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Carl Tuitavuki

HUMA-1100-6-Sp17

Professor Caleb Prusso

May 1st, 2017

Civic Engagement

Pacific Islander Student Association Luau

The activity that I chose to attend for my Civic Engagement assignment was a

diversity event for Pacific Islander students. It was a luau for the Pacific Island Student

Association Club at Salt Lake Community College. The main purpose of this luau was to

help emphasize the importance of higher education among Pacific Islander communities

and sharing our culture with others. The event was held at the SLCC amphitheater where

there were several speakers speaking on the importance of higher education in Pacific

Islander communities as well as cultural dance numbers performed by students and

various other dance groups, showcasing the cultures of various Pacific Islands. My initial

thought on this luau was hoping that there would be some good island food to satisfy my

hunger. They satisfied my hunger, and even more so satisfied my being, knowing that I

am apart of such an incredible culture. Pacific Islanders have been in Utah since the late

1800s, mostly being native Hawaiians. Now, in 2017, Tongans, Samoans, Fijians,

Tahitians, Maori, Cook Islanders, Guamanians, and many others of Polynesian,

Melanesian, and Micronesian descent, reside here in the valley. They made it a main

point in this luau to celebrate the cultures of the Pacific Islanders, but also to encourage a

higher education for them as well.


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The event that I intended relates to two of SLCCs learning outcomes such as

students communicating effectively and students developing civic literacy and the

capacity to be community-engaged learners who act in mutually beneficial ways with

community partners. The way that the luau I attended relates to students communicating

effectively is that through the pacific islands cultures we are able to express ourselves

while sharing our cultures and differences with others. In my opinion, culture can bring

us closer together and we can really communicate visually through cultural dances and

oral expression such as song and music. Through dance we can present information

visually for others to interpret and to enjoy. The way that this event can relate to students

developing civic literacy and the capacity to be community-engaged learners who act in

mutually beneficial ways with community partners is that this event was held mainly to

connect our pacific islander brothers and sisters with there communities, and to

encourage them to become leaders in their respective communities by pursuing higher

education and defeating the stereotype that Pacific Islanders arent intelligent. In this

event they discussed community engagement and how we can contribute and give back to

our communities in our own ways, which also could include sharing our culture with

others.

One of the texts we read that came to mind when I was at this gathering was a

quote by Audre Lorde in the Introduction to Identity, Privilege, and Inequalities

chapter, where she said: It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to

recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. The reason why I thought that quote

tied in with the activity that I attended is because the Pacific Islander Association Club

luau was a celebration of differences. Those who participated in the activity come from
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various different islands in the South Pacific to America for the purpose of better and

more opportunities. We are celebrating our differences and sharing our culture with

others to embrace when we hold luaus like these for others to enjoy. We are welcoming

with our culture and love to share it with everyone. As a Pacific Islander, I am not entitled

to the same privileges that white people have, but as a society, we must learn to accept

each others differences and live together in equality, where I am able to have the same

opportunities that white men have in this country. It may have not been easier in

Americas discriminative past, but people like Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou, Martin

Luther King Jr., and many others paved the way for people of color to have the all the

rights that we are entitled to today.

I think that my participation of this event was more of a reminder to me about

how culture can affect people. It also makes me happy to see my culture being displayed

for others to embrace. I feel like it has made me a more responsible citizen because of the

things that my Pacific Islander leaders had shared during this event, such as the push for a

higher education on us islanders who typically dont go to college because of other

obligations to the family within our culture. It made me realize that my people have a

voice, and it is a voice that needs to be heard. This event opened my eyes to all the

opportunity that we have here in the land of the free, especially hearing stories of how my

parents grew up and all of the trials and tribulations they had to suffer and go through in

order to come to America in search of a better life. They had the hard part of getting here

to America, and now I feel like it is my job to take it to the next level and push myself

through college in order to provide a better life for my future family. You could say that it
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makes me a more responsible citizen because of that. I am very proud of my culture and

it has helped shape me to who I am today.

I enjoyed this experience of attending the PISA club luau because first of all, the

food was great, and the entertainment was very joyful, positive, and fulfilling. I will most

definitely attend another one of these again simply because I love my people. They are

very fun and we generally share the same interests and goals. It is always nice to see

others and to talk about our various viewpoints and insights on life and the communities

we live in. I think that we should have more activities like this in order to bring Pacific

Islanders together to discuss problems and other issues that Islanders are facing in our

communities such as the high failing and drop out rate of Pacific Islander students and

also the many social plagues we face in our communities such as gangbanging and other

social conflicts. I have high hopes for my Pacific Islander brothers and sisters and I know

that if we keep having functions like this past luau, we can come closer together, helping

each other through the daily struggles we face as a minority group in America.

Before attending this social gathering, my pre-reflection was that it would be a

fun festival filled with good people and good vibes. Pacific Islanders for the most part are

a friendly people, very welcoming, laid back, and loving. Ive been to a lot of events like

this previously, so going into this luau I didnt think much of it, but just thought about

how I could keep my focus on the things I could learn and take from those who presented

and performed at the luau. My experience at the event was pretty much as expected at a

Pacific Islander gathering, as I enjoyed the company that I was there with. I was able to

realize how important it is for us Pacific Islanders to step up in the community and to

voice our opinions and to chase our dreams, because we are in the land of opportunity,
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and we must learn how to adapt to the changing world around us, making the best of the

opportunities we have here in the land of the free.

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