Episode 2: South Pacific to Southern US: Aynsley Broom’s Journey in Reclaiming Her Roots

In this episode of Roots Reclaimed, Aynsley Broom, of Sāmoan descent, shares her journey of rediscovering her cultural roots while living far from her heritage. Growing up in Arkansas and now residing in Nashville, Aynsley reflects on her upbringing and the influence of her diverse background. She discusses the challenges of reconnecting with her Sāmoan heritage in a predominantly white community and the importance of embracing her cultural identity.

Aynsley delves into starting her platform, Sipping KoKo, as a way to connect with her community, learn more about her heritage, and encourage others to reclaim their cultural identities. She highlights the struggles and criticisms she faced, emphasizing the need for grace, self-acceptance, and the support of elders in the community.

The conversation explores the complexities of identity, facing judgment from both within and outside the community, and the process of advocating for one’s right to reclaim heritage. Aynsley encourages individuals to embark on their reclamation journey, emphasizing the importance of giving oneself grace, seeking guidance from elders, and engaging with cultural resources such as books, movies, and music to reconnect with their roots.

The discussion touches on the significance of ancestral pride, the power of storytelling, and the reclaiming of cultural narratives. Aynsley shares personal anecdotes, experiences, and advice for those struggling to embrace their cultural identity. The episode concludes with a message of empowerment, resilience, and the celebration of diverse cultural heritages within the AANHPI community.

[0:00] That her generation grew up with the mindset of do as the Romans do, right? And so it wasn’t that she wasn’t proud to be Sāmoan. It was like a survival, you know? It was just her and my dad, and she didn’t have other islanders around her. So, you know, you just kind of did as the Romans do. But she was, she’s very proud to be Sāmoan.

[0:20] Join us as we explore the hidden histories of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander people. Together, we hope to provide healing and strengthen cultural pride. This is Roots Reclaimed. Aloha and welcome. My name is Dr. Lester Papa, and I’ll be your host for today’s episode. In today’s episode, we talk with Aynsley Broom, who is of Sāmoan descent, about her experience with rediscovering her cultural roots while living far away from her heritage. All right, aloha and welcome to the Roots Reclaimed podcast, the official podcast of the ‘Ohana Center of Excellence. I have a special guest who is going to be talking a little bit about roots. I’m so pleased to be able to welcome Aynsley Broom to the studio. Hello, thank you. I’m so happy to be here. So glad that you are here. Now, why don’t you tell everyone a little bit about yourself and also about Sip and Coco. I think that’s going to be some really great context. And so, yeah, why don’t we just start there? My name is Aynsley Broom. I grew up in Arkansas. I now live in Nashville, Tennessee.

[1:34] My background is my mom is from the island of Samoa. And my dad, who is Balangi or Caucasian, he actually was born in the States, but grew up in New Zealand. So my mom moved from Sāmoa to New Zealand where she met my dad. They got married. And my dad had done university in Texas. So after they got married, they moved to Texas. Even though many Islanders are known to be part of the Catholic Church or the Mormon Church, we actually grew up Church of Christ. So just Christian…

[2:12] Basic Christianity, essentially. Yeah. And so my dad went to ACU out in Abilene, and that’s where they were for a few years before moving to Kansas, where he was pursuing a doctorate in library science. And that’s where me and my sister were born. And then we moved from Kansas to Arkansas. So I say we are true Arkansans because of that. I have a dad who loves dad jokes. I lived in Arkansas until I was about 27, I think it was, and then moved to Nashville about five years ago. Like, it’s been literally five years this month. So, yeah, been out here. And then when I moved out here, I was lucky enough to have worked with people who were very diverse in their background at my previous job before moving here. Sorry, before moving to Nashville. And they were the ones. I always credit them as being the ones to encourage me to dive more into my cultural heritage on my Sāmoan side.

[3:16] Sort of because I grew up pretty, pretty baloney, pretty white, white dominated town. Yeah. And so they’re the ones that kind of prompted me. And so I started diving more and more into my heritage and learning more about it because my mom, like some of that her generation grew up with the mindset of do as the Romans do. Right. And so it wasn’t that she wasn’t proud to be Sāmoan. It was like a survival. It was just her and my dad. And she didn’t have other islanders around her. So you just kind of did as the Romans do. But she was very proud to be Sāmoan, extremely proud of her culture.

