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HAWAI’I INTERNATIONAL
FORGIVENESS DAY
August 6, 2006

MEDIA ADVISORY
July 24, 2006
CONTACT: Trish Ellis, 888-222-7205
<trish@hawaiiforgivenessproject.org>


* Free festival: music, talk story with Makaha Sons; powerful opening from Iona Dance Theatre; keynote experience led by Dr. Fred Luskin, Kumu Ramsay Taum

* leaders of Hawai'i call for forgiveness in community, political, and religious life

* Statewide Awards: Forgiveness Heroes, Arts


HONOLULU: JULY 24, 2006 - The Hawai'i Forgiveness Project presents the annual Hawai'i International Forgiveness Day on Sunday, August 6, 2006 in the Parish Hall, Central Union Church, 1660 S. Beretania (Beretania and Punahou Street), Honolulu Hawai'i.  Doors open at 2:00 p.m. for community exhibits, and the two-hour festival begins at 3:00 p.m. This event is for the whole family; it is free and open to the public.

 

Key Events: Live music and talk story with musical family, the Makaha Sons, honored as one of several Forgiveness Heroes. Rare video of the late Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, calling upon Hawaiians of all nations to unite. IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre: performance of "Passage into Tomorrow," artistic insight into nuclear destruction, on the 61st anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb.  Kumu Ramsay Taum, Dr. Fred Luskin: Keynote speakers compare modern medical and psychological research on forgiveness with traditional Hawaiian knowledge and family techniques. Kumu Taum is a local teacher of Hawaiian arts, and Luskin is a professor at Stanford University. A shared experience of forgiveness for participants. Hosted by local teacher-authors, Jerry Jampolsky and Diane Cirincione.

 

Hawai'i Forgiveness Hero Recognition Awards: Nominations are now open, and the Awards are explained on the group’s website; http://www.hawaiiforgivenessproject.org/nomination-form.htm  Forgiveness Arts Awards: Images of Forgiveness and Poetry of Forgiveness Awards; free entry at http://www.hawaiiforgivenessproject.org/awards/

 

This festival is part of International Forgiveness Day, now held in 80 countries worldwide; Honolulu's festival is one of the largest. Opening and closing oli led by Kumu Kanani Awai, one of the native Hawaiians who led the recent reclaiming of Waimea Valley, O'ahu.

 

 

The Hawai’i Forgiveness Project is a non-profit, non-religious, multi-cultural group helping people of Hawai’i to weave forgiveness into the fabric of their day-to-day lives. Full press release, details, photos, stories for download at http://www.hawaiiforgivenessproject.org/press/ Speaker, interview availability through Trish Ellis, 888-222-7205; <trish@hawaiiforgivenessproject.org>

 

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“As we let our own light shine, we invite other people to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence liberates others.”
...Nelson Mandela

http://www.hawaiiforgivenessproject.org