Grace Mera Molisa
Encyclopedia
Grace Mera Molisa, born 17 February 1946 in North Ambae, died 4 January 2002 in Port-Vila, was a ni-Vanuatu
politician
, poet
and campaigner for women's equality in politics. The Australian
described her as "a vanguard for Melanesia
n culture
and a voice of the ni-Vanuatu, especially women". She has also been described as one of the Pacific's "leading public intellectuals and activists".
She was the first woman from her country to gain a university degree, a bachelor of arts
degree at the University of the South Pacific
in 1977.
Molisa was an Anglican. She spoke five languages.
A 2004 book entitled Profiles of Pacific Women, aimed at "paying tribute to Pacific
women who have paved the way for gender equality
and human rights
", included a tribute to Grace Molisa.
, Molisa became second secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs.
She created Vanuatu's National Arts Festival, and set up the committee which chose the nation's flag
, anthem
, coat of arms
and national motto, "Long God Yumi Stanap". She was one of only two women members of the National Constitution Committee, and was a signatory of the Constitution of Vanuatu in 1979, along with her husband and fellow politician Sela Molisa
.
She was spokeswoman for Prime Minister Walter Lini
from 1987 to 1991.
In the 1990s, she was appointed to the Council of the University of the South Pacific
, and became a member of Transparency International
. In 1997, she founded Vanuatu Women in Politics (VWIP), a pressure group to aid women who wished to enter politics. When the Vanua'aku Pati did not endorse a single female candidate for 1998 general election, Molisa left the party, and coordinated the candidacies of six women candidates under the VWIP banner. That same year, she published a booklet listing 530 ni-Vanuatu women qualified for public duties, as a means of pressuring the government into appointing qualified women to public office.
She contributed a chapter on postcolonial politics to the scholarly compendium Remembrance of Pacific Pasts: An Invitation to Remake History, edited by Robert Borofsky and published in 2000. Other contributors included Albert Wendt
, Vilsoni Hereniko
, Marshall Sahlins
, James Belich
, Gyan Prakash
, Edward Said
and Epeli Hau'ofa
.
Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh of the University of Auckland
has described her as one of the three "foremothers of Pasifika
poetry", along with Konai Helu Thaman of Tonga
and Haunani-Kay Trask
of Hawaii
.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and campaigner for women's equality in politics. The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
described her as "a vanguard for Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
n culture
Kastom
Kastom is a pijin word used to refer to traditional culture, including religion, economics, art and magic in Melanesia.The term is the generally accepted anthropology term to describe such phenomenon as well as the common and lay term used in everyday language.The word derives from the Australian...
and a voice of the ni-Vanuatu, especially women". She has also been described as one of the Pacific's "leading public intellectuals and activists".
She was the first woman from her country to gain a university degree, a bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree at the University of the South Pacific
University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific is a public university with a number of locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. It is an international centre for teaching and research on Pacific culture and environment. USP's academic programmes are recognised worldwide, attracting students...
in 1977.
Molisa was an Anglican. She spoke five languages.
A 2004 book entitled Profiles of Pacific Women, aimed at "paying tribute to Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
women who have paved the way for gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
", included a tribute to Grace Molisa.
Political career
In 1979, in the lead-up to Vanuatu's independence, and as a member of the Vanua'aku PatiVanua'aku Pati
The Vanua'aku Pati is a political party in Vanuatu.At the last legislative elections, 1 September 2008, the party won 11 out of 52 seats, becoming the largest party in Parliament....
, Molisa became second secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs.
She created Vanuatu's National Arts Festival, and set up the committee which chose the nation's flag
Flag of Vanuatu
The flag of Vanuatu was adopted on February 13, 1980.When the Vanua'aku Party led the country to independence as Vanuatu in 1980, the colors of the party flag - red, green, black and yellow - were chosen to be the basis for the national flag...
, anthem
Yumi, Yumi, Yumi
"Yumi, Yumi, Yumi" is the national anthem of Vanuatu. It was written and composed by François Vincent Ayssav and adopted in 1980.- Bislama words :CHORUS:Yumi, Yumi, yumi i glat long talem se...