[3:53] But I feel like with her generation, it’s very much like our generation helping them feel proud. And so that was part of what I felt the ancestors pulling me to do when I moved to Nashville. I had three weeks while I was waiting to start my new job that I’m at now. And so I was like going back and forth on this idea of starting a blog where like I could connect with others and also learn as myself, like learn. I just needed to figure out because like in Arkansas and Tennessee, you’re not going to have a library of like books or anything to really help you connect to Pacific Islander history. And even online, it was pretty sparse back then. I mean, it’s kind of sparse now, but it’s getting much better. And thanks to social media and in part, I feel like to COVID, we’ve all connected online way better than we have before. By the fall of 2019, I had started Sipping Koko, which was my way to connect with community, to also learn from others, maybe help people who are like me who grew up in a dominant like a pretty dominant white.

[5:08] Town yeah to also learn about their culture and like you know I remember going to in 2017 going to Australia and my cousins being like oh you’re plastic samuel and aren’t you and I was like wait what’s that what’s that I don’t know I don’t know what I don’t know what that means and they’re like you know, fake Sāmoan, you can’t speak Sāmoan. And I go, okay, like, let’s like not use that. And so part of my page is pretty much to just be like, we need to stop using that vocabulary.

[5:40] Need to stop shaming people in the diaspora who don’t have the opportunity, who didn’t have the opportunity to learn it. Because of systematic racism, because like, that’s the big issue there, you know so I started Sipping Koko and was very anonymous from the very like in the beginning because I was scared I was nervous I was like I don’t want to be judged for having opinions and finally was like oh hey this is me um I’m a I’m a biracial girly out here in the south trying to connect to our islander roots and I hope other people understand and um if you’re the same like me like let’s journey together well and this is why I like right like your story is a a perfect one to be able to capture, for roots for claim because that’s the story is this reclamation of your Islander side and not just the process of reclaiming but then also having to advocate for the right to reclaim that for yourself Oh yeah, the right to exist because now I do a lot of Bridgerton content and people come to my page and they’re going to be like wait, what’s this?

[6:45] But I do Bridgerton is where I feel like a lot of us who are biracial and feel very in between, are allowed to exist because I was either too brown for my white friends or too white for my brown family and so with you know the world of Bridgerton where it’s a diverse world where my my literally because I did DNA test I have UK roots so where my Scottish heritage in a way can exist and where my Sāmoan heritage can exist in a world where I don’t have to choose a side I can just be angley oh I love that okay yeah perfect and so you know one of the things that I want to be able to add to the conversation is some of the history and so like I had been doing some very light research but yeah in terms of the research that I um had taken a look and I was like how how is it that we get Pacific Islanders into the Southern United States.

[7:46] How do we go from south Pacific to South US, right? Exactly, yeah. And so here’s what I found, was looking in there, you know, the kind of light overview of this is that there are a lot of agreements that are happening in the Pacific in terms of folks from the islands being able to come to the US specifically without a visa and that there’s like a free association then, right?

[8:15] Between Pacifica Islands and coming to the U.S., some of the ways of immigration had been labor. So like in Hawaii, for example, a lot of it had been, you know, sugarcane plantation. Another way of immigration for Pacifica folks had then been through school. And so it’s been kind of the precursor for having Polynesian, specifically men to be in football arenas also yeah had been through education and then through um the NFL when uh to go pro and then other uh labor departments that had kind of opened up had been kind of notable by industry specifically meat packing specifically Tyson Farms specifically from the Marshall Island. Yyson’s in Arkansas exactly and so that was one of the things that had come up in the research has been kind of an influence a source for why the Southern U.S. Yeah, yeah. It’s been interesting because I had wondered the same thing and it’s been hard to sometimes find it, but I know especially for the Marshall Islands, the Marshallese, it was in the 80s that a lot of them immigrated to Arkansas because of Sam’s and things like that because of the Walmart. It was interesting to see that and then even now there’s been a huge immigration to Texas. Yes, like because of sports like you mentioned because of football and things like that. I think it’s the Trinity School in in.

