In a vacant fenced-in North Long Beach dirt lot just a few doors down from where Leah McKenzie grew up, a mural depicting the 21-year-old now emblazons a bordering wall once used by neighborhood kids to play handball.
The mural, part of an effort to beautify blighted areas throughout the city’s Northside, depicts the recent Cal State Long Beach graduate sitting cross-legged in traditional Samoan attire, exposing a special tattoo that the artist, fellow Samoan Jason Pereira, wanted in his piece.
“[It’s] meant to identify me as the person my family goes to for love, for nurturing, for care,” McKenzie said of the tattoo.
The tattoo
It wasn’t easy to find a woman with the “malu” tattoo, which required the blessing of her family. There is only one tattoo artist in California—A-Town Tattoos in Garden Grove—that is trained in the Samoan technique used by a specific family, the Sulu’ape.
The method includes using two sticks that penetrate all seven layers of skin, as opposed to a modern-day tattoo gun that goes only through the first layer of skin. McKenzie went to A-Town last November for her tattoo, which ended up being an eight-hour-long session.
While McKenzie said it was one of the most physically painful experiences in her life, the support of her family and friends during the occasion helped ease the process.
“What helps, in our tradition, our entire family comes for those eight hours and they sit around you and they sing and they pray and are just there,” McKenzie said. “It really gets you through it.”
McKenzie said some women are hesitant in receiving the tattoo because of the daunting commitments that come with it. She said the tattoo signifies that its bearer will always prioritize her family and church and has a duty to keep traditions alive. She called it the biggest decision of her life.
Fortunately for Pereira, he was able to find McKenzie last year when he reached out to the Pacific Islander Association at Cal State Long Beach. It so happened that McKenzie was the association’s president.
Not a lot of people knew she had the tattoo. It is considered sacred and not customarily shown, McKenzie said, so when Pereira found out she had it, she said, “It was like light bulbs went off back and forth.”
The mural
Pereira told the Post in January that he wanted to highlight the Samoan culture in his mural, including the pillar principle Tautua, which means to serve.
The mural features McKenzie preparing a sacred drink as part of the ava ceremony, which is prepared for a special guest or occasion. The duty of making this drink is considered an honor and tasked to a girl, such as a princess, she said. The mural also includes the Samoan proverb O le ala ile pule o le Tautua (the path to leadership is through service) along with its Spanish and English translations.
“It’s something I think embodies who we are as a new generation,” McKenzie said of the proverb. “A lot of our parents came straight from the island, came straight from nothing so it’s something that we need to take the initiative to build a better future for our families.”
McKenzie said she learned to help her community through the association, during which time she worked with nonprofits, spoke at conferences and helped younger students get to college.
“In our culture, education isn’t really emphasized,” McKenzie said. “It’s: you graduate high school, you get a job, you take care of your family. All your time goes to working.”
Since graduating from CSULB in May with a degree in consumer affairs and business marketing, McKenzie said she has continued to help the association as an alumna. She currently works for Island Block Radio, the only Polynesian-owned radio station in Hollywood, where she helps the station’s multimedia presence and finds stories about Pacific Islanders to tell.
Councilman Rex Richardson, who commissioned the mural as part of his Creative Corridor Challenge, recently announced that a blessing ceremony for the mural is scheduled Aug. 4. No other details have been provided.
The mural is located at 6850 Long Beach Boulevard.