Monday, November 5, 2007
Samoa anybody??
So I am often asked if "Are you mixed?" and its usually because I don't look fully black or, for the more obvious reason, becuse of my huge Samoan tribal tattoo down my right arm. I am always prepared to say "Yea, I mixed with Black and Samoan" and I too often hear, "Huh!? black and what?". I then proceed by explaining what Samoan is and usually have to reffer to "The Rock" or "Junior Seau" for people to recognize what I am talking about. Even with those references, people still don't really know about Samoa! I want you to see if your friends and associates know anything about Samoa! Heres what I want you to do, throughout your day take a few seconds and ask people you come in contact with, "Hey! do you know anything about 'Samoa'?" and just see if you get the same type of funny faces I do when I mention it. Tell me about what happens. :)
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9 comments:
Cool post. I'm also Samoan & Black and I get that all the time myself. Then they give me that "you mean like Sumo wrestlers"... then it just goes down hill from there. Anyway bruh.. good post.
-Veepage
Bruh, I completely understand where you guys are coming from,I have to deal with even more because i'm Black/Samoan/Japanese, so I just look all messed up,lol, trying to tell Japanese about Samoa is of the most challenging,lol
LOL...well its common to hear that kind of comment here on the continent...and yes in a little town in eastern washingston I get it often...since I'm a mixed plate or should I say a plethora of ethnicities..including Hawaiian, Samoan, Chinese, German, Native American Indian and English. But when you come from the MELTING POT OF THE PACIFIC..Hawai'i...its normal.
Talofa Everyone. My name is Olewasami, I am 18 years old and have just discovered that I am part Samoan, an ethnicity that i think has always lived in me since childhood. As a kid I always used to hang out with Polynesians, from Tongans up the street, to the Samoans down the block. I always felt like there was something missing in me. It saddens me that it took me so long to find this out and now I feel as though i am really late in trying to learn the way of Samoa.(Fa'a Samoa) My father is the only Family member that knows anything of my Samoan roots and he is in Jail. Nor do he and i have the best relationship. His father(my grandfather) is deceased and he was the only other ancestor that i know of to get infomation about my roots from. I am trying to study my lineage and Family history to get more in touch with my Samoan family whom i do not know. Does anyone have any suggestions.
~~~Also what should i do about the ridicule that I am receiving from both Blacks and Samoans alike. It's really discouraging to want to learn so much about a part of you that is of another race of people, and to constantly be seen by them as nothing but a half-breed or sum Samoan man's mistake, or an outcast...I am a young adult and am willing to take any advice that will help me to better my knowledge in the ways of my new-found but always-existing culture.
Your help and advice is greatly appreciated.
~~P.S. I am also a dancer and would love to expand my career into my roots as well...any studios in the Bay area????
Fa'afetai tele lava!!! Tofa!!
Sorry, I just stumbled over this conversation and thought it was really interesting. I'm from California and although there's a large Pacific Islander community here, many people still don't know much about the Samoan culture (or even heard of Samoa). Kudos to y'all for opening this dialogue in such a way to interest random Internet surfers like myself;-)
I hear ya. I am in Memphis, TN and when I myself, brother, or sister tell people that we are mixed Samoan (actually samoan/chinese) and black, they always think I am trying to say samolian. I have to correct them and say, no, Samoan and the refere to The Rock or Rakishi or the late Umaga. Some have tried to make it hard for me, both samoan and black ( both of which were family members) but i just brush it off and same proud to be afa Meuli
Hi!
Sorry to contact you this way:-) I am a journalist from Germany, writing a book about global parenting, different parenting styles and concepts worldwide. I would love to talk to you about childhood and family in Samoa. If you like just contact me by mail: m.schonhoeft@yahoo.de, kind regards, Michaela.
Hi everyone, Ive read some of the conversations and some of them are similar to my story. Im 32 and Im half Samoan from my dads side and half Puerto Rican from my mothers side. Well anyways, I didn't find out about my true roots from my fathers side until I was like 18....crazy right? Well long story short my father was adopted by a latin woman and never new his Samoan origin(pretty messed up story for some other time)the only way he/we found out was a Hawaiian birth certificate from his real mother(God rest her soul)sent to him with a letter attached, explaining origin, family members and other stuff I didn't get to read...Isnt that crazy?
Hi everyone, Ive read some of the conversations and some of them are similar to my story. Im 32 and Im half Samoan from my dads side and half Puerto Rican from my mothers side. Well anyways, I didn't find out about my true roots from my fathers side until I was like 18....crazy right? Well long story short my father was adopted by a latin woman and never new his Samoan origin(pretty messed up story for some other time)the only way he/we found out was a Hawaiian birth certificate from his real mother(God rest her soul)sent to him with a letter attached, explaining origin, family members and other stuff I didn't get to read...Isnt that crazy?
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