Coco Talanoa — Coco News / Page 20

7 Pasifika women have made the Y25, a list of 25 extraordinary women under the age of 25.

Each year the YWCA Aotearoa puts together a list of Y25 rising trailblazers. The YWCA looks for young women who are raising their voices, . The Y25 are doers, makers, shakers, change-makers and community leaders doing incredible things to change their world. 

This year the Y25 list has environmental activists, STEM champions, community advocates, rainbow warriors, innovative entrepreneurs, and more. Amongst this list of passionate and talented young women are 7 young leaders from the Pasifika community.

These young Pasifika women are empowered, motivated and ready to change the world. 

Introducing the 7 Pasifika women on the Y25…  

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Latayvia Tualasea Tautai, 22

Pasifika Advocate & financial advisor

Latayvia is a champion for equality, uplifting the voices of those most marginalised. She is studying towards a conjoint degree BA/LLB and works part time at Fonua Ola, a Pacific social service. As a financial mentor, Latayvia also does  WINZ advocacy, delivers financial literacy courses, food parcel support and anything needed.…more

Story collated and written by Haitelenisia Afemui ‘Uhila Angilau for her 'Ordinary Tongan Lives' facebook page

“We have four children—two of them are autistic. When Viliami was 2, he still couldn’t say a word. I took him for checkups but everything was just normal. He did like to suck his thumb though. To stop it, we put chili on his thumb. Once he stopped thumb-sucking, he started making certain noises. And he began to be very clumsy. He was healthy and strong but he just never spoke.

At about 5 or 6 years old, that’s when I knew he’s just never going to speak. But that didn’t stop us from taking him to school. We took him to Ella’s Kindergarten then to the government’s school at Ngele’ia. It was through the teachers that we learned Viliami was autistic. Once I knew, I turned to the internet to learn as much as I can about autism. I learned so much from parents who were raising autistic kids and it helped a lot to bridge the communication breakdown we had.…more

Auckland Councillor Efeso Collins, Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo and Tonga RSE coordinator and former journalist Sefita Hao'uli discuss the upcoming Dawn Raids apology in an extended panel with Indira Stewart.

"They prioritise integrity and cultural safety and making our stories for us, by us. Once I experienced working with my people .. why would I wanna go anywhere else?"

Destiny is a writer and development producer for SIS - the first Polynesian show to be platformed on Comedy Central. In this episode of Generation Next, she talks about story sovereignty, the resiliency of Southside youth, and becoming a new mum in the midst of a global pandemic.

Generation Next S2 | Southside is a series of videos profiling four talented young people who call South Auckland home.

via RNZ 

Four men appeared at the Auckland High Court yesterday in front of a packed public gallery of Vake's friends, family and team mates, including UFC star Dan Hooker.

One man, Ofa He Mooni Folau, pleaded guilty to two assault charges - he admitted assaulting Liufau Vake and his brother James Ika Vake (pictured above) on May 16 in Auckland.  A sentencing date has been set down for August. 

However the three others, one of whom is charged with manslaughter, entered not guilty pleas through their lawyers.  They have interim name suppression, and a trial date has been set for October next year.  A name suppression hearing has been set for July 29th.

The twenty-five-year-old rising MMA fighter died in hospital after he was hit from behind on Symonds Street on the 16th of May.

Family spokesman Mike Angove from City Kickboxing has spoken out on social media after the trial calling on supporters to maintain public pressure and awareness in regards to harsher coward punch laws.…more

Tongan journalist Laura Tupou is the new face of TV3 popular show 'The Project NZ' making her one of several Pacific people fronting prime time TV in Aoearoa! 

Taking over while Maori co host Kanoa Lloyd is on maternity leave, Laura says "I’m really excited to be part of a team where we share our thoughts and opinions on air. It means people get to hear differing views and my opinion is just as important as the next hosts’, and sometimes more so depending on the topic. This is important for us because we have a real opportunity to speak up and offer an authentic view that is ours and isn’t always heard." 

