From Plate to Perspective: Thoughts on the YPL Dinner

Written by: Melody Satele

Environmental Justice Community Organizer, SoCal PICRT

In our organizing at SoCal PICRT, we often think about the ways we connect across space and time. How can we do the work for our islands when we live outside of them? How do we build from the work that has existed for generations? How do we bridge the physical gap between organizing in Southern California and the ongoing work by advocates across Oceania? In late September, we had the opportunity to do just that and bridge the physical space between us.  

For our Pacific Power team, the summer months were defined by our Deep Sea Mining Campaign - Defend Our Moana. During our statewide virtual townhall, we brought in speakers from American Samoa including Dr. Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka who serves as Executive Director of American Samoa Resilience Office (ASRO), among other roles. Dr. Suluai-Mahuka is also a delegate and alumna of the Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) program, who shared with our team that a group of 16 YPL alumni will be touring the United States and stopping in Southern California. Young Pacific Leaders is a U.S. Department of State-sponsored initiative launched in 2013 to strengthen leadership development and networking among young people across the Pacific region. It focuses on four key pillars: Education, Environment and Resource Management, Civic Leadership, and Economic and Social Development. The delegates represent many forms of advocacy and many islands from Vanuatu to Kiribati, The Cook Islands to American Samoa, Guam to Fiji and several others. 

In true Pasifika fashion, when our family and friends visit it’s only right we welcome them into our community with open arms, and what better way than to break bread! In hosting a group of 16 delegates plus our community members, our team was very intentional about the space we use and the food we serve. Weighing our options with colleagues and allies in Little Tokyo, we chose Suehiro DTLA as our venue for the evening. Suehiro has been a staple in Little Tokyo’s history since its opening in 1972. Under the direction of Kenji its current owner, Suehiro is known for its authentic Japanese food and warm hospitality. The restaurant’s close proximity to our YPL guests (who were housed in downtown LA) allowed us to support a local business while treating our guests to some of Los Angeles’ finest comfort cuisines. 

With over 40 attendees at the dinner, the evening opened with a prayer by Dr. Vicente Diaz, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies at UCLA, followed by an official welcome from our Executive Director, ‘Alisi Tulua. ‘Alisi began by acknowledging the Tongva and Chumash peoples whose land we reside on, our respected elders in the room, and the 10+ SoCal-based CBOs represented in the room that night.

Dinner consisted of some Suehiro classics including chicken karaage, vegetable gyoza, spicy tuna rolls, chicken teriyaki, and the house special with tofu. Over a yummy meal, folks went around the table introducing themselves and more about the work they do. Slowly but surely, the conversations started flowing, laughter filled the restaurant, and the connections grew stronger. So strong that some found they shared not only similar goals and networks, but family ties as well. 

Phyllis Ngauamo of MAFANA and Simata Palu of Tonga Ministry of Police were able to enjoy dinner together and shared how clear it is that our orgs in SoCal don’t just organize together, but really know each other and the setting felt very familial and close knit. Trisha from SoCal PICRT connected with Mary about the importance of representation and dreaming of a network for Pacific Islander businesses. Knowing that this has been in the works for years in the US, Trisha shared about PacBiz and together they looked at the possibility of one day having a worldwide directory and mapping system of Pacific Islander businesses to reference no matter where in the world we are. 

As the night reached its end, artist, advocate and leader in the Defend Our Moana campaign, Melodie Turori closed our night with a blessing. Our YPL family left with gift bags filled with snacks for the road and goodies from our partner orgs, and newfound connections reflecting the breadth and interconnectedness of our work as Pasifika people. In even truer Pasifika fashion, we said our goodbyes and still took at least another 30 minutes for the last of our team to shuffle out of the restaurant. 

We are incredibly thankful for our SoCal community leaders who joined us to welcome our YPL family. Most of all, we hold immense gratitude that our YPL friends spent the last night of their roadshow with us in Southern California. We bridged the physical distance between us for just that night, but we realized that our journeys have and always will be connected. Either through our families, or the people we’ve organized with, the physical distance has never stopped us from connecting. We have always been connected in more ways than one, and this special evening proved that. Our heart work weaves us together across any ocean. We are honored to have hosted the Young Pacific Leaders in Los Angeles, and are thankful to have shared this chapter together.

Helpful links:

Suehiro DTLA: https://www.suehirocafe.com/about-3 

YPL Program: https://www.state.gov/young-pacific-leaders 

SoCal PICRT website: https://www.socalpicrt.org/