Why did the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wear a lei on his famous 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, his relationship with Akaka and other Hawaii ties of the great civil rights leader: a special report

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights leaders wear lei during their 1965 march

Ever wonder why the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders on that famous march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. wore lei? Turns out King had special ties to the Aloha State, and to the family of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.

It's altogether fitting that the Hawaii Legislature opens its annual session this week as the state and the rest of the nation commemorate what would have been King's 83rd birthday. King, in his 1959 address to a special session of the Hawaii Legislature, praised Hawaii for its ethnic diversity.

"We look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice," King said in his address.

Five years after those words, King carried a bit of Hawaii to Alabama. That five-day, 54-mile march from Selma, where an Alabama state trooper had shot and killed church deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson, to the state capital, helped bring King to the forefront of the nation's imagination, spurring the cause of nonviolent protest that would be picked up and championed by an entire generation, fomenting the hope of equality for all mankind.

The lei were no artifice. King had strong Hawaii ties, from his 1959 address to the Hawaii Legislature to his relationship with the Rev. Abraham Kahikina Akaka, older brother of Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. Abraham Akaka, kahu (shepherd) of Kawaiahao Church in Honolulu, developed a close friendship with King when King came to Honolulu in 1964 to participate in a Civil Rights Week symposium at the University of Hawaii, according to Akaka's obituary in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.  Abraham Akaka later sent the lei to King as a gift, according to a 1991 article in Jet Magazine by Simeon Booker.

Here's the text of King's speech, as recorded in the Journal of the Hawaii House of Representatives:

The following remarks were made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Thursday, September 17, 1959 at the Hawaii House of Representatives 1959 First Special Session:

“Mr. Speaker, distinguished members of the House of Representatives of this great new state in our Union, ladies and gentlemen:

It is certainly a delightful privilege and pleasure for me to have this great opportunity and, I shall say, it is a great honor to come before you today and to have the privilege of saying just a few words to you about some of the pressing problems confronting our nation and our world.

I come to you with a great deal of appreciation and great feeling of appreciation, I should say, for what has been accomplished in this beautiful setting and in this beautiful state of our Union. As I think of the struggle that we are engaged in in the South land, we look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.

People ask me from time to time as I travel across the country and over the world whether there has been any real progress in the area of race relations, and I always answer it by saying that there are three basic attitudes that one can take toward the question of progress in the area of race relations. One can take the attitude of extreme optimism. The extreme optimist would contend that we have come a long, long way in the area of race relations, and he would point proudly to the strides that have been made in the area of civil rights in the last few decades. And, from this, he would conclude that the problem is just about solved now and that we can sit down comfortably by the wayside and wait on the coming of the inevitable.

And then segregation is still with us. Although we have seen the walls gradually crumble, it is still with us. I imply that figuratively speaking, that Old Man Segregation is on his death bed, but you know history has proven that social systems have a great last-minute breathing power, and the guardians of the status quo are always on hand with their oxygen tents to keep the old order alive, and this is exactly what we see today. So segregation is still with us. We are confronted in the South in its glaring and conspicuous forms, and we are confronted in almost every other section of the nation in its hidden and subtle forms. But if democracy is to live, segregation must die. Segregation is a cancer in the body politic which must be removed before our democratic health can be realized. In a real sense, the shape of the world today does not permit us the luxury of an anemic democracy. If we are to survive, if we are to stand as a force in the world, if we are to maintain our prestige, we must solve this problem because people are looking over to America.

Just two years ago I traveled all over Africa and talked with leaders from that great continent. One of the things they said to me was this: No amount of extensive handouts and beautiful words would be substitutes for treating our brothers in the United States as first-class citizens and human beings. This came to me from mouth of Prime Minister Nkrumah of Ghana.

Just four months ago, I traveled throughout India and the Middle East and talked with many of the people and leaders of that great country and other people in the Middle East, and these are the things they talked about: That we must solve this problem if we are to stand and to maintain our prestige. And I can remember very vividly meeting people all over Europe and in the Middle East and in the Far East, and even though many of them could not speak English, they knew how to say ‘Little Rock.’

And these are the things that we must be concerned about – we must be concerned about because we love America and we are out to free not only the Negro. This is not our struggle today to free 17,000,000 Negroes. It’s bigger than that. We are seeking to free the soul of America. Segregation debilitates the white man as well as the Negro. We are to free all men, all races and all groups. This is our responsibility and this is our challenge, and we look to this great new state in our Union as the example and as the inspiration. As we move on in this realm, let us move on with the faith that this problem can be solved, and that it will be solved, believing firmly that all reality hinges on moral foundations, and we are struggling for what is right, and we are destined to win.

