FOCUS
Sione (she-oh-nay) is passionate about centering the lived experiences of people of color in examining how the law is wielded as a tool of white supremacy and settler colonialism. She is currently interested in how legal language in residential lease contracts is connected to residential segregation and eviction. Segregation remains high today, and is not just an undesirable result of history, but is also disempowering and oppressive because of how it influences the relationship between individuals to political influence and economic resources. Examining contract law sheds light on formerly hidden factors and is part of a more complete accounting of all actors involved in perpetuating segregation. This research is a starting position for creating housing policies that are effective because they are preventative rather than reactive.
MORE ABOUT SIONE
As the daughter of a single mother, Sione grew up keenly aware of how the circumstances you are born into can shape your life outcomes. Sione is deeply committed to honoring herself, her ancestors, her community, and those yet to come by showing up fully and using her positionality to do her part in fighting oppression globally.
DISSERTATION GRANT AWARDEE — SPRING 2024
America’s Invisible Colonies: Race, Migration, and Settler Colonialism in the U.S. Territories
The U.S. territories – Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Sāmoa – are considered permanently inhabited territories, wherein a combined population of 3.62 million are forced to navigate a complex political-legal system. This project uses culturally informed one-on-one and group conversations to gain a general understanding of how lived experiences of territorial status relate across the Pacific and the Caribbean and across the different political-legal statuses. The studies aims are twofold: first, to conceptualize the impact of territorial status on the lived experiences and wellbeing of those from the U.S. territories; and second, to analyze how migration, racialization, and colonialism function in tandem to maintain the territory as a perpetual, ambiguous legal-political zone.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HPRS DISSERTATION AWARDS, CLICK HERE.