[9:43] Dallas or Houston I don’t know um but they have a huge like islander community to where like you know normally like growing up or like even as I got older and was in college you would see like the Haka being performed at football games yes for like in California and Utah that side of the states but now it’s happening in Texas of all places and to me I’m just like holy cow like that is incredible. And that’s so cool to see. And so I get really excited about it. Because like, I call them like our tiny islands here, like in the Southern United States in the Midwest. I don’t know if I don’t know if you call it consider Missouri Midwest, but I don’t really know Missouri and Arkansas. I’m always like, are we in the middle? Or are we Southern? I don’t know. You know, Missouri, we always growing up, we went up there for flag days. And when I was 16, that’s when we started to go up there and celebrate like a lot of Sāmoa.

[10:39] Heritage days and things like that and so it’s been really cool to um I don’t know see like what I call tiny islands pop up in states where I grew up around states I grew up because I always knew osama but I didn’t know what that meant like I didn’t know what that meant I was like and you know I think i can totally relate to that like you got you don’t know what it means to you unless you’re asked right unless you’re forced to um yeah kind of figure it out you know my parents parents were from the Philippines but I was born and raised in Hawaii right yeah uh and so when I was growing up like even the shirt that i’m wearing right now is like from the islands you know yeah.

[11:16] It’s something that I’ve been used to. I have been doing hula as part of the public school system since I was in kindergarten.

[11:24] If you are from Hawaii, you know May Day. Shout out to you all if you know what May Day is. Yes, exactly. It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal. And for me growing up then, I knew what being Native Hawaiian, being Kanaka Maoli, there’s this culture that is the Indigenous culture. Then I have my own right like there’s the culture of the land that I live on there’s the culture of where my parents came from yeah yeah no it’s true right and like that was like the way to be able to navigate that and then I didn’t really know though like that I had to justify or explain that until I moved to the continental U.S. And so and also like have you visited the Philippines since yes Yes, I have. Yeah. Okay. So something that I experienced is like, because I went when I was five to like New Zealand Ensemble. And like, when you’re five, it doesn’t really you’re like, Oh, this is so fun. The beach. Right? Yeah. I know the world. I’m on an airplane.

[12:25] You know, it’s like, Mom, can I get off this 14 hour flight? And I’m like, go to sleep. Like um right uh it’s like for me when I went back in 2018 and then 2019 because I only went to Australia so I got the feeling of like family and like my soul was like alive but it wasn’t until I put my feet down in New Zealand and Sāmoa that I like I was like oh wow this is this is where I belong. This is where my people are at. And, you know, like New Zealand in 2018, 2018 I went for my cousin’s wedding and I was only there for five days and I like still remember being like I don’t want to go home I don’t want to go home this is home this is where I’m supposed to be right and my mom literally when I landed in San Francisco she goes oh thank god I didn’t know if you were gonna get on the plane I was so glad to hear that you’re like. Like, cause I was like, I was calling her. I was like, no, I don’t want to come home. I want to stay here. And she was like, oh my God, thank God you’re here. Cause he was like, I didn’t, she was like worried for like 14 hours that my, she’s like, my daughter’s going to stay there. I’m going to have to go to New Zealand.

[13:46] And, um, I just remember like, it was such an intense like trip that I even went back to my office and my coworkers were like, you got a slight accent and I don’t like, I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but it’s almost as if like our soul just like automatically knows that like you’re on the right journey when you land your feet into like, you know, your ancestors country and like, it’s just like everything about you just like comes to life. Like it’s almost like you didn’t know the person you were supposed to be until you’re there. Yes. Um, and no, totally a hundred percent relatable.

[14:22] Yeah, because I just went to the Philippines last summer I guess it’s been it’s almost a year now, but like yeah, feeling exactly and I think the feeling because like you said it becomes something that you appreciate more that you kind of treasure more when you’re older and you can understand what it means that your ancestors right and, Yeah. For a very long time up in these islands, right?

