Reppin'

Explores the critical insights and creative energies of Pacific Islander youth

From hip-hop artists in the Marshall Islands to innovative multimedia producers in Vanuatu to racial justice writers in Utah, Pacific Islander youth are using radical expression to transform their communities. Exploring multiple perspectives about Pacific Islander youth cultures in such locations as Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Hawai‘i, and Tonga, this cross-disciplinary volume foregrounds social justice methodologies and programs that confront the ongoing legacies of colonization, incarceration, and militarization. The ten essays in this collection also highlight the ways in which youth throughout Oceania and the diaspora have embraced digital technologies to communicate across national boundaries, mobilize sites of political resistance, and remix popular media. By centering Indigenous peoples’ creativity and self-determination, Reppin’ vividly illuminates the dynamic power of Pacific Islander youth to reshape the present and future of settler cities and other urban spaces in Oceania and beyond.

Keith L. Camacho is professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of Sacred Men: Law, Torture, and Retribution in Guam. The other contributors are: Stella Black, Alika Bourgette, Thomas Dick, Sarah Doyle, Moses Ma’alo Faleolo, Edmond Fehoko, Mary K. Good, ‘Inoke Hafoka, Jacquie Kidd, Lea Lani Kinikini, Kepa ʻŌkusitino Maumau, Vaoiva Ponton, Demiliza Saramosing, Jessica A. Schwartz, Arcia Tecun, Katey Thom, and Moana ‘Ulu‘ave-Hafoka.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Reppin', Island Style

Keith L. Camacho

PART I. Governance, Law, and Education

CHAPTER 1. Koti Rangatahi: Whanaungatanga Justice and the "Magnificence of the Connectedness"

Stella Black, Jacquie Kidd, and Katey Thom

CHAPTER 2. "Raise Your Pen": A Critical Race Essay on Truth and Justice

Kepa Okusitino Maumau, Moana 'Ule'Ave-Hafoka, and Lea Lani Kinikini

CHAPTER 3. Pasifika Lens: An Analysis of Samoan Student Experiences in Australian High Schools

Vaoiva Ponton

PART II. Popular Culture, Social Media, and Hip Hop

CHAPTER 4. Screen Sovereignty: Urban Youth and Community Media in Vanuatu

Thomas Fick and Sarah Doyle

CHAPTER 5. "Holla mai! Tongan 4 life!": Transnational Citizenship, Youth Style, and Mediated Interaction through Online Social Networking Communities

Mary K. good

CHAPTER 6. Making Waves: Marshallese Youth Culture, "Minor Songs," and Major Challenges

Jessica A. Schwartz

PART III. Indigenous Masculinities

CHAPTER 7. Kanaka Waikiki: The Stonewall Gang and Beachboys of O'ahu, 1916-1954

Alika Bourgette

CHAPTER 8."Still feeling it": Addressing the Unresolved Grief among the Samoan Bloods of Aotearoa New Zealand

Moses Ma'alo Faleolo

CHAPTER 9. Faikava: A Philosophy of Diasporic Tongan Youth, Hip Hop, and Urban Kava Circles

Arcia Tecun, Edmond Fehoko, and 'Inoke Hafoka

CHAPTER 10. The "Young Kings of Kalihi": Boys and Bikes in Hawai'i's Urban Ahupua'a

Damiliza Saramosing

Contributors

Index