Decolonize Guam (ta'lo?)

In 2005 I started a blog titled Decolonize Guam or "Peace and Justice for Guam and the Pacific." I ran it with a few other people for about six years, and posted more than a thousand news pieces related to Guam and Chamorros, but and also wider issues related to war and peace in the US and in the Pacific. For some reason (lao ti sina hu hasso sa' hafa) we stopped updating it in 2011, after things connected to the public comment period for the US military buildup had officially ended. It might have been because I started writing a column in the then Marianas Variety, which became a new focus for me. It could have been because I was now more consumed with my role at the University of Guam, as a professor though and using that venue as a conduit for various types of activism or educational events.

I'm really not sure why I stopped posting there and updating it, but looking back I'm glad that we filled the site for a few years worth of content, as I find myself regularly returning to it as I write articles or conduct research. I am working on an article about environmental discourses around the US military buildup in 2009 and 2010 and the blog is such a treasure trove of potential content, it is making this task much easier than I initially thought it would be.

The issues that led to my creating that blog have definitely not gone away. Militarization and militarism continue to be so dangerously pervasive in Guam and in the Marianas. While in 2009 and 2010 I was writing about Pagat, today attention is focused on Litekyan, Tinian and Pagan. Although I still keep up this blog, I don't post articles as comprehensively or as frequently as I did on the Decolonize Guam blog.

I am considering starting that blog up again, keeping all its content in place, but simply dusting it off and posting again. If anyone is interested in helping me keep it going again as a resource for those looking for critical materials related to issues of Peace and Justice in Guam, the Marianas and the Pacific please let me know.



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