We have come a long, long way. We have a long, long way to go. I close, if you will permit me, by quoting the words of an old Negro slave preacher. He didn’t quite have his grammar right, but he uttered some words in the form of a prayer with great symbolic profundity and these are the works he said: ‘Lord, we ain’t what we want to be; we ain’t what we ought to be; we ain’t what we gonna be, but thank God, we ain’t what we was.’ Thank you.”

At the conclusion of his address, there was much applause.

Hawaii tourism feeling tsunami pain, Legislature enters last round, anti-trafficking, state slaughterhouse, pet store laws advance, more news from all the Hawaiian islands

Iolani Palace (c) 2011 All Hawaii News

For the first time since the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893, a room at Iolani Palace has been restored to how it may have appeared during the time. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii would be the first state to own a slaughterhouse, under a bill moving in the Legislature. Star-Advertiser.

House and Senate negotiators are beginning to meet to create the final form of bills before they can receive final votes. Associated Press.

Two bills that help to establish anti-human trafficking laws in Hawaii will be heard in conference by Senate and House committees. Hawaii Independent.

Selling Sex in Honolulu: Police Use Massage License Law Against Prostitutes. Civil Beat.

The new labor contract offered to the state’s largest government workers’ union “is the best settlement that could be obtained” under Hawaii’s current fiscal climate, the union told the rank-and-file this week. Hawaii Reporter.

Hawaii lawmakers are considering a bill that would require pet stores to sterilize cats and dogs before they're sold. Associated Press.

More feet on the beat.That’s what Kaua‘i Police Department officials said they need most to do their jobs better for the 2012 fiscal year, which starts July 1. Garden Island.

Hawaii County's new prosecutor says she's "excited and lucky" to succeed Jay Kimura, who retired April 1 after more than 18 years on the job. Tribune-Herald.

Japan Airlines Co. extended reductions in overseas flights, including Honolulu,  because demand has dropped following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii is still an option for Dallas-based discount carrier Southwest Airlines, and its partnership with Boeing, the maker of the jets Southwest would use to fly to the isles, is intact in the wake of a recent fuselage rupture. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii's leisure and hospitality industry lost jobs in March for the first time after eight straight months of growth. Associated Press.

Foreclosure Davids and banking Goliaths have been doing battle in East Hawaii for years. Tribune-Herald.

Nearly every county in the state has reported possible cases of dengue fever to the Department of Health. KHON2.

In the next couple of weeks, Nguyen Le, owner of Momentum Multi-sport, a local triathlon store, and the State Department of Health are rolling out Hawaii’s first bike sharing program to drive motorists from gas power to pedal power. KITV4.

A longtime local nonprofit is defending its record after a review of financial reports showed that it had accumulated more than $374,000 in unspent county grants. Maui News.

On Tuesday night in Wailuku Maui, Tommy Russo spotted Bounty Hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman in the public parking lot near his office. KHON2.

Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha says the department is reviewing whether it's complying with the law when it comes to public records. Civil Beat.

Friendly Market Center has recently been approved for a Special Management Area permit to subdivide a lot, a first step in widening Kamoi and Alohi Streets along FMC property. Molokai Dispatch.

Contract award protests will result in uncertain delays for the city’s rail transit system, officials acknowledge. Star-Advertiser.

The new, multimillion-dollar roof of Hawaii County's main office building in Hilo has started leaking -- again. Tribune-Herald.

'Honolulu' author to sign books on Oahu

She had the great misfortune to have been born a girl in the waning days of the Yi Dynasty in Korea, and so her parents named her Regret.

Forbidden from learning to read alongside her brothers, she grew ever more determined to pursue an education. When she discovered women in America were allowed to attend school, she enlisted as a picture bride and moved to Hawaii.

The reality of 1914 Hawaii wasn’t the paradise she expected, but Regret, now known as Jin, perseveres. Honolulu, the new mini-Michner style book by Moloka’i author Alan Brennert, follows Jin’s journey through the sugar plantations and into the seedier side of Honolulu, touching on historical footnotes as diverse as the trial of Hawaiians accused of raping a white woman, and the creation of the aloha shirt.

The sweeping saga is already attracting the attention Brennert’s first book, Moloka’I, which was hailed as “a dazzling historical saga” by The Washington Post. Iit told the rich, compelling story of the island’s early leper colony and the human drama that was played out there.

Brennert will be signing copies of his books today and tomorrow on Oahu:

Bookends
Friday, March 13 @ 6 PM
600 Kailua Road, #126
Kailua, HI

Barnes & Noble
Saturday, March 14 @ 1 PM
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI

House committee advances ceded lands bill

HONOLULU – A compromise giving the Legislature final approval over the sale of ceded lands is moving forward, even as the highest court in the land mulls over Native Hawaiians' wishes to keep the land in trust until a new Hawaiian nation can be created.

The House Hawaiian Affairs Committee just approved SB 1677, which unanimously passed the Senate last month. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Clayton Hee, requires a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature before ceded lands can be sold.

