Oahu students lend voices as marches across country publicly decry gun violence

Led by student activists, thousands of people around the state braved rainy weather to rally and march in a unified call to end gun violence, joining millions of other demonstrators across the United States and abroad who took to the streets at “March for Our Lives” events.

On Oahu, thousands showed up at the state Capitol and marched, in ponchos and under umbrellas, from the Capitol to the Prince Kuhio Federal Building, on to the state Department of Education building, and back to the Capitol.

Monica Kenny, 16, a junior at Sacred Hearts Academy, helped organize the Capitol march in support of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a gunman killed 17 people last month.

“We have to do something about it because if we don’t no one else will,” she said. “It’s about saving people’s lives. That’s what we want — less dead people.”

Honolulu psychologist Carol Maxym, who authored a book on parenting teens, carried a sign that read: “Another psychologist for sensible gun control.” She marched with her daughter, Dr. Maya Maxym, a pediatrician at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women &Children, and her 3-year-old grandchild.

“When my daughter went to school, I never gave gun violence a second thought,” the elder Maxym said. “I didn’t need to. We’ve become inured to violence.”

After the march, participants gathered for speeches at the Capitol’s rotunda. Lily Kim-Dela Cruz, 20, a sophomore at the University of Hawaii, criticized how some officials had threatened to take away their prom and other activities if students participated in the March 14 walkout protesting gun violence.

She questioned how it could be that in a country that cherishes free speech, “they take it back when it matters the most.”

“Do not be silenced,” Kim-Dela Cruz said.

At Ala Moana Beach Park, more than a hundred people participated in a separate rally.

On the Big Island nearly 500 people attended a rally in Waimea, said Riley Herendeen, a senior at Parker School in Waimea, in a Facebook message to the Star-Advertiser. She said she organized the Waimea rally because “there was a lack of discussion after the Parkland shooting in my school.”

“Our generation has taken this lead,” she said. “It’s time to secure stricter gun laws and background checks.”

Other demonstrations were held in Hilo and Kona.

On Kauai, about 200 people showed up for a rally along Kuhio Highway near Lihue Airport, according to attendee Jason Blake.

On Maui, students organized a different kind of campaign against gun violence with a “Concert for Our Lives” that included Jack Johnson, Willie Nelson and other headliners. A crowd of 5,000 was expected to attend the concert Saturday night at the Maui Arts &Cultural Center in Kahului, following a rally at the University of Hawaii Maui College.