We followed-up on the Neighborhood Crawl in Sunnydale with a Polynesian Perspectives panel talkshow-style. Tongans, Chamorros, and Samoans were represented on the panel.
They had a new approach to Pacific Islander issues. Often, in the political realm, issues of the Pacific Islands are minimized with the rationalization that the islands are small and there are not many people living on them. But if we recognize the ocean as part of the land and something that connects the islands, the Pacific Islands become much more geographically significant and Pacific Islanders can work together as Oceanic people.
Fuifuilupe and Loa Nimetolu talked about growing up Tongan and Mormon and their fight against racism against Tongans in the No on Prop 8 campaign. Erica, a Chamorro (indigenous person from Guam), talked about the harmful health effects of the military in Guam and Jean Melesaine, a Samoan, shared her work with De-bug, a youth organization working to expose and fix (de-bug) the Silicon Valley technology industry's labor practices.
In addition to educating us about a range of issues affecting Oceana, Erica and the panel they lifted our spirits with not just conscious, but honest, music to help us sustain the struggle:
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