On Thursday, April 5, College Ten alumna and 2010 commencement speaker Terisa Tinei Siagatonu will visit the White House as part of President Obama’s Champions of Change Program. In the fall of 2011, the White House launched the “What’s Your Story” Video Challenge, which asked the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community to submit videos capturing the work for change they were doing in their own communities. Siagatonu’s video, “When We Speak for Ourselves,” on her work in Los Angeles, was one of over two hundred submissions to be selected, and will bring her to the White House to share her story. According to the AAPI Initiative website, the submissions represented various causes and geographic areas and were nothing short of inspiring.
“As a first generation, working class, queer Samoan woman/activist of color,” Siagatonu says, “I am rooted in my devotion to my Pacific Islander people, especially our youth. Through college access and spoken word poetry, I drive the development of Pacific Islander youth, advocating for self-empowerment so they can create sustainable impact in their communities, starting with themselves. It is time that we share in teaching, listen, step aside, and let them speak.”
To view a live-stream of the April 5 event at the White House (8:30 am PST), please click here.
To view the White House press release for the event, please click here.
