Make Ponsonby Brown Again: a Sāmoan family resisting gentrification | Still Here

“We don’t care if you offered us a billion dollars. That means nothing to us. I refuse to sell the hard work of my parents who immigrated from Sāmoa.”

Mother-daughter duo Selu-Kian and Moevasa Lealiifano delve into White Ponsonby’s Brown history fortifying their resolve to hold onto their family home no matter what.

In 1971, 45 percent of Auckland’s Pasifika population lived in the inner-city. Now, they’re fewer than 2 per cent.

Through the eyes of Pacific youth and their families, this four part docu-series celebrates the small but mighty Pasifika community in inner-city Auckland who have remained despite decades of rampant gentrification. Each episode weaves intergenerational stories of family, community and culture dispelling the myth that “all the Islanders have left.”

Watch more Still Here episodes:

The Queen of Herne Bay: Why my Tongan family are still here | Still Here

“I like that our house looks exactly the same. It’s like a silent protest.”

‘You gotta go twice as hard’: City Boys on being brown in Grey Lynn | Still Here

Watch the first episode of our new docu-series, Still Here.

Tatau: The women keeping Sāmoan tattoo alive in Grey Lynn | Still Here

Watch the fourth episode of our new docuseries, Still Here.