Los Angeles Samoan Flag Day

Remembering,- KUKA MOLIO'O One of the most interesting story/interview, (to say the least), I did several decades ago was the one and only Kuka Molioo. The la...te Mr. Kuka Molioo was the first Samoan businessman I interviewed while a passenger in his six-figure Ferari Testarossa flying at about 100 miles/hr on California freeway. Going at high speed, I forgot all my questions, all what I was thinking of, Im a second away from dead. He also had a very nice red Porsche. To say I was impressed was an understatement. :-). That particular Testarossa, now cost somewhere around $500,000, cost of some homes. He sponsored several Samoan athletes and sports team especially the volleyball and basketball teams. I got invited to cover his 50th birthday party and saw how the top 1% of the Samoan elites live and while its a great life, success is a difficult slippery road. He was a kind and generous man to many who needed help. Sharing some photos I took of Kuka Molioo and also his 50th birthday where the whos-who of CA-Samoan community attended.

Early 1900s "We are not makers of history. We are made by history." Martin Luther King, Jr.... O ata ua leva, lea ua ou tuufaatasia ina ia faafaigofie ai mo nai Tama ma Tina matutua o loo fia maimoa i ata o Samoa ua leva. E na o le tasi lava le ata na pueina lata mai i le 1970s, o le ata a le Kamupani Vaalele a le Pan Am, e faalauiloa ai Amerika Samoa ma Tahiti, o alavaa na tausia e le Pan Am a o femalagai i le Pasefika. O le tele o ata na pueina mai le 1918 i le 1940. Onosa'i i naration a papalagi o isi ata ua iloa atu ai le manatu faatauvaa o tagata papa'e i o tatou tagata. Na maualuga lava ma maoa'e le soifuaga na soifua ai o tatou tua'a, ae le'i malamalama iai papalagi ona e le'i o atu i Samoa e fia iloa se mea, na o atu i Samoa e faaaoga o tatou laueleele, ogasami, ma le malosi o o tatou tagata i a latou pisinisi ma le faakoloneina o le Pasefika. E aoga lo tatou matamata ma maitau a latou faamatalaga, faauigaina ma faaliliuina o le soifuaga o o tatou tagata, o iina e faavae mai ai o latou uiga faailogatagata e oo mai i aso nei i atunuu i fafo. "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. " George Santayana

Dr. Grace Pouesi Williams, Ph.D., University of Southern California (Faafetai tele Dr. Grace Pouesi Williams for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk ...with me and our Radio global audience. <3) Dr Grace Pouesi Williams epitomizes the essence of the modern Samoan-American woman with confidence, a new generation of women leaders, with extreme disdain for incompetence and complacency. Dr. Grace has roots in both Upolu and Tutuila. She was born in the U.S. and raised in American Samoa. Her proud parents are Namulauulu Dr. Paul Pouesi and mother, Liupapa Ah Mu-Pouesi. Dr. Grace holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California in Urban/Regional Planning with emphasis in Civil Engineering; a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership & Management from the University of La Verne; and a Doctorate in Policy, Planning & Development from USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. Dr. Grace joined the Army National Guard in 2003 and was honorably discharged in 2011. She was recognized as the 2017 Woman of Distinction Honoree and the 2018 Veteran of the Year for California's Assembly District 61. Dr. Grace is planning to run for the California state legislature in the next election and she added What I want to highlight in my run for office, is the importance of family and community in public policy, she is also a big proponent of small businesses and non-profits. She added, I carried a lot of my Samoan values with me, often challenging leaders in my area to shift their political priorities to putting our families first in their policy discussions. She also commented in support of "Black Lives Matter" protest, and how important for minorities to be valued in their own country, the USA. Its inevitable to talk to an acomplished son/daughter of Samoa without the proverbial greetings O ai ou Matua? That quetion is a psychosocial and culturally loaded Samoan concept of self, that presuppose that who you are is the product of parenting. It is quite obvious her parents did an amazing job, but her work ethics and drive are also very evident. Her father is the renown musician and music professor, Namulauulu Dr. Paul Pouesi, who founded with Faanana Jerome Grey and Harry Miller the iconic group Ava and as they say the rest is history. She grew up in the village of Aua where her grandmother worked as a registered nurse in the LBJ Medical Center and her grandfather an auto mechanic that ran one of the first bus businesses on the island. She grew up in a military family where many of her uncles and cousins served in the Marine Corp, Army, and Navy. Dr. Grace’s fondest memories of Samoa involved Samoa’s annual Flag Day celebrations where rugby, cricket, canoe races and village cultural performances brought villages together. Faafetai tele Dr. Grace Pouesi-Williams mo le faaavanoaina o lou taimi mo le Leitio Samoa. Wish you all the ebst.

1992 Samoan Federation host this March for Justice on the of Samoan usos Vitale nd Tovio were shot to death by Officer Skyle of Compton Police Dept.

DR. RAYNALD SAMOA, MD Clinical Professor, City of Hope National Medical Center, California I want to thank Dr. Raynald Samoa for making time on my Radio program... to update us with the COVID-19 status in California, providing critical information and resources for our Polynesian/Pacific communities in the USA. He is an integral member and leading Poly physician of the COVID-19 California task force focusing on Pacific islanders. Dr. Samoa knows COVID-19 well because he personally experienced it as a patient. A survivor of COVID-19, a risk and sacrifice that our Medical professionals and Front-line Responders battle with every day they are at work saving lives from the Pandemic. Faafetai tele. Dr. Raynald Samoa, MD., is a research endocrinologist, and Clinical Professor at the City of Hope National Medical Center located in Southern California. He attended the University of Washington School of Medicine where he attained his Doctorate of Medicine (MD) 1999, and completed residencies in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Southern California/ Los Angeles County Medical Center. He has completed fellowships in Adult and Pediatric Endocrinology. He is board certified in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. His current clinical trials include breast cancer survivorship metabolic syndrome intervention and prevention, community-based diabetes prevention programs and cancer therapy induced endocrinopathies such as type one diabetes. Dr. Samoa frequently conducts teaching in-services regarding diabetes in Pacific communities in the continental US, and the US Associated Pacific Islands. He was born in Hawaii and his family is from Lauli'i Tuai in American Samoa. He was raised in the EFKAS faith. Faafetai Dr. Raynald Samoa mo lou taimi i luga o le Leitio Samoa, ma lau fesoasoani i o tatou tagata. Faamanuia atu le Atua i au galuega.

Samoan Flag Day in Los Angeles, is from July 28, to August 3rd, 2019Samoan Flag Day in Los Angeles, is from July 28, to August 3rd, 2019

Contatct the new Chairman for the LA Flag Day