My mum immigrated from fiji to australia in the 1970s. We watched this together and she had never heard of the Polynesian panthers in aotearoa. This tv series got us to talking about so many different things n comparing her experiences with growing up here. Appreciate this tv series for doing that.

so interesting to see the context my mum grew up in represented on screen. like this show hits harder when you know full well your islander grandfather and indigenous grandmother would've had those slurs thrown at them too.

i love this show so much and will continue to rewatch it for the rest of my life.

The first series I watched about the Polynesian Panthers as a whole. Polynesian Panthers were HEAVILY inspired by the Black Panther Movement in America. Both were groups of fighting for their own rights and freedom. 
Dawn raids and influential racism left many young Pacific men and women scarred, which is one of the reasons the movement was created. 
This series is so important to me because of the identity I carry as a Polynesian, and how much the people fought to give us the freedom we have today. Racism and discrimination is still at its high now, as well as cultural loss and identity. But even after having that taken away from us, it’s such a privilege to be able to dance in theatres and showcase our traditions, features, music and language. 
Something that was viewed once as negative, has become something so fulfilling and beautiful. That in itself makes it an amazing privilege to be Polynesian.

‘The Panthers,’ is a TV show from New Zealand which is not about the Black Panthers but the Polynesian Panthers who were a group of young people doing activism in main island New Zealand for Islander rights. As someone who knows truly nothing about this local history it was a fun show despite political righteousness these political leaders are very young, naïve yet totally likeable it is a nice cast that departs from reality appropriately. The research was done first so there is authenticity but freeness to the biographical material there is even a hip-hop narrator to the show which should indicate to you this is not a totally straight 1970s historical romp. I liked all the actors, the Trump parallels with a rising right wing politician in the show as well as the easy-going tone for a show that has the right to be angrier but wants to keep you locked in with very likeable characters.

Inconsistent but highly engaging, nonetheless.