The Platform: The Radical Legacy of the Polynesian Panthers: 2020

(Paperback)

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In a book that is both deeply personal and highly political, Melani Anae recalls the radical activism of Auckland's Polynesian Panthers - the movement modelled on the US Black Panther Party 'but without guns'. The Polynesian Panthers was founded in response to the racist treatment of Pacific Islanders in the era of the Dawn Raids. Central to the group was a three-point 'platform' of peaceful resistance against racism, Pacific empowerment and a liberatingeducation aimed at changing the landscape of race relations. The Polynesian Panthers defined an emerging group of Pacific people whose legacy still resonates in Aotearoa today.

Author Bio

Melani Anae is senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, specialising in Pacific Studies using an anthropological lens. Her research and teaching focuses on four interconnecting strands - transnational Pacific leadership, centrality of ethnic identity for wellbeing, Pacific activism in New Zealand, and Pacific research methodologies and relational ethics.