During the month of February, the library is hosting Code Pink's Peace Ribbon Project, a national traveling exhibit of 125 original fabric panels honoring the memory of people - our soldiers, Coalition soldiers from other countries, and Iraqi citizens - whose lives have been lost in the Iraq war and occupation. The Peace Ribbon was displayed at the Hawaii State Library in January and then was carried by 62 Code Pink Women for Peace in the Martin Luther King Day parade in Honolulu this month.
The exhibit's formal opening is on Monday, Feb. 5, at noon, on the lower level of the library. Everyone is invited to view these remembrance panels which have traveled across the nation several times, and to enjoy the oli, speakers, and refreshments. Our speakers for the event are Dick Mayer, retired MCC professor, and W. S. Merwin, Pulitzer prize-winning poet, playwright and author of the novel-in-verse about Molokai, The Folding Cliffs: A Narrative. The noon to 1PM event is free and open to the public.
The MCC Peace Club, Maui Peace Action, Associated Students of MCC, and Code Pink Maui are co-sponsoring the Peace Ribbon Project on Maui in order to honor and memorialize those whose lives have been sacrificed in the war and to increase awareness of this tragic loss among those on our island whose families are not directly involved of the war's toll.
The opening on Feb. 5 coincides with the court-martial of Hawaii's Lt. Ehren Watada, first Army officer to refuse deployment to the Iraq war. There will be information on the reasons for his refusal and updates about his case and how to support him.
Anyone can add a panel to the traveling exhibit in remembrance of someone, or a group of people, who died in the Iraq war. Specific instructions can be found at Code Pink's website and will be available at the Feb. 5 event. New panels will be displayed in Honolulu on Memorial Day and then sent to join the traveling exhibit.
For more information on the project go to CodePink : Peace Ribbon Project.
