20s,
Mandela joined the African National Congress
in 1942. For 20 years, he directed a campaign of
peaceful, nonviolent defiance against the South
African government and its racist policies. In
1994, Mandela was inaugurated as South
Africa's first black president.
Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. never met
but they fought for the same cause at the same
time on two continents. Mandela said he was
prepared to die to see his dream of a society where blacks and whites were equal
become reality. King was assassinated in 1968 while working for that same dream.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison during white racist rule in South Africa. Released
in 1990, he went on to become president and shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with
the white South African president, F.W. de Klerk. King won his Nobel Peace Prize
nearly 30 years earlier.
Mandela traveled to the United States after he was released and he spoke at Yankee
Stadium, telling the crowd that an unbreakable umbilical cord connected black
South Africans and black Americans. There was a kinship between the two,
18
Mandela wrote in his autobiography, inspired by such great Americans as W.E.B.
Du Bois and King.
King, for his part, was unable to visit South Africa. In 1966 he applied for a visa
after accepting invitations to speak to university students and to religious groups
but the apartheid government refused to give him one. In December 1965, King
delivered a speech in New York in which he denounced the white rulers of South
Africa as "spectacular savages and brutes" and called on the U.S. and Europe to
boycott the nation, a tactic the West eventually embraced and that helped end white
rule.
"In South Africa today, all opposition to white supremacy is condemned as
communism, and in its name, due process is destroyed," King said. "A medieval
segregation is organized with 20th century efficiency and drive. A sophisticated
form of slavery is imposed by a minority upon a majority which is kept in grinding
poverty. The dignity of human personality is defiled; and world opinion is
arrogantly defied."
King and Mandela were inspirational symbols for huge freedom struggles
happening in both countries, said Clay Carson, a Stanford professor and director of
the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute.
"I think both of them were moral leaders. Both were people who had very strong
principles, stuck to those principles even in the face of criticisms, and in Mandela's
case being in prison for such a long time," said Carson.
King's widow, Coretta Scott King, attended Mandela's 1994 inauguration as South
Africa's first black president. She was on the podium as Mandela gave his speech at
a celebration. "I looked over to her as I made reference to her husband's immortal
words ... `Free at last! Free at last!'" Mandela wrote in his autobiography "Long Walk
to Freedom."
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said “"He was the last of the giants who led the
world's struggles against the colonialism and his struggle held special significance
for us as we saw in him a reflection of our own prolonged anti-colonial struggle led
by Mahatma Gandhi,"
19
20
Marsha,
How do we find the words to describe a man whose life leaves us speechless?
By talking of his legacy as humanity's greatest champion for civil and human rights?
A man who, in the face of unfathomable violence and oppression, served as a peaceful
crusader for freedom and justice.
Or by remembering our shared common goal—working to eliminate racism and
racial and ethnic disparities in our two countries? His long fight and indomitable
spirit inspired our solidarity abroad and fueled the energy for a continued fight here
at home for civil rights. His life was the embodiment of both action and forgiveness.
We cannot put words to our sorrow. We can only join his family, his nation, and
people the world over in mourning the passing of the great Nelson Mandela.
The NAACP and Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) will be forever
linked in the universal fight for freedom—at the 1993 NAACP National Convention in
Indianapolis, Mr. Mandela addressed those in attendance and raised the point that
the ANC movement was inspired by the civil rights fights of the NAACP.
We stood in solidarity with Nelson Mandela that day. His words will forever echo in
our hearts, in our minds, and in the collective mission of our movement: "For to be
free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and
enhances the freedom of others."
Thank you, Madiba, for your sacrifice, fight, spirit and life's work. We
will seek to live our own lives by the example you set every day in your
own.
Thank you,
Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman
NAACP National Board of Directors
Leon W. Russell, Vice Chairman
NAACP National Board of Directors
21
In The Spirit
Maya Angelo
“I believe that Spirit is one and is everywhere present.
That in my ignorance I may withdraw from it, but I can
realize its presence the instant I return to my senses.
It is this belief in a power larger than myself
and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown
and even the unknowable.
I cannot separate what I conceive as Spirit from my concept of God.
Thus I believe that God is Spirit.
My faith is tested many times every day, and more times than I’d like to
confess, I’m unable to keep the banner of faith aloft. If a promise is not kept,
Or if a secret is betrayed,
Or if I experience long-lasting pain,
I begin to doubt God and God’s love,
I fall so miserably into the chasm of disbelief that I cry out in despair.
Then the Spirit lifts me up again,
And once more I am secured in faith.
I don’t know how that happens,
Save when I cry out earnestly I am answered immediately
and am returned to faithfulness.
I am once again filled with Spirit and firmly planted on solid ground.
