Are we nearer to King’s dream?

The celebration of the holiday of the birthday of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. yesterday gave many on the island pause to consider how the nation is doing in terms of achieving peace, and specifically King’s dream.

His dream, made famous in his “I Have A Dream” speech delivered shortly before he was assassinated, talked about his longing for a day when people aren’t judged by “the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Residents of the island and state are probably more accommodating, accepting and tolerant of people of other races, if for no other reason than people of many races make up the populace of Hawai’i.

But how are we doing in terms of becoming an island, state, nation and world working to make King’s dream come true?

“If nothing else we can be an inspiration for peace,” but as far as drawing nearer to King’s dream, “we’re not there yet,” said Daisy Lee-Garripoli of Kapa’a.

She and other leaders of her Kahuna Valley nonprofit organization chose January as peace month specifically because of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s initiatives, she said.

“I think there’s enough people out there like us who support those initiatives,” she said.

Her nonprofit entity, which includes a retreat center in Kapa’a, sponsored an island-wide children’s essay contest, on the topic peace from the inside out.

Ian Clarke, a student at Kula Elementary School in Kilauea, won the contest and an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan early next month to attend an international peace gathering.

“We’re here not to look on passively,” but to do things, said Lee-Garripoli, whose work to get the next generation of peacemakers motivated is seen in part in the essay contest.

“Peace can be an answer, but in this society it is a question about how we can get there,” she added.

Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.