Coco News

Sex & the Sugas - Part 1

Sex & The Suga’s, brought to you by The Coconet, is an after-hours series written exclusively by Pasifika women, talking about all things sex and sexuality. A subject that is usually shied away from in Island culture, five women of various ages, sexual identities and island backgrounds, reveal some of their personal experiences and explore what their sexuality means to them. Stay tuned for a new story each week, after 10pm every Wednesday!

Part 1. 

Ana, 31, Samoan.

“At one point I went through an "A-Sexual Faze" because certain relationships had failed and I just reached a point of MEN ARE TRASH and I don't need one. Then I questioned if I was maybe a Lesbian because I was just so open to embracing other female’s beauty, and speaking up about it openly...gohhh whatever the faze I've probably thought that was the box I belonged in”.

My relationship to sex wasn't always actually a "relationship" so to speak, to be honest. I remember back in intermediate, the thought of sex used to literally terrify me. I kid you not.…more


Entertainment

'LEITI's IN WAITING' NZ screening

LEITIS IN WAITING is the story of Joey Mataele and the Tonga leitis, an intrepid group of indigenous transgender women fighting a rising tide of religious fundamentalism and intolerance in their South Pacific Kingdom.

The film follows devout Catholic Joey as she organises an exuberant beauty pageant presided over by a princess, provides shelter and training for a young contestant rejected by her family, and spars with American-financed evangelicals who threaten to resurrect colonial-era laws which would criminalise the leitis’ lives.

With unexpected humour and extraordinary access to the kingdom’s royals and religious leaders, Joey’s emotional journey illuminates what it means to be different in a society ruled by tradition, and what it takes to be accepted without forsaking that tradition and culture.

This film won the Audience Awards at FIFO International Documentary Festival in Tahiti 2018 and the Commonwealth Film Festival 2018 in London. Joey was recently awarded the Commonwealth heads of Government Award as one of the influential LGBTI leaders in the Commonwealth.…more


Sports

Basketball: Samoan Basketball Comp

40 Samoan teams from Australia, Samoa and New Zealand compete in the Auckland Samoan Basketball Competition!


Sports

RUGBY: Ratu Kadavulevu School make History at World Youth Rugby Champions

Ratu Kadavulevu Schools under 18 side have created history by becoming the first Fijian school to win the Sanix World Youth Rugby Tournament in Japan!

RKS defeated New Zealand's champion high school, Hastings Boys High School 35 - 5 in the final and beat out Framesby High School from South Africa in the quarter finals and Australia's St Augustine's College in the semis.

Awesome for development for the game in the Pacific! 

Watch the 1st half of the game in the video above and the 2nd half in the video below 

Photo credit: Facebook/Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament


Events

WANTOK Exhibition

WANTOK -'One Talk' is a gathering of Melanesian artists, who explore the spiritual and symbolic nature of hair

"We are taking ownership over ourselves, our bodies, our stories, and telling them ourselves." – Reina Sutton. 

Curated by Luisa Tora, the show acts as a voice to empower and amplify the artists’ stories. “This conversation about hair is one we've all had at some point, with family, with friends, with complete strangers. I think people with curly hair stand on the front line in the battle against othering and attempts to control brown bodies.” – Luisa Tora.

Nine Melanesian female artists based in Australia and Aotearoa, contributed the high impact works, commenting on the power and the colonisation of Pacifica women's hair in different ways.

‘Black Birds’ members Emele Ugavule and Ayeesha Ash opened the morning with a performance in the gallery space. “It was important for us to be a voice for those who’ve lived outside of Fiji because that’s our lived experience and it’s a valid one, just as valid as those who do live back in Fiji.…more


Entertainment

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson raps his Maui verse

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was on the Graham Norton show recently promoting his latest movie 'Rampage'.

He talks about his grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia being the inspiration behind his character Maui in the Moana movie, Samoan tatau and then raps one of his Maui verses!  


Humans of the Islands

HUMANS OF THE ISLANDS - JOEY "Q" QUENGA

Joey "Q" Quenga 

Owner/Creative Director of Island Block Radio 

Chamorro 

.

Tell us a bit about yourself 

My name is Joey Quenga but most people know me as “Q”.  I am co-owner of Island Block Radio where I have many hats, producer, creative director, on-air personality as well as program director.  

I grew up in Long Beach, CA., which is a city in Los Angeles County.  

My family is from the village of Talofofo on Guam.more


Events

One Love Festival 2018

We're keepin it Fresh at One Love Festival with Charlie Pome'e from Three Houses Down! 


Pacific Blog

Reflections from the Intersections

By Patrick Thomsen 

When your job literally is to question the ways in which society portrays groups of people through various representations, being positioned at the margins gives you unique insights into the ways in which words shape and form people’s positions in this world. But it also condemns you to a life where you’re pummeled by relentless attacks on social and mainstream media.

Some people would say that I’m a victim of my own inability to overcome the “Oppression Olympics.” That all the hate speech that I encounter against minorities is because I seek it out myself.

I can assure you that they’re most certainly wrong.

No one in their right mind would ever choose this life. To sit in the shadows of intersections, where multiple forms of social exclusion conspire to drain you of not only your self-confidence, but on particularly bad days, your will to live.…more


Pacific Blog

I'm Tongan - My Mother: “Girls DON’T Box, Respect Yourself and Your Body…."

By Joanna Bourke 

Yes – Im 100% Tongan, born and raised here in Aotearoa. As the eldest of 5 siblings – I had a somewhat strict upbringing – and only has been in the last 10 years have I come to understand that it has a lot to do with being a female – and being Tongan.

Today I spend most my time living in Tonga – immersing myself in the culture and the community to help make a difference – and on the face of it – looks straightforward.

Yeah right!

It gets frustrating at times – but you develop a resilience to just push through despite the challenges.

The Challenge

Being a woman – one who is educated and experienced – it doesn’t mean shit in Tonga. People get by and succeed by who you know – and not necessarily what you know – but over time (a long time) people get you – they get you – but yet they are still dubious – eventually – the penny drops.…more