"Pasifika faces mean we’re at the table and our voices are present. For me, having more Pasifika faces in mainstream media strengthens our stories, people’s understanding of our culture, and our presence in Aotearoa. We’re capable, competent and we have something to say" Laura added.…more

Stacey Leilua’s performance in ‘Young Rock’ has had viewers talking from the get-go. Her performance has been described as magnetic, captivating, and Stacey has also been named a ‘scene-stealer’ for her role as Ata Johnson. A role and performance that might even snag the Samoan actress an Emmy.

The nomination process for the 73rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards kicked off last week, where the TV academy posted their ballots online. Amongst the ballots was Leilua for her role as Ata. If she makes it past this round of ballot votes, she’ll be in as an Emmy nominee. She finds herself in good company with fellow Young Rock co-stars also in the ballots for their categories. 

‘Young Rock’ is the American sitcom series based on the life of almost every Samoans claim to fame, Dwayne The Rock Johnson. The series gained rave reviews, a huge fan base, and was picked up for a second season. Stacey plays The Rocks mum Ata Johnson. 

Before she was well known for being the strong Samoan mother she is, Ata was Feagaimaleata Fitisemanu Maivia.…more

The Blue Rose continues to gain praise and "fan-favourite" status!

This cafe famous for their distinctive wallpaper, warm service, island tunes and flavourful dishes is a favourite of many Aucklanders. Owned by Robbie & Lenny, Blue Rose is a home away from home nestled in suburban Sandringham. With Cook Island & Maori backgrounds, they take pride in home-made food infused with Pacific and Maori flavours.

We spoke with Robbie about their famous cafe and their recent ICONIC Award.

You've recieved a big award recently we hear, what was it?

Recently we received An ICONIC Award for our famous palusami pie! The Blue Rose Palusami pie is our first pie we introduced on our menu - The marriage of the flavours of the pisupo and the creamy palusami are just the best combination! I wanted something uniquely Pacific, I did not want a variation of what others were doing, it had to scream PACIFIC and nothing screams Pacific more than corned Beef and palusami - when you put that in a pie … there you have it...…more

A peaceful protest was led in the Coral Coast of Fiji this week in a bid to stop the Fijian Government from placing a quarantine facility in their district. 

There are few places in the world that can claim they've managed to keep their community Covid-Free since the start of the pandemic, the Coral Coast is one of them. The Coral Coast is the stretch of coastline between Sigatoka and Suva, on the island of Viti Levu, in Fiji. This community has managed to keep themselves safe from the widespread virus through reciprocal care, proactive safety measures and people-led safekeeping. The villages on the coast have made their own facemasks, set up sanitation stations and have worked around strict lockdown rules. All these precautions have kept them safe. This is why when they heard of the proposed quarantine facility in their area they were greatly worried and decided to protest. 

Community members gathered with signs and masks to tell the public of their concerns.…more

On Saturday 12th of June 2021 the School Strikes 4 Climate Auckland chapter publicly announced their disbandment due to internal issues with racism.

In the statement released in the weekend, School Strike 4 Climate Auckland said it had been a "racist, white-dominated space" and that it was dissolving the group. "School Strike 4 Climate Auckland has avoided, ignored, and tokenised black, indigenous and people of colour voices and demands, especially those of Pasifika and Māori individuals in the climate activism space," it said. 

Maori and Pasifika climate activists have long spoken out about the racist tendencies of SS4C and the climate movement in Aotearoa.

"School Strike 4 Climate Auckland has avoided, ignored, and tokenised black, indigenous and people of colour voices and demands, especially those of Pasifika and Māori individuals in the climate activism space," the statement goes on to say.

This announcement closely follows the recent screening of “High Tide Don’t Hide” at the Doc Edge Film Festival in Auckland. A documentary about the 2019 Aotearoa School Strikes.…more