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C H A M IN A DE MAGAZI NE
The Fight for Justice Through History, Creativity and Collaboration OVER 10,000 PEOPLE TOOK PART IN A RALLY AT THE HAWAI'I STATE CAPITOL ON SATURDAY, JUNE 6, TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH THE BLACK COMMUNITY AGAINST SYSTEMIC RACISM AND POLICE BRUTALITY. IT WAS THE LARGEST OF SEVERAL PEACEFUL PROTESTS THAT TOOK PLACE ACROSS THE STATE IN RESPONSE TO THE RECENT KILLING OF GEORGE FLOYD.
Following the rally, the Honolulu chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held a virtual town hall meeting featuring a panel of community leaders, including Chaminade Professor Dr. Allison Paynter. Paynter was joined by the Reverend Dr. Anthony Cook from Trinity Missionary Baptist Church; John McCarthy, the deputy chief of the Honolulu Police Department; Rep. John Mizuno from the Hawai'i State Legislature; and Christel Thompson, a family counselor.
“When we look at protests against slavery and the civil rights movement, we tend to look at them as closed capsules...” Co-host and NAACP Honolulu Branch President Alphonso Briggs began the town hall by explaining that the meeting was designed to be the next step after the march. Now that the rally was over, what could be done to continue discussions and further efforts to address systemic racism?
Hawai'i Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald helped put the issue of racism into a local context. “I want to make very clear—this is not just an issue for the mainland,” stated Recktenwald. “One study showed here in Hawai'i, a person who is black is more than twice as likely to be imprisoned than a person who is white. So we have a lot of work to do.” John McCarthy, deputy chief of the Honolulu Police Department, opened by immediately calling out the killing of George Floyd. “I’ve been in law enforcement for 44 years with the Honolulu Police Department,” said McCarthy. “I’ve seen a lot of things, but even that was disturbing and appalling and should never have happened, anywhere. It just shouldn’t have gone down that way.” Dr. Allison Paynter offered a historical perspective, comparing today’s perceptions of African Americans to a quote from the early 20th century by one of the co-founders of the NAACP, James Weldon Johnson. The quote reads: “The battle was first waged over the right of the Negro to be classed as a human being with a soul; later, as to whether he had sufficient intellect to master even the rudiments of learning; and today it is being fought out over his social recognition.” To Paynter, the quote reflects how unfortunate it is that nearly 100 years later, “we are still trying to establish the African American as a viable, just and equitable partner in the citizenship of America.” The outrage Paynter sees flooding the streets across the nation is not surprising to her. She supports the emotional responses and sees them as a vital component to our wellbeing, but she encouraged protesters to channel their aggression into creative venues. She called on youth to use
