Polynesian Panthers

rdf:langString Polynesian Panthers

rdf:langString Polynesian Panthers Documentary

rdf:langString Polynesian-Panthers-Documentary-146131108750623

rdf:langString "If you were brown, you were stopped by the police. If you were brown and had no ID, you went straight to the cell ... I [told a police officer] 'Look, I was born in New Zealand, I don't usually carry my passport around in my back pocket because I'm not travelling anywhere'."

rdf:langString Reverend Wayne Toleafoa, former Information Minister for the Panthers

rdf:langString The Polynesian Panther Party (PPP) was a revolutionary social justice movement formed to target racial inequalities carried out against indigenous Māori and Pacific Islanders in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded by a group of young Polynesians on 16 June 1971, the Panthers worked to aid in community betterment through activism and protest. Besides peaceful protests, they helped provide education, legal aid, and other social resources, such as ESOL classes and youth community programs. The group was explicitly influenced by the American Black Panther Party, particularly Huey Newton’s policy of Black unity through his global call-to-action, as well as his ideology of intercommunalism. The movement galvanised widespread support during the Dawn Raids of the 1970s, and greatly helped contribute to the modern pan-Polynesian ethnic identity in New Zealand called Pasifika. The Polynesian Panthers operated to bring awareness and combat exploitative social relations of Pasifika people, including redlining, racial profiling, disproportionate incarceration, and segregation in sport. The PPP effectively ceased when founding member and main organiser, Will 'Ilolahia, fled the country in 1983 after being threatened by police, following his acquittal for helping organise protests of the 1981 Springbok Tour. The name has since been adopted by an activist group continuing to fight for human rights in New Zealand.