HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi proclaimed February as Black History Month in the City and County of Honolulu Monday.

A ceremony took place at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to recognize the lasting contributions, perseverance, and leadership of Black Americans in Hawaii and across the nation.

The ceremony was held at Andrews Outdoor Theatre, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech on the topic “Progress Toward Desegregation” in 1964.

“Black presence on the islands dates back to more than 200 years ago. Black sailors, craftsmen, cowboys, educators, and spiritual leaders arrived on these islands long before Hawaii became a U.S. state,” said Danielle Wills, executive director, Hawaii Black Chamber of Commerce.

This year marks 100 years since the first national observance of Black history.

“One hundred years later, we’re still here telling stories not because they’re new, but because they’re necessary,” Wills said.

“We know what it looks like when power decides that a people’s voice is inconvenient. Black history and Hawaiian history are not the same, but they rhyme,” said Ken Lawson, co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project. “When you erase history of resistance, you don’t erase the oppression. You just make it easier to repeat. That is why Black History Month matters, not as a celebration of the past, but as a defense of the future.”

As part of Black History Month, the Honolulu African American Film Festival returns to the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Films that celebrate the Black experience will be shown Feb. 5 through March 1.

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