BISHOP BRIAN TAMAKI MEETS HOLLYWOOD’S FIRST MAORI-KIWI BLOGGER

I said, “Brian Tamaki, you still have cheek bones that could cut a swathe across any red carpet in Hollywood.”

He said, “Let’s just focus on taking the [rugby] cup, aye?!.”

Lol!

____

[Alrighty then... Here's that picture, of a Maori-Kiwi man, perhaps most misrepresented by New Zealand's media for his countless achievements in New Zealand, Australia and throughout the world. He has built community services like few New Zealand men (including some of the one's with titles of Sir etc have built) for many of his fellow (and fellowette too) Kiwis.

His sexual orientation is heterosexual... in fact, you could say that Brian is a heterosexual advocate/ activist... [and I'm comfortable with that]. One day Brian even told the nation of New Zealand that he was proudly heterosexual, in a very public way. It got Brian into a bit of trouble. Apparently! I remember the racket Brian and his lads created outside the government office window I was working in at the time, when he turned up on the nation’s capitol’s doorstep, shortly after a closeted lesbian Prime Minister (the one that was complete with fake husband beside her) had cruelly taken Ocean access rights off New Zealand’s indigenous people. She turned her back on a sector of New Zealand society and that image still needs to be unpicked with attitudes sown in New Zealand concerning it’s indigenous peoples via this one woman. That issue still needs addressing in New Zealand, also. But let’s get back to this photograph’s copy…

Although, nowhere in New Zealand law is it written that everyone has to be gay or has to be a gay activist either when in a position of leadership, Brian got worse flack then the outright thieving by a New Zealand government at the time and the blatantly arrogant and cruel human denial of Maori peoples ability to be guardians and biz entreprenuers of the Ocean’s resources THEIR ancestors discovered for ALL New Zealanders along with Mori Ori peoples. This one racist act by a government, perhaps set in motion a hate campaign against Maori and New Zealand resources like NO OTHER public display of unfairness EVER witnessed in modern New Zealand society leadership (governance and subsequent support of this under rather greedy legal jargon, on this matter]. The media have followed suit and quite frankly it is a sickness of greed that needs addressing concerning Maori peoples future and economic well being of not only inclusion but also fulfilment of aspirations and unique potential. Maori should be INCLUDED in the EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE GOVERNANCE pertaining to all things Ocean related in Aotearoa New Zealand… but let’s get back to Brian’s Kiwi story as a leader.  

If Brian’s public demonstration (dubbed at the time, ’Enough is Enough’) was this man’s one ‘crime’ from being perpetually hunted by media, (politicians too!!!) and the target of a hate campaign worse than anything Brian has ever done wrong… I’m more than happy to celebrate Brian Tamaki’s many achievements as a Bishop… on this blog.

I first met Brian when I was on the Rise Up, New Zealand Tour in 1990. I was 18 years old. It was a tour that was commissioned to officially celebrate the Treaty of Waitangi’s 150th celebratory anniversary as New Zealand’s founding legal document. Brian was in Rotorua just starting his Lakewood Church.

On a cold, very frosty morning, I witnessed a man in an Intermediate School Hall who had a vision for a community of people who were not affluent, who were not powerful, but who were beautiful people. There were only 30 congregation members in his humble church that morning and there was Brian… dressed like a million bucks and he told those people that God loved them. He told them that their worth as people was over and above what the world was representing to them. He told them to dare to aim high, to dare to dream and imagine and to then stand back and see what God could do with their lives.

He also told them that one day they’d be a part of a church he’d lead that would have two thousand people in it.

As cocky and humorous as Brian was back then in that humble, cold school hall,  Brian obviously didn’t aim high enough, because he now speaks to a congregation of 3,000 people each week, something that politicians couldn’t muster week by week, even if they tried. Let’s face it… that’s a fact. Yet, Brian has been lifted and elevated above the pack of average Kiwis, to be a leader who does just that. Good for him!

So in a way… Brian is a favortie hate target of a few of these ‘power’ types of people… who are quite jealous of Brian and his capable team’s achievements.

So… congratulations Bishop Tamaki for the many GOOD achievements you have achieved to date.

I can say, that in New Zealand, that New Zealand’s first Maori-Kiwi Hollywood blogger is proud of what you have achieved (the good things) in the face of intense and unrelenting opposition. For those good things… Rock on!

In the tradition of Hollywood-Kiwi quirckeness on this blog, I am aware that Brian’s years in Rotorua (historically, the Maori show biz tourism capitol of New Zealand that we horis nickname Roto-Vegas for laughs) left quite an impression on Brian Tamaki and his brothers who broke new ground as Maori Tourism operators of Excellence with their Tamaki Village model that provided a Maori experience in Rotorua to New Zealand’s many tourists.

Brian’s bros are a key part of recognizing that Maori culture is the 4th strongest reason, why people will EVER visit New Zealand in the first place (as noted from surveys). They are a very important family to New Zealand culture.

Few of us even know that people like Elvis Presley (once an American cultural treasure under his guise of ‘The King of Rock N’ Roll’) started out in life as a humble worship leader on a very humble acoustic guitar, in a church very similar to what Bishop Brian Tamaki leads today. Elvis was also famous for surrounding himself with African-American singers as a nod to the legacy of these precios peoples impact on his music and career. Like Brian Tamaki, Elvis Presley combatted racism, whenever he could. The footage of Presley worshipping (gospel styles) with these same singers, before he went on stage… is perhaps the most revealing film footage available into wear Elvis drew his spirit’s inspiration from to entertain.

One of my favorite CD’s of Elvis, is when he sings Amazing Grace on his first vinyl album of gospel songs. So…. in that tradition of MEN (regardless of race etc) who are destined to lead and have a profile for THE GOOD of others in this world… Brian gets his very own Elvis tribute today on this blog. Elvis worked in entertainment amongst MANY people who were gay… and like Brian, Elvis too just got on with his job. Presley always maintained his links with his faith – and before Elvis, there was no rock star or celebrity like him. He had to walk a road, no one had walked before.

Life is about learning, serving, leading from life experiences…. Rock on Brian Tamaki, I say! Brian descends from quite the family of leaders. In fact, he is closely related to the Maori King of New Zealand from Tainui’s tribal legacy and my own dad, tells me that at Te Awamutu High School, Brian’s Aunty Anne was the head girl of his college, when dad was in fourth form at high school. The Tamakis and leadership in New Zealand… really is a cultural institution. They’ve been around leading forever! :)

[Photograph, Elvis Jesus collection Tee Shirt. Made in China, purchased in Hollywood from the Elvis Jesus fashion label... courtesy of Horiwood.Com archives].

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 14.7.11~

July 13, 2011 | Categories: A Different View, America, Anne Tamaki, Aotearoa New Zealand, Asia Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Brian Tamaki, China, Combating Racism, Combatting Racism, Democracy, Diversity, Elvis, Entertainment Celebrity News, Entertainment Distribution, Entertainment News, Fashion, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Speech, Friends of Starship, Friendship, Gospel Music, Hair Trends, Hollywood Entertainment News, Hollywood Maori Kings, Hori = Maori, Human Rights, Iwi Biz Partners, Leadership, Maori, New Zealand, Polynesian, Tainui, Te Awamutu, Tee Shirts | 1 Comment »