Seventeen years ago, my sister walked out our front door and never came home. She was only twenty-one when she was the victim of a car accident. Her wave goodbye as she…
UTOPIA Blog
Hear Me Roar: The Story of Princess Tiger
“Talofa! My name is Deborah Shontelle Schilid Victoria Patsy Cline, the one and only Princess Tiger, the most popular of Samoa, le lalelei o lo’o misa ai tama ma tamāloloa (the beauty…
Unsung Sheroes: A Love Letter in Honor of the Faʻafafine Community
Le Nofo: The Rise to the Throne For the first time since its inception, I was unable to attend the highly anticipated annual UTOPIA Washington L’au. Alike millions connecting through the ever-advancing world…
Is Virtual Learning the Future of Education? Our Educators Weigh the Pros and Cons
Distanced learning and education have become more accessible than ever before, with the obstacle of the COVID-19 Pandemic and thanks to advancements in technology. In times of unexpected circumstances, as we all…
Breaking the Stigma: Fa’afafine Women are Worthy and Deserving of Love
Early one morning I was woken up by a phone call from someone I had not talked to in almost two whole years; it was an old lover. He kept my phone…
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Story of Survival and Resilience
When Miki Kupu woke up from her usual after-work power nap to complete darkness in her room, she assumed it was just the usual loss of light to the evening. As she…
60 Years of Fa’afafine History: A Timeline of Herstory Makers & Events surrounding Them in American Samoa
The Stonewall Uprising that took place on June 28th, 1969, in New York City changed the lives and history for the LGBTQI+ community forever, the month of June is now nationally celebrated…
This Too, Shall Pass’: A Samoan Nurse recalls the Horrors of working through the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic 
When nurse Maya Ierome relocated from American Samoa to the U.S. mainland in the summer of 2017, she never imagined that she would soon be faced with the grim reality of being…
Searching for Nafanua: The story of beauty queen Janice Baice
At the turn of the new millennium, the name and face of Nafanua became one of the consequential figures synonymous with that era. She was not the Samoan mythical Goddess of the…
The show must go on: remembering a Las Vegas safe haven for trans women.
When the Las Vegas Lounge closed its doors in May of 2020, it signaled the end of an era. The small business, which employed 9 people, was a casualty to the economic…