Please join the Kahuku Public and School Library as we celebrate the start of our Black History Series from January to April.

To start off, Dr. Kathryn Waddell Takara will present on the little known history of African Americans in Hawaii. She has extensive knowledge on the subject and will provide an overview.

In conjunction, there will be an interactive display on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to Hawaii. Handouts of his speeches and an audio recording will be available to read and/or hear. A recording of Dr. King’s 1964 visit to UH Manoa is provided by the Hawaii and Pacific Collection at Hamilton Library.

Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Library Kahuku.

All programs are subject to change. If you require an auxiliary aid or accommodation due to a disability, please contact the library at least 7 days before the program date.

More on Dr. Waddell Takara-

Kathryn Waddell Takara, PhD, holds a BA in French from Tufts/Jackson University, an MA in French from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii. She also holds certificates from the University of Bordeaux in French and Peking University in Mandarin.

Her accomplishments are multiple and varied over her long career of teaching cultural and ethnic studies, writing, public service, and extensive travel including France, Niger, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), seven summers in China, and other countries in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific.

Her pioneering research and publications on African Americans in Hawai`i has catapulted her into national recognition to be a ground breaking authority, consultant, and scholarly reviewer for numerous book and media projects.

Takara has been publicly recognized for her service, leadership, and promotion of justice, peace, mutual understanding, art, history, and culture and was knighted into the Orthodox Order of St John Russian Grand Priory in 2013.

Her books are: Zimbabwe Spin: Politics and Poetics Pacific Raven Press. 2015; Love’s Seasons: Generations Genetics Myths. Pacific Raven Press. 2014; Timmy Turtle Teaches (Children’s book) Pacific Raven Press. 2012; Frank Marshall Davis: The Fire and the Phoenix, A Critical Biography. Pacific Raven Press. 2012; Tourmalines: Beyond the Ebony Portal. Pacific Raven Press. 2010; Pacific Raven: Hawai`i Poems, Pacific Raven Press. 2009 (Winner of 2010 American Book Award [Before Columbus Foundation]; New and Collected Poems. I. Reed Publishing Co. Berkeley, CA. Jan. 2003. 39 pages; Oral Histories of African Americans (in Hawai`i). Interviews by Kathryn Waddell Takara. Center for Oral History. Social Science Research Institute. University of Hawai’i at Manoa. 1990. 406 pages.