----from “Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now”
Maya Angelo
22
1964
We fear too many people today were giving in to what Martin Luther King Jr. called
“the tranquilizing drug of gradualism” — and forgetting the details of the past.
The year in review: In recalling1964 we celebrate the enormous potential of Black people.
While we achieved many “firsts”, we also suffered a disproportionate numbers of
causalities.
"Granted that we face a world crisis which leaves us standing so often amid the
surging murmur of life's restless sea; but every crisis has both its dangers and its
opportunities. It can spell either salvation or doom. In a dark confused world the
kingdom of God may yet reign in the hearts of men."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
23
January 1964
The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, ending the poll tax.
(01/23/64)
•January 11, 1964, Luther L. Terry, M.D., Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health
Service, released the report of the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on
Smoking and Health. That landmark document, now referred to as the first Surgeon
General's Report on Smoking and Health, was America's first widely publicized
official recognition that cigarette smoking is a cause of cancer and other serious
diseases
•February 1964
February 7 - A jury trying Bryon De La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers in
June 1963 reports in Jackson, Mississippi that it was unable to agree on a verdict,
resulting in a mistrial.
Rep. Howard W. Smith, in a "southern strategy" to defeat the Civil Rights Act,
moved to add "sex" to one of its provisions. After heated debate, the House of
Representatives voted to pass the amendment, which added the word "sex" to the
discriminatory bans of race, color, religion, and national origin in Title VII of the
bill. (02/08/64)
•Cassius Clay Wins Heavyweight Title:
He knocks out Sonny Liston in the seventh round of their fight to become the
heavyweight champion. The following day he announces his conversion to Islam
and changes his name to Muhammad Ali.
March 1964
•March 8 - Malcolm X, suspended from the Nation of Islam, says in New York City
that he was forming a Black Nationalist party.
•March 27: 17:36:14.2. Epicenter 61.0 north, 147.8 west, southern Alaska, depth about
33 km, ... Magnitude 9.2," This earthquake generated a seismic sea wave (tsunami)
that devastated towns along the Gulf of Alaska and left serious damage at Alberni
and Port Alberni, Canada, along the west coast of the United States, and in Hawaii
24
•Sidney Poitier was the first Black to win an Oscar for Best Actor. Actress Hattie
McDaniel won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1939. (1964)
•April 2 - Mrs. Malcolm Peabody, 72, mother of Governor Endicott Peabody of
Massachusetts, is released on $450 bond after spending two days in jail in St.
Augustine, Florida, because of her participation in an anti-segregation
demonstration there.
Summer
•The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), a network of civil rights groups
that includes CORE and SNCC, launches a massive effort to register black voters
during what becomes known as the Freedom Summer.
•The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).It also sends delegates to the
Democratic National Convention to protest—and attempt to unseat—the official all-
white Mississippi contingent.
June, 1964
•Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1964 and sent to
Robben Island maximum security prison. He was held there until April 1982 when
he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. In December 1988 he was
moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl and held there until his release on 11
February 1990.
•Title VII a prohibition against discrimination in employment on the basis of sex as
a result of action by Congresswoman Martha Griffiths (D-MI) and in an attempt by
Southern members of Congress to block its passage.
•Before the Senate could vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it first had to end the
75 day filibuster that delayed that vote. After weeks of careful organizing, head
counting, and skillful persuasion, the bill's supporters had enough votes to achieve
cloture, end debate, and force a vote on one of the most important bills of the 20th
century.
July 2
•President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making segregation in public
facilities and discrimination in employment illegal.
25
August
•Ashe Joins Davis Cup Team Aug 1, 1964 Tennis great Arthur Ashe becomes the
first African American to play on the United States Davis Cup team.
•Three Mississippi civil-rights workers are officially declared missing, having
disappeared on June 21. The last day they were seen, James E. Cheney, 21; Andrew
Goodman, 21; and Michael Schwerner, 24, had been arrested, incarcerated, and then
released on speeding charges. Their murdered bodies are found after President
Johnson sends military personnel to join the search party. It is later revealed that the
police released the three men to the Ku Klux Klan. The trio had been working to
register black voters. (Aug, 5,-1964)
September 14, 1964
•President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Medal of Freedom to opera singer
Leontyne Price and labor activist A. Philip Randolph for their courage and
contributions to the ideals of freedom and the well-being of others.
•I Spy, starring Bill Cosby premieres
October 1, 1964
•Race riots break out in Harlem and other U.S. cities
Harlem, New York: (1 killed, 100+ wounded)
Rochester, New York: (4 killed, 350 wounded)
Paterson, New Jersey: (100+ wounded)
Chicago injures over three hundred people.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
St. Augustine, Florida
October 04, 1964
•Church Bombed in Vicksburg
A black church in Vicksburg, Mississippi is bombed. Two people are killed in the
bombing of the church, which had also been used as a center for voter registration.
