SAMOANS

Bayview Hunters Point has seen a steady increase in the amount of Samoans for the last twenty years. One has just to visit Sunnydale, Double Rock, or Hunters point around Middle Point, Kiska, in fact anywhere around Hunters Point - many Samoans live in all these areas and contribute to the City and County of San Francisco.

In recent years there has been a move to exclude Samoans from having a dialog regarding the Hunters Point Shipyard. The Hunters Point Shipyard has the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) and for a long time the only person who attended this meeting of Samoan decent was Sulu Palaga. Now we have a host of Samoans making every effort to attend the RAB meeting Audrey Nauer and her brother John Nauer who manages Chocolate City ll. Lisa and Laofo Laulu, Rev. Vaovasa, and a host of other Samoans.

The RAB provides the Samoans an opportunity to find out about what really took place at the Shipyard. Most Samoans understand about Radiological activities and they also fully understand about pollution. They are a traditional people and have been for thousands of years. If anyone has seen clean beaches, clean blue waters, pristine rivers, and forest full of activity and life - the Samoans have. They were the ones who traveled from island to island and they are the ones who first inhabited Hawaii and paid homage to Pele the goddess of fire.

The Samoans have a better understanding of what has been happening at Hunters Point but it goes deeper when they listen to the Radiological experts and those who specialize in the removal of hazardous material from all over the Hunters Point Shipyard. They understand the Sacred Burial Grounds and the Shellmounds that belonged to the Muwekma and which were destroyed.

Samoans served and serve in the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force and have in thousands, over the years. All the more should they be allowed to participate in the dialog linked to Hunters Point and its future development.

For a long time for reasons best known to the community leaders who attend the RAB, little outreach was done to bring in the Samoan Community. I do not know if this was planned or simply foolishness on the part of those who conduct the RAB meetings. I think it was a combination of the two. I see a repeat of this with the DDA review.

In recent months I have gone out of my way to explain to the Samoans why they ought participate not only in the RAB meetings but the various meetings linked to the Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) linked to Parcel A on the Hunters Point Shipyard.

The DDA document is being reviewed and I have not seen one single Samoan attend the meetings where the Citizens Advisory Committee linked to the Shipyard, the DDA Super Committee, City and Redevelopment authorities are present. For that matter I do not see any Asians. I think this is totally wrong.

Now why would any one in their right mind exclude the Samoans who make up over 40% of those who live in Hunters Point, Double Rock, and Sunnydale? I think there is a conspiracy to keep the Samoans out and I think the sooner the Samoans are incorporated to join the dialog as Stakeholders the better.

I have been bold to tell the all inclusive Negroes or African Americans that it is not their place to make decisions of behalf of the community at large. It is also not there place to reserve Hunters Point Shipyard only for those who live in the 94124 zip code.

I know for a fact that those who live in 94134 worked at the Hunters Point Shipyard but today know next to nothing about the on going discussions linked to Parcel A and the DDA. I would venture to say that San Franciscans living all over the City and County of San Francisco and especially those who worked and lived on the Shipyard should also be invited to participate in the review of the DDA. Unfortunately none of this has happened and it will not happen unless the Samoan community, the Asian community get together, share their views, and dialog with the few African American cronies who are behind the ploy to deceive the constituents of San Francisco.

Right now there are plans to build an African Market at Parcel A. I have stated that may be we should build a Samoan Village and learn from those who have a unified continuous tradition how best to share spiritual and other family values that are universally accepted but lost by those who are very materialistic.

Young Samoans who have come to make America their second home fail to understand the values that old traditional indigenous people share and can contribute to make our world a better place. One has just to study the indigenous people of Hawaii. Closer home the people of San Francisco our First People the Muwekma Ohlone.

It is time that the Circle is Complete and that those who were taught materialistic ways and told to shun the traditional spiritual ways now take control of their destiny and spread the values that have stood the ground, weathered the years - values that have been tested by the fires of wisdom, tradition by the Elders for thousands of years.

Now is the time for the Samoans to get together, unite, and in the spirit AIGA1.

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