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For the first time in a long time last Saturday, thousands of people experienced a feeling some of us had stopped believing exists anymore:
Hope.
The occasion was the "March for Our Lives" beginning at the University of Hawaii Maui College campus, followed by the "Concert for Our Lives" at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. They were part of some 800 events taking place around the world that day, sparked by a shooting that took 17 innocent lives at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., a little more than a month earlier.
The day's events were searching for a sane path forward for a society obsessed with guns. Florida schoolchildren started the crusade after they became the latest targets of random acts of violence by disturbed young men armed, for the most part, with semi-automatic weapons.
Last week in this space, I mused about things going around and coming around, especially for those of us who had been part of the student protests of the '60s and '70s.
But listening to the words of students including Gita Tucker, Tori Teoh and Skylar Masuda; politicians including Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Mazie Hirono; and Hana resident Teresa Shook, who catalyzed the first Women's March following the 2016 election, it didn't take long to realize Saturday's political awakening wasn't a flash from the past.
It's the first chapter of a brand-new book.
Being one of 1,000 marchers on Kaahumanu Avenue, many clad in ponchos and rain gear, I eavesdropped on conversations around me. The mood was light as many young people inhaled their first taste of empowerment. Several high-schoolers marching nearby talked about the active-shooter drills that are becoming facts of life at their schools. Come to think of it, we had one at UH-Maui College, where I teach, the week before the Florida shooting.
There were lots of friends closer to my age -- Eric Blair, Chuck Carletta, Robert and Julie Glick, Rita Goldman, John McKee, Tom Sewell, Marsha Kelly, Katie Romanchuk -- there to be supportive, but King Kekaulike freshman Rachel Zisk's powerful words set the tone for the day.
"Please do not forget us," she said, trying to wrap her young mind around living in a new world where parents dropping their kids off at school can no longer absolutely take for granted that they'll be home for dinner.
Once the scene shifted to the MACC, the message went into overdrive. The rainy gray skies parted for a magnificent pink and golden sunset over the West Maui Mountains.
It was a concert for the ages. Literally. Kids barely tall enough to see over the retaining fence were in the front row of the audience. Others rode on their dads' shoulders, swaying to soulful music from superstars who call Maui home, as impressions were planted in their subconsciousness.
Lily Meola and Pat Simmons Jr. were among the next generation of Maui stars on the bill, sharing the stage with wizened demigods Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, still eternally young after all these years. Marty Dread joined in and emceed. Did I mention Jack Johnson, whose effortless coolness camouflages a wise old soul? Or Aerosmith icon Steven Tyler, closing the show brilliantly, taking the intoxicant-free family audience higher and higher, the longer he was on stage.
Lending more support on stage or via video were Neil Finn, Landon McNamara, Alice Cooper, Shane Victorino and Kelly Slater.
Everything at the MACC Saturday felt like it was happening for the right reason. Following a screening of the powerful "Lei of Aloha" documentary, students from Kihei Charter School knelt in a line behind singer/songwriter Anthony Pfluke, each holding a life-filled photo of one of the victims of the Florida shooting.
"Dry your eyes, we will rise," Pfluke sang, before going into the Hawaiian chant "E Ala E" as the students behind him took to their feet, raising the photos skyward.
Tulsi Gabbard shared a long hug bringing Uncle Willie K to the stage, speaking of the tough road ahead of him. Chemotherapy may have stripped his trademark mane and beard, but Maui's supreme musician showed once again that there's nothing he can't do with a guitar in his hand, joining forces with another legendary local powerhouse, Mick Fleetwood, on drums.
Tyler joyously led all the performers on the finale, The Beatles' "Come Together," with 5,000 of us joining in on the chorus.
The crowd happily leaving the concert was different from the one that had entered a few hours earlier. We had become part of the same ohana, sensing, in this week leading up to Easter, the existence of miracles, and possibilities of rebirth in the days ahead.
* Rick Chatenever, award-winning former entertainment and features editor of The Maui News, is a freelance journalist, instructor at UH-Maui College and documentary scriptwriter/producer. Contact him at rickchatenever@gmail.com.