October 15, 1964
•1964 Tokyo Olympiad Sprinter Bob Hayes of the U.S. equaled the world record of
10 seconds flat in the 100 meters, but stunned the crowd with a sub-nine second,
26
come-from-behind anchor leg to lead the U.S. to set a world record in the 4x100
meters.
•Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia became the first runner to win consecutive marathons.
•South Africa was banned from participating in the Olympic Games by the IOC
because of South Africa's racist policy of apartheid.
October 24, 1964
•Northern Rhodesia, a former British protectorate, becomes the independent
Republic of Zambia, ending 73 years of British rule.
1964 Election
•President Johnson was nominated for re-election by acclamation at the Democratic
convention in Atlantic City. Senator Goldwater ran for the republican nomination,
He was opposed by Nelson Rockefeller, but was nominated on the first ballot.
•Goldwater promised "a choice and not an echo." Goldwater suggested the use of
tactical nuclear weapons in Vietnam if necessary. He called for deep cuts in the
social programs. He also called opposed much of the civil rights legislation. He
suggested that social security become voluntary, and that Tennessee Valley
Authority be sold. Johnson campaigned on a platform of continued social programs,
and a limited involvement in Vietnam.
•The election of 1964 was the first election since 1932 that was fought over true
issues, and which brought ideology into Americans politics. President Johnson won
by a landslide
December 10, 1964
•King Awarded Nobel Peace Prize Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize for his nonviolent philosophy, leadership and actions for equality
during the Civil Rights Movement.
•1964 Nobel Prize in medicine is for the discoveries concerning the mechanism and
regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism.
December 14 –
•The Supreme Court of the United States rules, in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United
States 379 US 241 1964, that, in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
establishments providing public accommodations must refrain from racial
discrimination.
27
The Wars:
•Indigenous people everywhere wanted freedom; the chains of colonialism broken.
Brazilian Military Revolt 1964
Dhofar Rebellion: Oman 1964-75
Maly-Chinese Violence: Singapore 1964
Panama: Anti-American Rioting 1964
Thailand War 1964-87
VP Coup: Bolivia 1964
Gulf of Tonkin Incident 1964
PRP Rebels: Congo (Zaire) 1964-97
Gbenye's Insurrection: Congo 1964
Rann of Kutch Dispute 1964-5
Syrian Urban Unrest 1964
Tanganyikan Army Mutiny 1964
Zanzibar's Revolution 1964
July 30, 1964
•On this night, South Vietnamese commandos attack two small North Vietnamese
islands in the Gulf of Tonkin. The U.S. destroyer Maddox, an electronic spy ship, is
123 miles south with orders to electronically simulate an air attack to draw North
Vietnamese boats away from the commandos.
August 4, 1964
•The captain of the U.S.S. Maddox reports that his vessel has been fired on and that
an attack is imminent. Though he later says that no attack took place, six hours after
the initial report, retaliation against North Vietnam is ordered by President Johnson.
American jets bomb two naval bases, and destroy a major oil facility. Two U.S.
planes are downed in the attack.
August 7, 1964
The U.S. congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Johnson
the power to take whatever actions he sees necessary to defend Southeast Asia.
28
1964 Greatest Hits
# 1. Twist and Shout - Beatles
# 2. Under The Boardwalk - The Drifters
# 3. I Saw Her Standing There - Beatles
# 4. Dancing In The Street - Martha and the Vandellas
# 5. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - Righteous Brothers
# 6. I Get Around - Beach Boys
# 7. I Want To Hold Your Hand - Beatles
# 8. Where Did Our Love Go - Supremes
# 9. My Guy - Mary Wells
# 10. Chapel Of Love - Dixie Cups
1964 Top Movies
Mary Poppins
My Fair Lady
Goldfinger
Viva Las Vegas
A fistful of Dollars
Elvis: Roustabouts
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Cost of Living:
Cost of a new home: $20,500.00
Cost of a new car: $ 2,300.00
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.05
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $0.30
Cost of a dozen eggs: $0.54
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $0.95
Loaf of bread: $0.21
29
Civil Rights Filibuster Ended
June 10, 1964
At 9:51 on the morning of June 10, 1964, Senator Robert C. Byrd completed an
address that he had begun fourteen hours and thirteen minutes earlier. The subject
was the pending Civil Rights Act of 1964, a measure that occupied the Senate for
fifty-seven working days, including six Saturdays. A day earlier, Democratic Whip
Hubert Humphrey, the bill's manager, concluded he had the sixty-seven votes
required at that time to end the debate.
