Jewel “Cap” McDonald not only shared a birthday with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but also promoted the principles he espoused.

“We’ve lost a champion of human and civil rights,” said Alphonso Braggs, president of the Hawaii chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “She was a stalwart champion” for the elderly, the homeless and women.

McDonald died Nov. 28 at Straub Hospital in Honolulu.

The 70-year-old obtained her master’s degree in psychology from Argosy University with the goal of becoming a therapist just prior to falling ill in February.

The local NAACP chapter, which had been planning to bestow McDonald with its Lifetime Achievement Award in January, will do so posthumously. “She helped revive the NAACP in Hawaii and currently served as membership chair,” Braggs said.

McDonald was part of a group that lobbied the Legislature for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and worked with city and state leaders to see it come to fruition in January 1989, when Gov. John Waihee proclaimed the state holiday.

She continued to serve with the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition-Hawaii, coordinating the entertainment and program for the MLK rally, and serving more than once as grand marshal of the parade.

Besides “being a dear friend, a consummate social justice advocate, she’s a loving, caring, compassionate mother, grandmother, aunt and dear sister to many,” Braggs said.

Retired Circuit Judge Sandra Simms said, “She was a jewel for our community. Her name is so fitting because she was a longtime supporter of the push for civil rights for African-Americans, and for everyone, for any group. … She was generous with her time, her spirit and her funds.”

As founder of the African American Association of Hawaii, she began the work for the MLK Day activities and celebration, bringing different ethnic groups and gay and lesbian groups together to help make it “an open event and helped everyone feel welcome and be a part of it,” Simms said.

She worked with Honolulu mayors from Frank Fasi to Mufi Hannemann, serving on the Honolulu Committee on the Status of Women, and with Jeremy Harris in 1998 when the city became co-sponsor of the MLK holiday.

Faye Kennedy, co-chairwoman of the Hawaii Friends for Civil Rights, described her longtime friend as “one of the good guys,” who appreciated all segments of society, promoting civil rights, always willing to help but never seeking anything in return.

As president of the African American Association of Hawaii, McDonald would contribute a lot of her own money for its annual celebrations to make sure it was successful, Kennedy said. Because “she was very good at networking, she was always the first person I would call because she had access and people would respect her. Jewel got along with everybody and she was very genuine.”

In 2010, McDonald initiated a program for inmates at the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua, organizing volunteers to mentor women through the NAM program (an acronym for the NAACP, the African American Association and the MLK Coalition).

“Since the inception of NAM at WCCC, Jewel’s influences has positively affected the lives of over a thousand inmates,” Larson Medina, WCCC recreation specialist, said. “She will be missed.”

The classes are designed to help the women build confidence and self-esteem, help empower them to make better choices and to have healthy relationships, preparing for their release. McDonald served as program director and also taught the cultural awareness class, which helps the women to appreciate their own culture and to understand those of others.

McDonald was born Jan. 15, 1946, in Jackson, Miss., and was raised in Chicago. In the mid-1970s, she moved to Hawaii with her kids in tow to give them a better life.

McDonald worked two jobs while attending Leeward Community College. In 1981, she earned her bachelor’s degree in human development from the University of Hawaii. After graduating, she became a substitute teacher at Waianae High School.

In 1985, she bought a beauty supply store specializing in African-American hair products, which she successfully ran for 14 years. She also owned Jewel’s International Travel and was a notary public.

During that time, McDonald got into acting, landing parts in movies and TV series filmed in Hawaii, including “Six Days Seven Nights,” “George of the Jungle,” episodes of “Lost” and “Fantasy Island.”

“Her life was so rich and giving,” said Sharon Yarbrough. “She was a gift of hospitality, very soft-spoken, generous, an excellent cook.”

She recalled fondly how McDonald showed her and a friend around the island when they first moved to Hawaii.

McDonald welcomed celebrities including Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and even Stevie Wonder at her home, she said.

“She was my road dog,” close friend Anita Motte said. “We went places together, we did things together. We’d hop in the car and we’d be gone … to events, balls, dinner, movies. That was my buddy. I’m going to miss her so much.”

While the loss is great, Motte said, McDonald’s daughter Kim is taking up the reins. “Kim is taking on her mother’s legacy,” Motte said.

“She’s my strength, my rock,” Kimberly Alston, 48, said of her mother. “She’s been molding me for life, but in the process of that, I developed an insight on the things she did for the community.

“She is pretty much my world and I will go on doing the work that she put forward,” she said. “Helping people was her passion.”

McDonald is survived by her two daughters, five sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A funeral service is set for 1 p.m. Dec. 16, with viewing at noon, at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, 3950 Paine Circle.