[14:51] I’ve been doing the thing. And I don’t know about you, but, like, there’s something that I really admired also. Like, when I went to the Philippines, it’s June, all right? It is capital H hot, capital H humid. Yeah, and not just hot. I was going to say, the humidity. Exactly, exactly. But I was like, listen, like, right, millennia. My ancestors have been able to do this without AC, right? Well, and to be fair, when it’s like capital H hot with humid, capital H humid, I will admit, you get the ocean breeze. Come to the south where there’s no ocean. I remember being in Sāmoa and I’d be like, you know what? I can’t complain. I know it’s hot. I know it’s humid. But I would take this kind of hot and humid over any July in Tennessee. That is true. That is true. I would take that any day. Yeah, well, and that’s the thing. It was right, like, that was what I had realized is then, you know, like, even the thing of how you are, like, not in the house during the day. You are outside, but you have to be out. And that’s what, like, if you’re going to get out of your house, you might as well, you know, say hi to a few friends, go visit the market.

[16:04] I love market. Yes, exactly. And so, you know, there’s a whole way of life, too, that kind of supports then being able to, like, make it through the climate, right? And so it’s been, I think, really cool to have that experience that you have had of, like, then being able to, like, go back and reconnect.

[16:27] And so, you know, one of the questions that I have for you, then, is growing up, because you’re doing a lot of this, like, you know, right, identity, what it means to you, how… And then being able to kind of like defend your right to claim it. How do you think that has affected how you either think about yourself or how, I guess what I’m trying to get at is in terms of mental health, like impacts, you know, do you feel like that process of finding out like what identity means to you, your process of like holding on and trying to claim to something when people are telling you to your face, you don’t have a right to it, you know? Yeah I wonder if you can share a little bit more of those kinds of impacts.

[17:10] Yeah so um it’s wild because like you know i would say like growing up in the town I grew up and they just like accepted it I was actually pretty like lucky in that way to where they’re like oh you’re you’re you’re islander cool whatever like my friends didn’t like care honestly like to be honest they were just like all right whatever right um I think it was really it hit me when I was like actually diving into it or I was going to like weddings and things like that to where I had cousins of cousins kind of being like well you’re not this and you’re not that and then it got even more so when I was making like like Pacific Islander like content essentially I don’t know there would just be like random comments that people would say.

[17:53] And it wasn’t necessarily like you don’t have a right to this it was just almost like like, just shut up, you know, like, don’t talk about it. Don’t rock the boat. And there was always topics that would come up, especially from especially it was also around dating, like, there’s always like a whole topic when it comes to like, islanders and like, who we date. And it always come up to that point. And it was not necessarily like you’re were not island enough it was like almost like your efficacy you wouldn’t get it or something I don’t know it was just it was always kind of like just like it was more or less like your efficacy you’re half cast you’re only half so you’re not technically enough and things like that and so yeah i think that always like prompted me and made me be like okay well I’ll show y’all I’ll prove to you how much I am Pacific like how Pacific Islander I am how hard like I will ride or die yeah the eyes and in doing so I created an account that was mainly about.

[18:59] Polynesian you know topics and issues and things like that but it would be like you know that a lot of them when they found out I couldn’t speak the language or like I said I was off Akasi there they would I don’t know it was a little bit it was there was judgment there yeah but I was like oh don’t worry I was like I have I was raised by some old mom right so she told me don’t get down get even or get revenge so.

[19:28] And so I built a platform. I built it to be like, you don’t either, you don’t want an Islander voice or you think I’m not Islander enough. And I will show you how much Islander voices are needed. And I will show you how much of an Islander I am. And so, um, yeah, I don’t honestly, if you would ask me a few years ago, I probably remember the comments, but because I’ve had to just like work through all of them, I kind of just forgot it. And I’m almost like to the point on my journey where I’m like, I’m Pacific Islander, and this is the way I Pacific Island. Yes.

