By Chris Takahashi| Staff Writer  

On Friday, Jan. 20, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. His inauguration ceremony will be answered here in Honolulu, as well as in dozens of other U.S. cities, by a counter-demonstration march. The Honolulu counter-demonstration for the J20 “Day of Resistance” (J20 stands for Jan. 20)  begins with workshops in the morning and a University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa teach-in that starts at noon. A march will take place after 3 p.m. with three starting routes (from Magic Island, Honolulu Zoo and UH Mānoa) that will converge outside Trump Tower in Waikīkī at approximately 5 p.m.

According to a press release from earlier this month, the organizers of the event  include a group of “students, staff, faculty, and members of the wider University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH).” The J20 event in Honolulu has been either endorsed or organized by 10 UH academic departments, the Mānoa Faculty Senate, and the Sierra Club of Hawaii, among many other groups.

UH Sociology professor Nandita Sharma stated in the press release, “Trump is the harbinger of ever more climate catastrophe, deportation, discrimination, and endless war.”

The J20 event in Honolulu wraps up with a walk to Kapiʻolani Park for the Power to the Positive “A Night of Unity” concert at the Waikīkī Shell. This concert has been organized independently of the J20 march – the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i is listed as the leading sponsor – but will be attended by many of the march’s participants. Makana, Taimane, and Kenneth Makuakane, among others, will be performing at the Waikīkī Shell concert. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the program begins at 6 p.m.

The student-organized Young Progressives Demanding Action (YPDA) is a participating organization in both the J20 march and Power to the Positive concert. The group is comprised of many UH students and organized around Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in the most recent election.

For more information on the J20 march and teach-in, visit www.hawaii-j20.com. For information on the Power to the Positive concert and a full list of the scheduled acts, visit www.blaisdellcenter.com/ai1ec_event/power-positive/?instance_id=173716. Both events are free to the public.