Ceded lands are lands once owned by the Hawaiian monarchy but ceded to the state to be held in trust for Hawaiians. Ceded lands comprise 1.2 million acres of land on all Hawaiian islands - about 29 percent of the total land mass of the state and more than 90 percent of state-owned lands.

Attorneys for the state Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs argued their case Feb. 25 before the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s not known when the court will issue an opinion.

The bill has three more committee stops before reaching the House floor.

The Attorney General’s Office urged the committee to amend the bill so that ceded lands sales are treated like other commercial land sales. In those cases, the Legislature has the ability to disapprove a land sale or exchange after the state administration has negotiated to a final offer. The Senate bill, in contrast, requires legislative approval in advance.

“… There does not appear to be a pressing need for this bill,” at all, noted Attorney General Mark Bennett in testimony to the committee.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, on the other hand, believes the bill doesn’t go far enough, but is better than nothing. Numerous testifiers agreed with that philosophy.

“Hawaiian lands were never ceded, they were stole and taken illegally,” said Kelly Anne Beppu, a University of Hawaii graduate student in social work. “By allowing the state of Hawaii to sell these ceded lands, we are teaching our children that it is acceptable to lie, deceive and steal. I know I don’t want my children to grow up in a government that values those things."

Ceded lands bills moving forward

With oral arguments in a U.S. Supreme Court case just weeks away, committees in both houses of the Legislature advanced bills today reining in the state administration’s ability to sell ceded lands.

The alii (chiefs) of the Royal Order of King Kamehameha I, wearing their trademark red and yellow capes, dominated the front row of committee rooms and were among the dozens who testified in support of a moratorium on the sale of Ceded lands.

Ceded lands are lands once owned by the Hawaiian monarchy but ceded to the state to be held in trust for Hawaiians. Ceded lands comprise 1.2 million acres of land on all Hawaiian islands - about 29 percent of the total land mass of the state and more than 90 percent of state-owned lands.

Eight bills were being heard in their first committees today, ranging from an outright ban of the sale of the lands (HB 1667, HB 1805, HB 1841, HB 902, SB 1085, SB 475) to the requirement that the Legislature approve each deal by a two-thirds majority (SB 1677, SB 476).

All of the House bills moved forward unanimously, with HB 1805 further modified to include the two-thirds requirement favored by the Senate.

At most immediate issue is the Lingle administration’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of a Hawaii Supreme Court opinion that placed a moratorium on the state selling ceded lands until an agreement could be worked out between the state and the Native Hawaiian people. That case is scheduled to be heard in Washington D.C. on Feb. 25.

Attorney General Mark Bennett, one of the few opponents testifying about the bills, said passing legislation now is wrong from both a legal and a political perspective.

“The bill raises the potential for additional federal court lawsuits against the state by persons oppose3d to government programs that provide benefits to Native Hawaiians,” Bennett said. “We also believe that it makes sense as a policy matter for the state to retain flexibility as to the use and management of its land.”

Clyde Namuo, administrator for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which is battling the state administration in the lawsuit, said he and Bennett have worked side-by-side preserving Native Hawaiian rights in the past. But now, he said, he’s reaching a new understanding.

“Eight years ago when I joined OHA, I wondered why Native Hawaiians seemed so angry,” Namuo said. “Listening today to this discussion, I finally get it.”

Lingle held in effigy as Hawaiians converge

WAIKIKI – They have their differences among themselves, but all were united in their anger toward Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle.

Thousands of Hawaiians and “Hawaiians at heart” marched in the streets of Waikiki today and converged in Kapiolani Park to commemorate the 116th anniversary of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Even though a century has passed since U.S. forces came to the aid of a Hawaii provisional government and forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate her throne – and 50 years has passed since statehood – disputes between the Native Hawaiians and the state government are, if anything, becoming even more inflamed.

At most immediate issue is the Lingle administration’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of a Hawaii Supreme Court opinion that placed a moratorium on the state selling ceded lands until an agreement could be worked out between the state and the Native Hawaiian people. That case is scheduled to be heard in Washington D.C. on Feb. 25.

Ceded lands are lands once owned by the Hawaiian monarchy but ceded to the state to be held in trust for Hawaiians. Ceded lands comprise 1.2 million acres of land on all Hawaiian islands - about 29 percent of the total land mass of the state.

Protesters carried a huge effigy of Lingle, along with signs saying “Lingle thou shalt not steal,” “Return stolen ceded lands” and “America get your ass out of Hawaii.”

Lingle could not be reached for comment today, a Saturday, but she has defended her administration’s actions in the past.

“Anyone who characterizes our taking this case to the United States Supreme Court as somehow being against Hawaiian rights is simply misrepresenting our position on the situation,” Lingle said in a Nov. 24 news conference defending the state’s stance. “The issue involving the ceded lands is an important one for the state because it affects all the people, the Native Hawaiians and non Native Hawaiians.”