HUMANS OF THE ISLANDS - TUPOU VEIOGO
TUPOU VEIOGO
ACCOUNTING STUDENT &
PRIME MINISTERS PACIFIC YOUTH - COMMERCIAL and CORPORATE AWARD RECIPIENT
FIJIAN
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Tupou is 20 years old and was born and raised in Fiji. He is currently studying Accounting at Massey University in Palmerston North. Tupou has achieved
academic success by receiving a certificate of excellence in Intermediate Financial Accounting in his second year of study. He was also given the
opportunity to intern with Cotton Kelly Services, an audit firm in Palmerston North. He has been involved in supporting the Massey Pasifika Club
Association as an executive, as well as contributed to their cultural events and festivals.
With a keen interest in extending his audit skills and knowledge capacity, Tupou’s future goals and aspirations is to become an accountant.…more
SNACKS & CHATS - EUGENE BAREMAN INTERVIEW
“For every story like mine, and in New Zealand there’s not many, trust me there’s a thousand fighters that have been before me whose names aren’t in the record books.”
Lani and Ben sit down with City Kickboxing co-founder and Head Coach Eugene Bareman. Bareman is fresh off an epic 2019 in which he was named MMA Coach of the Year by multiple news outlets thanks to his and his team’s work with UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski, as well as top-tier fighters Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France and Brad Riddell.
He talks about why he left rugby for fighting, how difficult it was in the early years of starting up the gym, how passion got them through the hard times and defending home soil at the upcoming UFC Auckland.
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via the Snacks & Chats podcast
WOMEN OF THE ISLANDS - LESINA NAHKID-SCHUSTER
LESINA NAHKID-SCHUSTER
Doctor & the first Bachelorette New Zealand
Samoan / German / Trinidad & Tobago / Lebanese
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How do you feel about being the first Bachelorette in New Zealand?
I'm extremely honoured to be New Zealands very first Bachelorette!! To be able to have a female in the drivers seat for the very first time is amazing, and to be able to spearhead this format is exciting. I'm also nervous about the overall journey - venturing in to the unknown can be a life changing and nerve racking thing!
How important did you think it was to be a woman of colour and to be in this space?
I think it's an absolute reflection of the times and also of the diverse population that New Zealand has, that a woman of colour was chosen to be a Bachelorette.…more
SURPRISE WEDDING - FEAGAIGAFOU & REBECCA
Yesterday afternoon Feagaigafou aka Nainz (one half of popular singing duo Adeaze) and his partner of 19 years Rebecca aka Becks pulled off the surprise of the year, inviting close family and friends to what they thought was going to be a Tone6 showcase.
Guests were told that a 60th diamond birthday was taking place at the front of the venue and to make their way through to the back garden area where Tone6 greeted them and then performed a couple of songs, before the couples youngest son Josiah came through to announce they'd all actually been invited to the wedding of his parents. Cheers, laughter and even tears erupted as family and friends got over the initial shock of the announcement.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes Becks, Nainz & their immediate family were getting ready for the big reveal.
Nainz & Becks first met at the Excel School of Performing Arts - Becks and Nainz younger brother Logovi'i aka Viiz were both majoring in vocals and as Becks says, he met her, chased her and the rest is history.…more
PARRIS GOEBEL - one of the women who inspires RIHANNA
Rihannazine sees i-D bring together Rihanna with those who inspire her most ..... and one of those women is our very own Parris Goebel.
In this film captured by Mario Sorrenti, Rihanna and her handpicked cast share their pearls of wisdom to take you through the year.
Find out more about Rihannazine on i-D Instagram and i-D.co. and check out the full interview with Parris here
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In 2022 Rihanna was nominated for an Emmy at the 2022 Emmy Awards for Savage X Fenty: Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special and Parris won an Emmy award for Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming.
Now they're teaming up again for Rihanna's half time show at Super Bowl LVII in Arizona with Rih performing and Parris choreographing (she may even be dancing in this one too).
It's not the first time Parris has choreographed the half time show - she choreographed J-Lo and Shakira's half time show at Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
Check out a clip from rehearsals below -
Meet 'Ru Paul's Drag Race' first Pacific Island contestant - BRITA
Meet Brita aka Jesse Havea, the first Tongan and Pacific Islander to make the iconic VH1 show "Ru Paul's Drag Race" hosted by Ru Paul herself.
Brita Filter is NYC's “anything but pure” drag queen. A trained actress, she was discovered performing her one woman act at the legendary port authority men’s restroom. Known for her quick-witted brassy comedy, campy uplifting performances, and larger-than-life esthetic, she dominates NYC nightlife hosting 7 weekly shows.
In addition to crowds thirsting over her, she’s been recognized by numerous publications and won the 2016 Glam Awards for Best Duo with Terra Hyman and Best Party for Glow Saturdays with Kareem McJagger. Brita recently played the title role Off-Broadway in "Bridget Bishop presents: The Salem Bitch Trials".
Instagram/Twitter/Christian Mingle: @TheBritaFilter
Check out Brita's makeup transformation below ...
Making it Safe to Speak about Sexual Abuse - Doris Tulifau
Doris explains how cultural norms in Samoa make it more important to create safe spaces for those impacted by domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Doris Tulifau is a survivor, educator, activist and organizer ensuring that there are safe spaces for our future generations to talk about trauma before they deal with it as adults. She founded the Brown Girl Woke feminist group that promotes young women and men to empower them on taboo issues happening in the Samoan community especially on domestic violence and sexual abuse.
While in college, she was invited to speak about the Pacific Island culture at a women’s shelter in California. The organization had a high number of Pacific Island women needing help in developing culture appropriate responses to domestic violence. As a survivor, she took it upon herself to research the issue specifically among Pacific Island women to no avail.
This led her to sharing her experience for the first time ever and embarking on a journey to finding the answer.…more
SUMMER TAPASA-SATARAKA FRONT & CENTRE AT UFC 246
Towards the end of last year a video of Samoan security worker Summer Tapasa-Sataraka (who stopped a thief from walking out of Best Buy Hawai'i with merchandise), went viral and caught the attention of UFC CEO Dana White.
He shared the video of Summer and announced he would fly her to Las Vegas for the weekend as his guest to watch UFC 246 fight night, give her rock star treatment and also tweeted that he wants her to work for him.
True to his word he had Summer front and centre stage with him at the UFC 246 weigh-ins yesterday and told her to take his place where he usually stands in the face-off. (Video above)
Summer told reporters after the weigh-ins "That was unexpected. Thanks a lot, Dana.
"He had told me right before we went up he was like, 'I want you in the middle of them. I want you in the middle of the face-off.'
"I was like, 'No, you better not. You better not.' And he goes, 'Yes you are.…more
ARDIE SAVEA PODCAST - NGANI LAUMAPE
All Black star Ardie Savea brings Ngani Laumape on to the podcast for a chat.
He talks about what he's been up to over the summer break, his footy career from rugby union to league and back to playing union plus Ngani's mindset when he found out he missed out on the World Cup squad and more.
Cutting for Samoa and the Bushfires
A couple of weeks ago in Logan, Brisbane a number of Polynesian Barbers and a hair braider came together as a community to raise money for both the families of those who have been affected by the measles outbreak in Samoa as well as those affected by the bushfires in Australia.
Along with the barbers, a team of volunteers turned up to give free vaccinations, DJ Noize and DJ KWoodz provided music and enterntainment, there was BBQ and cupcakes as well as hair product and mirrors donated for use on the day.
A brand new smart TV was raffled and local MPs Jim Chalmers and Cameron Dick came down to give their support to the cause.
Parker Films captured the highlights in the video above.