The Civil Rights Act provided protection of voting rights; banned discrimination in
public facilities—including private businesses offering public services—such as
lunch counters, hotels, and theaters; and established equal employment opportunity
as the law of the land.
As Senator Byrd took his seat, House members, former senators, and others—150 of
them—vied for limited standing space at the back of the chamber. With all gallery
seats taken, hundreds waited outside in hopelessly extended lines.
Georgia Democrat Richard Russell offered the final arguments in opposition.
Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, who had enlisted the Republican votes that made
cloture a realistic option, spoke for the proponents with his customary eloquence.
Noting that the day marked the one-hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's
nomination to a second term, the Illinois Republican proclaimed, in the words of
Victor Hugo, "Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come." He
continued, "The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing in
government, in education, and in employment. It will not be stayed or denied. It is
here!"
Never in history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to cut off a
filibuster on a civil rights bill. And only once in the thirty-seven years since 1927
had it agreed to cloture for any measure.
The clerk proceeded to call the roll. When he reached "Mr. Engle," there was no
response. A brain tumor had robbed California's mortally ill Clair Engle of his
30
ability to speak. Slowly lifting a crippled arm, he pointed to his eye, thereby
signaling his affirmative vote. Few of those who witnessed this heroic gesture ever
forgot it. When Delaware's John Williams provided the decisive sixty-seventh vote,
Majority Leader Mike Mansfield exclaimed, "That's it!"; Richard Russell slumped;
and Hubert Humphrey beamed. With six wavering senators providing a four-vote
victory margin, the final tally stood at 71 to 29. Nine days later the Senate approved
the act itself—producing one of the twentieth century's towering legislative
achievements.
Reference Items: Graham, Hugh Davis. The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1990.
Mann, Robert. The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle
for Civil Rights. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1996.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act
The struggle for equality for Americans of African descent continues despite the
significant advances made during the 1950's and 1960's. The question arises as to
whether the struggle for Civil Rights has actually benefited the descendants of the
many who sacrificed jobs, properties, reputations, and even their lives. Has the
American civil rights movement become irrelevant?
31
32
The 1964 Civil Rights Act
Years of sacrifice culminated in the passage of legislation of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act. When the bill was introduced, there was lengthy debate of its contents.
Southern congressmen fought against it with every breath. However, the public
mode was behind change, and change is what was received with the passage of this
bill. It was the most significant piece of legislation to date, and it has had a lasting
effect in the elimination of discrimination and segregation.
The act included 11 titles that covered a variety of issues. Included below is a
sampling of the most significant titles:
1. Outlaws arbitrary discrimination in voter registration and expedites voting
rights suits;
2. Bars discrimination in public accommodations such as hotels and restaurants;
3. Any motion picture house, theater, concert hall, sports arena, stadium or other
place of exhibition or entertainment;
4. Authorized the national government to bring suits to desegregate public
facilities and schools;
5. Extends the life and expands the power of the Civil Rights Commission;
6. Provides for federal financial assistance to be terminated or withheld from
educational institutions and programs that practice racial discrimination;
7. Prohibits private employers from refusing to hire or from firing or
discriminating against any person because of race, color, sex, religion, or nation
origin.
Title VII was the most significant of all the sections. However, when initially
introduced by Kennedy prior to his death, it was only to apply to government
employment. After much debate and revision before congress, it was changed to
private sector employment only. Federal, state, and local government employment
were excluded from the law.
Southern congressmen tried to sabotage the bill by adding, "sex - gender" to the
original bill. They thought that this would surely kill the bill. To their dismay, the
bill was passed with the gender specification intact.
Author: Kevin Hollaway
33
34
35
36
37
MAHALO:
The Office of the Mayor
The Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts
The Royal Hawaiian Band
Department Of Emergency Management
Enterprise Services Department
Department of Environmental Services
Facility Maintenance Department
Honolulu Fire Department
Honolulu Police Department
Parks and Recreation Department
Transportation Services Department
January of 2014 will mark the 26th anniversary of the Dr. Martin Luther
King Holiday in Hawaii and the Celebration has grown dramatically
through the years. The holiday was officially proclaimed by the state
legislature to be “the 3rd Monday of January”. Governor John Waihee
proclaimed the first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day on January 16, 1989.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Coalition of Hawaii was incorporated in
1995 by a group of dedicated African-American residents of Honolulu.
The coalition is a non-profit organization which performs many
community service events that carry on Dr. King’s principles of peace for
all mankind.
In 1998, Mayor Jeremy Harris and The City & County of Honolulu
became the Co-Sponsor of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Since
then, the Coalition has coordinated the holiday and other community
events and has grown larger every year.