Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
27 August 2019
Dear Matua Craig, Late last evening I stood at the hospital bedside of my young Hawke’s Bay Black Power brother Petera Smith. He was in a coma and on life support. I whispered my nickname for him “Sione” into …
Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
9 August 2019
I’ve just returned from a full-on weekend in Auckland. I originally come from Timaru. My father used to say, on learning that I’d been in that city, “Did you call in on your aunt Mary?” Having driven from Timaru to …
Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
10 July 2019
Mayor Phil Goff is correct that the dislocation of expelled, Australian-raised, criminally minded, New Zealanders, back to Aotearoa has acted as a violent force majeure on already marginalized communities of the poor, particularly in Auckland. These deportees have brought with …
Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
5 July 2019
Recently announced United States Democratic Congressional Contender Richard Habersham enlisted New Zealander John Wareham, who splits his time between New Zealand and New York, to lead an oversubscribed weekend retreat for ex-offenders and ‘at risk’ Harlem youth, at the Harlem …
Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
21 May 2019
Marilyn Waring’s forensic record of her Parliamentary career (Marilyn Waring: The Political Years Bridget Williams Books) is a layered work, a primer in the travails of Aotearoa’s parliamentary democracy. It speaks of values, loyalty, courage, and timing: when to which. …
Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
29 March 2019
Salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon us all. Aotearoa is experiencing an extended tangi. Like any such event emotions ebb and flow, sneak up on you, get you when you are not looking. A frightening thought, “that terrible event could have …
Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
18 March 2019
Some years ago I had a ring from Saatchi & Saatchi chief Kevin Roberts, a man I’ve always found to be inspirational, generous, and unflinchingly courageous. Seems a New York friend of Kevin’s, a guy called John Wareham, had run …
Nga Kupu Aroha – Words of Love
5 March 2019
I nearly started to sob when Joe Walsh, Tim Schmit, and Vince Gill sang a waiata, acapella, at Hoani Waititi Marae Auckland, in support of the whaikorero from the Eagles’ kaumatua, Martin Cooper, in response to the haka powhiri given …