, coat of arms
Coat of arms of Vanuatu
The Coat of arms of Vanuatu features a Melanesian warrior superimposed on a boar's tusk, over a scroll that reads Long God yumi stanap ....
and national motto, "Long God Yumi Stanap". She was one of only two women members of the National Constitution Committee, and was a signatory of the Constitution of Vanuatu in 1979, along with her husband and fellow politician Sela Molisa
Sela Molisa
Sela Molisa is a ni-Vanuatu politician. He is currently a member of the Parliament of Vanuatu, and was briefly Minister for Trade in Serge Vohor's Cabinet from April to May 2011...
.
She was spokeswoman for Prime Minister Walter Lini
Walter Lini
Father Walter Hadye Lini was an Anglican priest and the founding Prime Minister of Vanuatu. He was born on Pentecost Island. During the era when Vanuatu was a condominium ruled by the United Kingdom and France, Lini formed the Vanua'aku Pati, which was principally backed by English-speakers...
from 1987 to 1991.
In the 1990s, she was appointed to the Council of the University of the South Pacific
University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific is a public university with a number of locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. It is an international centre for teaching and research on Pacific culture and environment. USP's academic programmes are recognised worldwide, attracting students...
, and became a member of Transparency International
Transparency International
Transparency International is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide...
. In 1997, she founded Vanuatu Women in Politics (VWIP), a pressure group to aid women who wished to enter politics. When the Vanua'aku Pati did not endorse a single female candidate for 1998 general election, Molisa left the party, and coordinated the candidacies of six women candidates under the VWIP banner. That same year, she published a booklet listing 530 ni-Vanuatu women qualified for public duties, as a means of pressuring the government into appointing qualified women to public office.
She contributed a chapter on postcolonial politics to the scholarly compendium Remembrance of Pacific Pasts: An Invitation to Remake History, edited by Robert Borofsky and published in 2000. Other contributors included Albert Wendt
Albert Wendt
Albert Wendt, CNZM is a Samoan poet and writer who also lives in New Zealand. Among his works is Leaves of the Banyan Tree .-Biography:...
, Vilsoni Hereniko
Vilsoni Hereniko
Vilsoni Hereniko is a Fiji Islander playwright, film director and academic. He was the writer and director of Fiji's first ever feature film, The Land Has Eyes .-Biography:...
, Marshall Sahlins
Marshall Sahlins
Marshall David Sahlins is a prominent American anthropologist. He received both a Bachelors and Masters degree at the University of Michigan where he studied with Leslie White, and earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1954 where his main intellectual influences included Karl Polanyi and...
, James Belich
James Belich (historian)
James Christopher Belich, ONZM is a New Zealand revisionist historian, known for his work on the New Zealand Wars.Of Croatian descent, he was born in Wellington in 1956, the son of Sir James Belich, who later became Mayor of Wellington. He attended Onslow College.He gained an M.A...
, Gyan Prakash
Gyan Prakash
Gyan Prakash is a historian of modern India and the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University. Prakash is a member of the Subaltern Studies collective. Prakash received his BA in history from the University of Delhi in 1973, his MA in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University in...
, Edward Said
Edward Said
Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
and Epeli Hau'ofa
Epeli Hau'ofa
Epeli Hauʻofa was a Fiji Islander writer and anthropologist of Tongan descent. He was born in what was then the Territory of Papua.-Biography:...
.
Literary career
Molisa published Blackstone, a collection of her poems, in 1983. In 1987, she published Colonised People : Poems. The Australian has described her poems as "a biting social commentary on life in patriarchal, post-colonial Vanuatu." In 1995, she published Pasifik paradaes, written in Bislama.Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh of the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
has described her as one of the three "foremothers of Pasifika
Pasifika
The Pasifika Festival is a Pacific Islands-themed festival held annually in Western Springs, Auckland City, New Zealand...
poetry", along with Konai Helu Thaman of Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
and Haunani-Kay Trask
Haunani-Kay Trask
Haunani-Kay Trask is a Native Hawaiian academic, activist, documentarist and writer. Trask is a professor of Hawaiian Studies with the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and has represented Native Hawaiians in the United Nations and various other...
of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.