Pasifika Youth speak on the SS4C Auckland Disbandment
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
The fastest man in the Marshall Islands
He's a rapper, model, father and, if it all goes to plan, a future movie mogul. But before Roman Cress was dropping tracks, he was running it.
The Kaven born, Minnesota raised sprinter began competing in athletics when he was 11 year old and first represented the Marshall Islands at the 1999 South Pacific Games in Guam. Earlier that year he clocked a personal best of 10.39 seconds in the 100m at a meet in Minneapolis and had his sights on the Sydney Olympics. But there was one problem: the Marshall Islands didn't have an Olympic Committee.
"I actually qualified 'B standard' at that time," Cress recalled. "I was in peak form around that time, 99/2000, and after that I still competed in my college years but I didn't have the same desire because when we didn't make it to Sydney I just left it alone, I didn't think about the Olympics anymore." The Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee was eventually established in 2001 but was not recognised by the IOC until 2006, meaning Athens 2004 was also a non-starter.…more
Karmichael Hunt with Matty Johns
Matty Johns sat down with Karmichael Hunt on Face-to-Face to discuss his incredible athletic resume, touching on his debut for the Brisbane Broncos as a teenager and how the AFL used him as a pin-up boy in the NRL heartlands.
The 34 year old Samoan/Cook Islander is set to make his return to the NRL with the Brisbane Broncos tomorrow night. He lines up at five-eigth for his first NRL game since 2009 after twelve years away playing in both the AFL and Super Rugby competitions.
Climate Documentary follows Samoan Activist Aigagalefili Fepulea'i-Tapua'i
In 2019, students in more than 150 countries launched strikes to demand action to avert cataclysmic climate change.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, filmmakers The Rebel Film Collective started shooting seven months before what became the world’s biggest ever climate change strike. They were given intimate access to New Zealand students’ meetings, homes and personal video diaries to record how the local school strikes movement began.
The film makers were there when an unexpected turn of events changed the face of the protests. High Tide Don’t Hide reveals the inner processes of teenagers mobilising record-setting numbers of children and adults…while dealing with the looming threat of climate change, interpersonal politics, and the need to just be teenagers.
One of the teenagers profiled and followed is South Aucklands Aigagalefili Fepulea'i-Tapua'i. Aigagalefili, known by her friends as "FIli" is an award-winning published poet and indigenous activist from South Auckland. Her work has appeared in the 2019 Poetry Yearbook New Zealand and in 2020 she was a guest speaker at the UN General Assembly.…more
Racism in Aotearoa
Pacific communities have been shocked and horrified at the racist online vitriol hurled at the Auckland University co-Head of the School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies - Dr Jemaima Tiatia - after her RNZ Pacific interview about her experience of racism in her sector.
In her interview Dr Tiatia shared that academia can be a lonely place at the top for a brown female leader navigating power at “the intersection of hypervisibility, invisibility, colourism and gender.”
Touching on real-life examples, she spoke candidly about institutional racism, sexism and feminism, as seen through her eyes. She related how important it is to have a thick skin, and what resilience means when you’re in complex and sometimes hostile environments.…more
Tupu Tai Pasifika Public Sector Summer internship programme
Tupu Tai Summer Internship programme are looking for proud Pasifika students and recent graduates who are passionate about seeing change for their families and wider communities.
Tupu Tai is an 11-week paid internship across the summer break. Through Tupu Tai you will have the opportunity to work on policy projects in one of the many government agencies that affect change in areas such as education, housing, employment, justice and the environment.
This is a fantastic opportunity where you will:
* Contribute to the growing tide of Pasifika representation in the public sector
* Develop your leadership skills and professional resume
* Build professional networks with other interns, government agencies and community leaders
Check out the videos below and hear from recent interns on their Tupu Tai experience.
Tupu Tai places high value on the entire wellbeing of each intern, providing wrap around support heading into, during and post internship.…more
Third-generation Nurse on why she Strikes
People say that nurses are the foundation of a healthcare system. As the world faced a global pandemic it was our nurses that laid the foundation at our frontlines as they battled Covid19 on top of continuing to care for others who were ill from other ailments. Today nurses strike as they express their disappointment in the current their working conditions and pay, despite continuosly serving our communities during the toughest times.
Nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants at public hospitals and district health board facilities striked today for 8 hours in New Zealand. This followed in the wake of 30,000 members of the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisations voting to reject the latest offer from the District Health Boards amid concerns about pay, conditions, and safe staffing.
"Safer staffing, sick leave and fair pay enhances the mana for kaimahi hauora. Our people deserve quality healthcare. If we want to ensure the health of our future, truly valuing the future of our profession is a good place to start. Aotearoa New Zealand deserves our best.…more
Tongan Family Band "The Curtis Family C-Notes" audition for Americas Got Talent
This talented family band brought the house down at America’s Got Talent with this incredible rendition of "I Was Made to Love Her" by Stevie Wonder!
The Curtis Family C-Notes are an African American and Tongan family band from San Francisco. They are led by parents Maestro Curtis & Miss Nola Curtis along with their 5 children. Zahara Curtis (16) plays guitar, violin, and ukulele. Nile Curtis (15) plays the bass and cello. Isis Curtis (14) plays piano, guitar and drums. Kiki Curtis (12) plays ukulele, electric guitar and acoustic guitar. Phoenix Curtis (10) plays ukulele, piano, guitar and bass. This talented family plays all these instruments plus they all sing!
In the tradition of family bands such as the Jackson 5, the Partridge Family and the Carpenters, The Curtis Family perform covers of funky classics as well as original compositions. Mama and Papa C (what they call their parents) aspire for their children to enter into the sciences because of its connection to music.…more
Man charged with manslaughter after death of MMA fighter Fau Vake jailed for two years & 9 months
Cover image photos courtesy of Willie Vake.
via RNZ
Update: The man who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of rising MMA fighter Fau Vake in a late night attack in Auckland last year has been sentenced to two years, nine months in jail.
Liufau Vake, 25, known as Fau, died after an attack by a group of four men outside a bar on Symonds Street, just before 3am on 16 May 2021.
After a series of other punches from others, Fau was punched by Daniel Havili in the side of the head while he had his hands by his side. Vake was unable to break his fall and his head hit the asphalt road.
The fall caused a skull fracture and brain bleeding, which, despite surgery, could not be recovered from. Vake died in hospital nine days later.
Fau's brother Ika was also attacked, including by Havili. Ika was hospitalised but survived.
Of the four men charged, Daniel Havili, 30, was the only one charged with manslaughter.…more
Lavika's Lash House: Beauty and Business
Lavika's Lash House is a Pacific owned and run Beauty Parlour based in Auckland specialising in Eyelash Extentions. It was started by founder Veronica Tatafu 4 years ago after the birth of her sixth child, named Lavika. In search for a work life balance where she could be present in her daughters life Veronica left her corporate job and started doing Lashes. Since then she has built her business from the ground up and now uses the knowlege she has gained to teach other aspiring business women how to do lashes through her masterclasses.
The Coco team got to talk with Veronica about her hustle, what it means to be an empowered woman and so much more.
How would you describe your business to those who are hearing about it for the first time?
My business didn’t really take off properly until me and my husband separated. Suddenly I found myself alone having to provide for me and my 6 children.…more