Tag: Pacific Island

Something I’ve learned through this series is the amazing passion our women have for preserving our culture and passing it on to the next generation. One of those wonderful women is Anamalia Su’esu’e and here’s her story.

Empowered Through Cultural Preservation

Born and raised in Hawai’i to Su’esu’e and Lynda Su’esu’e, I’m the oldest of three girls. I’m forever grateful for the life my parents provided for us. My father came to Hawai’i in the 70s from Utulei, American Samoa. He later met my mother, an Italian/Polish woman from Long Island, New York, at Job Corps in Waimanalo. Fast forward some decades later and I’m now raising my two children near the places I grew up. I work with Le Fetuao Samoan Language Center, a Samoan community based nonprofit here in Hawai’i that offers Samoan language programs for families. I am also finishing my first year of the Psychology MA/PhD program at UH Mānoa. I’m in the Community, Cultural, and Developmental area and would like to explore Samoan identity development in diaspora. Growing up in a multicultural home in Hawai’i has surely shaped my research interests in graduate school. My goals are to develop and implement sustainable programs (maybe even some policies?) within our Samoan and Pasifika communities that support our Pasifika identity development. The way I see it: secure, supported identities = increased well-being.