Esther patterson | Council of Transformation member

Pasifika Culture: Tongan

Pronouns: They/She

Profession: Writer, Editor, Teacher

Get to Know esther!

What is your favorite Islander Food?: Probably a very Tongan-American barbecue plate: very burnt barbecue chicken legs, beef chop suey, lupulu, and white sweet potato.

What is your most meaningful memory with someone who is a member of the QT/PI community or with your culture?:

Making pani with my mother, playing uke with my cousin into the night at his LA home, tracing tapa cloth designs and learning their meanings. Being seen as a (QT)PI in art and media is also very powerful for me. Some of my favorites have been Taika Waititi's movies ("Hunt for the Wilderpeople" is the best one, fight me), Kehinde Wiley's Tahitian mahus, Rodney Morales's "When the Shark Bites," and No'u Revilla's "Ask the Brindled."

What are you most excited to do or achieve during your time at UTOPIA PDX?

Colonizer thinking has many of us believing we can't be safe or loved or fed if we don't try to be model minorities or enact patriarchal violence against the weak--nevermind that too many of us aren't experiencing safety, love, or food security while participating in capitalism anyway. Learning about our Pasifika heritage with QTPI histories intact gives us a better way to imagine and enact a better future with Pasifika values like indigenous land sovereignty, mutualism, and helping one another to live lives full of dignity and creativity.