Samoans

Both Oscar Zetas Autobiography of the Brown Buffalo and Ana Castillo’s Novel So Far From God are examples of the use of magic realism and mythology in Chicano/a literature. However, both pieces of Chicano/a literature display their own unique interpretation of self-identity. Beginning with the plot of the Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, Oscar is a lawyer at the East Oakland Legal Aid society. He drives to his office in downtown San Francisco only to discover that his secretary, who usually…

common tattoo designs, like Lapita, which is a former Pacific archeological culture. Ancient original styles mainly consist of some simple patterns, like straight lines, repeating on the body. These geometrical styles can be found in Hawaiian and Samoan tattoo traditions. Because the age is too far from today, the meanings of these patterns are almost lost, or at a minimum debatable. The most used styles today, which instead consist of rounded patterns, are from Marquesas Island. Tattooing is a…

most difficult challenge I had ever faced was overcoming my suicidal thoughts and attempts before it was too late. During my Junior year at Magnolia Highschool, I struggled keeping my sanity in control. Fighting against the conflicting natures of my Samoan cultural traditions, family expectations, religious beliefs, and school standards, causing me to lower my self-esteem and motivation. Currently during this time I was helping support my parents who were living homeless outside on the streets…

“It's great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things.” This quote is from a novel titled The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This displays the main character’s view on growing up. A frequent theme in American culture is coming of age,…

heavy jaw set and a darker skin color. Just from looking at the picture, I can’t tell if the person is of male or female gender. Lastly, with this picture I can see similarities with the idea and person. I have a white dress and black hair. I am Samoan. I think these people are of Asian descent just by visually noticing certain facial features. The people in the picture could be like me. I have family descendants from…

“Dark Girls” Directed by Bill Duke The film “Dark Girls” directed by Bill Duke focuses on colourism all around the world and the different views black people have on themselves because of their colour. The film really made me think about how we can help black people not feel second-class to white people but also made me realise how hard it is to do so because of society today. The film uses young kids to support the idea that colourism effects kids from a young age and lowers their self esteem…

How does gender stereotypes in the media affect people in today’s society, especially women? Gender stereotypes in today’s media effects nearly every aspect of public life, from job interviews and housing to police stops and prison terms. This goes to show how stereotyping in the mass media, which includes advertising, news industries and entertainment, has affected our perception on different genders, as stereotypes generalize individuals within a group, emphasizing sameness and ignoring the…

overweight Chicano man who constantly struggles with personal identity. As a county appointed lawyer in Oakland, California, Acosta experiences a mental struggle between his Mexican heritage and his personal integration into American culture. Oscar Zeta Acosta reacts to this internalized racism with a lack of personal identity displayed through his abandonment of responsibility, traditional male dominated gender dynamics, and his return to El Paso Mexican border. Prior to embarking on a…

Pua and her cousin, Mina, were at a party discussing the disappearance of the bones and Mina’s friend, Fatu, appears. Upon hearing that Fatu is a Samoan, she assumes that he had an athletic scholarship and that was the sole reason he went to school. Pua exclaims profoundly, “You know, it’s just wonderful how many scholarships there are available now for Pacific Islanders. Especially if you’re interested…

Health disparities means a great difference between different regions of the country. It is considered as a universal concern. Many people are suffering of health disparities. Sometime health disparities cause a serious cases that people could die from it. Minority group is usually a group of people that are similar to each other in there, language, believes, and religion. Minority groups are in some cases immigrants that they moved to other area, because they can’t live in their country for…