The Platform : The Radical Legacy of the Polynesian Panthers : BWB Texts

Some people called the Polynesian Panthers revolutionaries or freedom fighters. But back then, in the 1970s, we were just a bunch of teenagers and we were changing the world.

In a book that is both deeply personal and highly political, Melani Anae recalls the radical activism of Auckland's Polynesian Panthers - the movement modelled on the US Black Panther Party 'but without guns'. The Polynesian Panthers was founded in response to the racist treatment of Pacific Islanders in the era of the Dawn Raids. Central to the group was a three-point 'platform' of peaceful resistance against racism, Pacific empowerment and a liberating education aimed at changing the landscape of race relations. The Polynesian Panthers defined an emerging group of Pacific people whose legacy still resonates in Aotearoa today.