[20:03] I was like, I got two Matai titles from it. My family respects me. My mom told me she was proud of me after taking our simulant group and putting them in the Pred Stadium for API night. I was like, I don’t care what you tell me. I am so proud of my heritage. And if you tell me I’m not good enough, I’m just going to tell you, go talk to the ancestors, and you can just F off. Sorry. So to me it’s just like why do we have to why are we putting these colonizer like blood quantum things around people that we don’t really know right like I get it like if we’re gonna talk like let’s if we’re gonna have a hard conversation like I think a conversation people aren’t ready for is like when it comes to claiming our stories and telling them correctly because I’m into film and all that so it’s like to me it’s like who gets the right to tell our stories the way we need to sell them respectfully yes and who’s like being Elizabeth Warren out here claiming a 16th Native American and telling our stories and really they’re just doing a colonizer’s version of it that’s when i’m like okay maybe we don’t have a cat but other than that I’m like let’s It’s not blood quants on each other. That’s ridiculous.

[21:18] And, you know, I think, again, really good message, right, for the community to be able to hear. I’m curious what your message would be for, you know, anybody who is, like, Sāmoan, Pacific Islander, if they’re going through something, right? Yeah. You know, like, it is hard. And you have had a really powerful, strong, successful journey through that reclamation process and doing as the Romans do and having that flexibility. It’s tough. That’s right. And so for people who, right, it is tough. And so for some people who don’t quite get it, who don’t feel like they can or feel like they’re not strong enough or feel like they’re not enough, period, to be able to reclaim their thing, reclaim their identity, to stake claim to it.

[22:19] What do you think that needs to be, I don’t know, like heard or encouraged in order to allow people, you know, to just say, hey, actually, let me do it. Like, let me go ahead and see what, like, my islanderness means to me. I say take the journey. Give yourself grace. Oh, my God. Give yourself so much grace. You’re going to make mistakes. Trust me.

[22:45] Go into it knowing that people are going to criticize you. People are going to criticize you no matter what, because I can only imagine I’m on this, I’m talking to you about this and I’m like, I’m sure it’s almost a bit, why isn’t she wearing a flower? Why isn’t she wearing an Islander out? You know, like no matter what you’re going to get criticized. Right. And so give yourself some grace. Also understand that we are in the diaspora and the Pacific Islanders. We’re all trying to learn what being Pacific Islander means to us here. Here yes it’s pretty well established in Australia New Zealand which is great because they’re so close to the motherland but for us here we’re still trying to figure it out and we’re trying to figure it out in different parts of the country which is insane right because my way of doing islander stuff is completely different than the way they do it in California and something that a lot of islanders are talking about like this is so like nitpicky but how we talk as well like the accents we use. Oh, cause like, like just being like, because like I’ll say something in my Southern accent and they’ll be like, oh my gosh, like you’re saying it like, and I’m like, I am so sorry, but do you want me to tell you how you say McDonald’s or y’all? Like, do you want me to criticize you on that? Like.

[24:02] We’ve got to have a conversation that the way we’re still, like, we all speak, a lot of us speak English, but we’re speaking English differently. And the same will happen when I finally learned how to speak Sāmoan. It is going to be Sāmoan. It will sound probably a little bit different. It’ll have a little twang to it. But it is still our language, you know? I think something that I’ve learned, you know, there’s that saying that I’m my ancestor’s greatest dream. Green yeah i think that’s what the saying like I am I am my ancestor’s greatest dream and I’m like no you are you’re like I’ve been thinking about this a lot I’ve been meaning to post this but you’re your ancestor’s greatest revenge because like the way colonizers people that are criticizing you people that are coming after you they they want you to second guess yourself they want you to like not take the like not reclaim your heritage not be proud of who you are, where you came from.

[24:57] They want you to be worried and scared. And I encourage you not to be like you’re your ancestors greatest revenge. You are their mouthpiece. Now you are the person that can speak for them. Do it like I just say, just freaking do it. Mistakes will happen. But surround yourself with elders. That’s probably one of my big find those elders in your community that you can talk to that you can literally literally sit at their feet and listen to their stories.

