brown privilege
ABOUT
Veisinia Maka is of Tongan descent and hails from the villages of Folaha and Longoteme. She was raised in the hearty suburbs of Mangere and Panmure in Auckland, New Zealand. Veisinia is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Law at the University of Auckland.
A dedicated advocate for increased youth inclusiveness concerning the development of communities, systems, and processes. Veisinia has spent majority of her career advocating and empowering young people in her local community to participate in local decision making through innovative practices of engagement.
Her journey in advocacy started at the age of 15 when she joined her first youth council and is now currently facilitating youth groups in East Auckland, as well as; sitting on several boards across Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa.
Veisinia is a strong believer in storytelling and the power of young people.
Her extensive history within the youth development and advocacy space has inspired her to become an appointed New Zealand judge in the future.
She is the author of the blog 'Brown Privilege’.
This blog is an accumulation of the untold stories of not only my personal lived experiences but of friends, young Māori and Pacific people, young people from East Auckland and family members. It's the taboo subjects and traumatic experiences that we don't quite seem to see in mainstream media.
This blog hopes to provide a tuakana-teina relationship through storytelling.
I want to thank everyone who has shared a story with me.
Brown privilege isn't solely a blog about my personal experiences but it is a collection of memoirs from young Māori and Pacific people living in Tāmaki Makaurau that I have been able to share space, stories and experiences with.
Enjoy!