Terisa Siagatonu

Terisa Tinei Siagatonu is a Samoan spoken word poet, arts educator, and community organizer.[1][2][3][4] In 2012, she was awarded a Champion of Change Award for her activism.[5]

reading at Split this Rock 2018 poetry festival, Washington, D.C.

Early life

Siagatonu was born in San Francisco, CA.[3] She was the first on her father's side to attend college.[6] Siagatonu graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, While there, she experienced spoken word for the first time and began writing.[7] During college she competed in poetry slams, taught spoken word poetry to students, and was a Youth Speaks mentor.[6] After completing undergraduate work with a major in Community Studies and an Education minor,[6] she earned a Master of Arts in Marriage/FamilyTherapy from the University of Southern California.[6][8]

Career

She served as Project Director for the Pacific Islander Education and Retention project (PIER) at University of California, Los Angeles.[4]

She is a slam poet and coach.[9] She works as an activist in LGBTQ rights, racial justice, mental health, gender equity and climate change,[10] President Obama recognized Siagatonu with a Champion of Change Award in 2012.[5] She spoke at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.[5][11][12] One of her concerns is Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano.

Her work as a Kundiman Fellow and 2019 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 List Honoree, was published in Poetry Magazine and was featured on Button Poetry, CNN, NBCNews, NPR, Huffington Post, KQED, Everyday Feminism, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, and Upworthy.

Siagatonu is a queer Samoan woman and activist. She spoke at the Obama White House and to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France. She stated that the most memorable moment in her career was receiving President Obama’s Champion of Change Award in 2012.[13]

Works

References
  1. "Terisa Siagatonu". Poetry Foundation. 2020-05-22. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  2. Poets, Academy of American. "About Terisa Siagatonu | Academy of American Poets". poets.org. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  3. "'The Reason Why Land Has a Pulse in the First Place'". KQED. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  4. "Terisa tinei siagatonu". The White House. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  5. "Terisa Siagatonu > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences". dornsifelive.usc.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  6. "Terisa Siagatonu". Queer Arts in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  7. NEGRON, LOREN. "Event celebrates Indigenous women". The Daily Evergreen. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  8. "Educator discusses indigenous perspectives on climate change". The Justice. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  9. "Student speaks her mind, finds home in open-mic poetry". Daily Bruin. 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  10. "Event at Washington State University celebrates Indigenous women". www.samoanews.com. 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  11. Cohan, Ellen (2016-04-25). "Terisa Siagatonu". Climate One. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  12. "Pacific Islander Poets Use Art, Stories to Urge Climate Action at UN Conference". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  13. Siagatonu, Terisa. "Poet. Educator. Community Leader". Terisa Siagatonu. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
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