[25:26] And if you have a parent like I did she was like why are you messing around with this culture stuff you know because like when our parents immigrate here it’s like find a good job get a college degree and be successful it’s not fine it might be fine love after you’ve done all that because I have to do that right now I’m dealing with that like I got the degree I got the job, I’m living in the big city and now it’s like where’s your husband and I’m like Like didn’t tell me to do that from ages zero to like 20 something. So I don’t have that skill yet, mom. But you know, that’s what our parents like focus. But now what’s the great thing is that if you have that parent, that’s like, you don’t have to worry about that stuff. You need to focus on job, school, sports, whatever. When you finally get to reclaim it and you, they see how excited you are about the culture. They see how proud you are. are, they see you getting involved or like connecting or doing the damn thing. You then can turn around and those chains of like what I’ve been saying, the chains of assimilation, the chains of whatever they brought with them can be broken. Yes. And then you with them are able to celebrate this rich heritage and culture that you share. And that’s something I’ve been doing with my own mom is like she got so like I’ve been able to see a person who.

[26:47] Would have like some one like we would wear the Sāmoan clothing or we would do our hair a certain way or whatever the case may be but she was never able to like fully like break herself free of, that like buying that like assimilation hat on her until I was older and I was able to be like look mom see we can do it like this look mom like let’s do this and like look mom let’s like and like there were times where it’s like Aynsley why aren’t you doing why aren’t you trying to find a boyfriend you’re wasting your time with the culture your culture’s not gonna find you a boyfriend I’m like I’m not you know and so it’s just like there’s so many beautiful things that will happen when you reclaim your culture when you claim your heritage when you reclaim your identity that don’t let fear or whatever is holding you back from discovering the beauty that is part of reclamation yes yes yes and if you are not ready to take the journey yet it’s fine and find ways to get ready like read books like you can you can just read a book like there are so many books out there and that sounds boring but if you’re like me that you know reading books is one thing but watch the movies movies are such a great like I can’t tell you how many times I watched someone wedding or I would then find ways to do like vi or whale riders like there are so So many movies out there, even Lebo and Stitch, for goodness sake.

[28:14] You know, like, if you have to dive into Moana, do that. But I’m just saying, like, there are so many ways to, like, start baby steps and, like, feeling like you’re like, okay, this is what makes me feel this way. Because, like, there are days where I’m like, oh, I feel so low. I’m, like, not doing well mentally. I’m not doing well. um just like in my head space the best thing i’ve ever done is I turn on my Polynesian music I watch one of my movies I watch whatever and I’m like oh I needed this I needed to be back around my people like I am so happy to be hit in this space yes yes.

[28:48] I mean like you know my I think my version of that is definitely like um since coming back from the Philippines I have like an entire, uh original pinoy music like playlist right and so that that’s exactly right like when i’m feeling low I need like the small hit of like home and community that’s it so I will be jamming that living room like right like karaoke party of one I mean my flip sometimes coming from work like driving home from work I’ll put on and I don’t even have it on like the Spotify DJ and my DJ here with you and like, turns on the island music and I was like, I didn’t know I needed this, but I feel so much happier right now.

[29:38] It’s always good. Yeah. Thank you again for taking the time to be able to share with us. For those of you who are listening, thank you for taking time to listen to this podcast. Aynsley, if the people want to find you, where do they go?

[29:52] I am on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. And Twitter. So I’m not really, oh, X, my bad, X. And threads. Those are the main sources of places I’m at. And what is your handle for the people to find you?

[30:10] Yeah, you can find me at Aynsley_Broom. Or if you’re looking for the blog, it’s Sipping Koko. Wonderful. All right. Well, then, yeah. Thank you again for being our podcast guest. Thank you for having me. Of course. Hopefully I can have you on the podcast again some other time. There’s some other places that we didn’t quite get to explore yet. Sorry. Sorry, I talk too much. No, no, no. This is the point, right? Is I need you to talk and share because then there’s going to be that much more people than who can relate to all these things. I mean, it happened already here. So I’m hoping the magic will happen with our listeners as well. Absolutely.

[30:50] Roots Reclaimed is a production of the AANHPI ‘Ohana Center of Excellence, a culturally centered behavioral health resource center aimed to empower Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. To get access to resources, referrals, trainings, workshops, and so much more, visit us at aanhpi-ohana.org. Mahalo.