NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Share Your Vision of Guåhan’s Future at Independent Guåhan’s “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom Vol. 3” Concert on July 4 th .  For Immediate Release, June 21, 2019 –  Each July 4 th  the island commemorates the Independence Day of the United States, despite the fact that Guåhan remains its colony. For the past two years Independent Guåhan (IG) has organized an annual concert on the Fourth of July to reflect on the colonial history of Guåhan and the need for a decolonized future. IG is proud to announce its third concert, “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom Vol. 3” set to take place Thursday, July 4 th  from 4-7 pm in the front field at Adelup. This event is free and open to the public.  Independent Guåhan is an organization that is committed to educating the island community about the importance of Guåhan’s decolonization and the possibilities should it become an independent country. The organization has spent the past three years organizing General Assemblies, v...

The two images are flyers featuring quotes from the political status debates I hold in my Guam History classes.  Students are divided into Statehood, Independence and Free Association groups and develop their arguments for which status is better and also produce posters, brochures, flyers, stickers and sometimes even food to help make their points.  The first is a quote from Maga'låhi Hurao, who in 1671 became the first Chamorro leader to organize large scale opposition to the Spanish presence on Guam, is regularly used by students arguing in favor of Independence. In Chamorro I have seen that line translated as "Metgotña hit ki ta hasso" as well as " Megotña hit ki ta hongge. " Given that many peoples' resistance to the notion of Guam becoming independent is tied to generations of feeling like we are inadequate or subordinate to those who have colonized us, this simple notion can be very powerful in start the process of self-empowerment. Nihi ...

The film I made with Kenneth Gofigan Kuper titled "Påkto: I Hinekka" is being shown tomorrow at the Fifth Guam International Film Festival at 7:30 at the Agana Shopping Center Theaters. Below is some information on the film itself and its cast. *********************** PÅKTO: I Hinekka - Film Synopsis             “Påkto: I Hinekka” pins nerd ambassadors Ken and Miget in the most epic battle of their lives. While playing the popular fantasy card “Magic: The Gathering” they once again battle to the death, only this time things are different, this time things are in the Chamorro language. “Påkto: I Hinekka” is filled with nerd humor, drama and glory, but more than anything aims to show that it is possible to use the Chamorro language everyday, no matter what one is doing.  The Chamorro language has existed for thousands of years and has recently become endangered as it is no longer being acti...

I haven't done many song translations lately, I've been so busy with so many different types of work, this activity that used to take my spare time while waiting for meetings, for movies, while sitting at intersections, riding in planes and so on, has fallen by the wayside in terms of my schedule. This used to be a regular exercise I would do to keep my Chamorro creativity going and active. But lately that part of me has been used up for other pursuits, including story-writing in the Chamorro language. But I recently rewatched the remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and loved the way they incorporated "Space Oddity" by David Bowie into the narrative. After listening to it again and again over the past two week, I really think I want to translate it into Chamorro. Not only because I like it, but because it is in-line with my philosophy of expanding the possibilities for Chamorro and just using Chamorro for everything I like or love or find passion in. In the...

I have heard some people say that colonization deprives colonized people of the ability to imagine. I might have even said this at some point over the years. There is some truth to this, but over time I've come to realize that it is not really an issue of not imagining or not knowing how to imagine, to envision a possible future. But it is more about the constricting of the colonized's imagination, of contorting and distorting it so that it will always move and evolve within a groove that matches the example of the colonizer. The vision of the future will always be filled with the shadow of the colonizer's massive presence. It will force the flow of future possibility so that it always seems to head to up towards the colonizer, that the future for the colonized isn't something that is about their freedom, their choices. But instead it is about their accepting the teleology of the colonizer, of becoming him and shaping your future to become a minor version of it. This is...

Storytelling has long been such a big part of Chamorro culture. When Chamorros were largely shut out of the governing of their islands and their lives during the last few centuries of colonization, often times their stories were their means of fighting back, whether through teasing, through imagining, through remembering. Even when they largely appear to have accepted their colonial realities, the stories persisted, sometimes changing to accommodate new beliefs and new senses of normality, but still the love of storytelling and of using words to create meaning, to incite responses, to give an extra dimension to life did not fade. You can find it in the stories of Juan Mala, where Chamorros expressed their dislike for the Spanish government of the 19th century through a folk hero, who shared their love of joking, laughing and eating. You can find it in the stories of the giant fish who saved Guam, some versions focus on female power, others on explaining the shape of the island and so...

The commentary below is from the Overseas Territories Review. A very good source of information about those of us and our islands who remain formally and per the United Nation's definition, colonized. Most of us are very small and the majority of the world's people could care little about. The Overseas Territories Review is a very good, centralized location for finding out information about all these scattered still colonized lands. Some of our situations today are very similar, some are very unique and distinct. But part of moving towards decolonizing is getting over the fear of being a "colony" still. Since this is something that is no longer supposed to exist, many wish to simply refuse to acknowledge the possibility since it means you are the one who carries the stain and stigma of the inhumanity of the past everyone else seems to have gotten past. Even if it is clearly the moral stain of the colonizer, you still feel like this is your mess, your problem that n...

The past few weeks have been rough for the Commission on Decolonization. Actually, funas enao gi minagahet, the past few years have been rough. After years of nothing happening at the governmental level, we have had three years of something happening. Something is better than nothing I supposed, but when that something amounts to so little, it is hard to find solace. For several years now under the Calvo Administration we have had almost nothing substantive to show for our meeting and our time spent. The Executive Director Ed Alvarez has used free media as best as he can and given presentations both locally and elsewhere about the issue, but as a Commission, it has nothing to be proud of or happy with. The Commission is trapped between the Legislature and the Governor's office. Neither side wants to be the one to fund an educational campaign, since the political payoff for sticking your neck out in this regard is minute. Neither wants to fund anything since there is a potent...

This banner was used by fans during a soccer match between Japan and South Korea. It reads "There is no future for a race oblivious to history." It was meant to reference Japanese colonization and brutality in the Korean peninsula prior to and during World War II. Japan has struggled since World War II with its memory, often times opting to forget large chunks of their history in order to remake themselves and reimagine themselves and their history. Japan was once a nation of aggressors now it thinks of itself as a nation of victims. It was victimized by Western powers in the war, had two nuclear bombs dropped on it and today is forced to shoulder the humiliation of having so many US bases in their territory. This matrix of "humiliation" is helpful in keeping history at bay and preventing people from being reminded of it. Japan is often pointed to as being somehow unique in terms of its "minaleffa." In some ways the 180 degree turn that Japan did a...

An editorial from the Guardian/UK to start the new year. It is true in a way. There is still no other country in the world that can challenge the US militarily (although China seems to want to try for that soon). But in terms of the interests of the US dictating the way regions see or arrange themselves, or the way people on the ground aspire for their own liberty, the fantasies that of the US as that shining beacon of light on the hill are a bit out of date. That was part of the imperialist messaging of the Cold War. This idea that the rest of the world did not only want what America had, but also were willing to trade their own interests or their resources, their sovereignty in order to get it. People have learned that freedom does not belong to any particular power or country, and that the definition of freedom is that even if someone inspires you or helps you achieve it, is that you should have the right to turn your back on them and choose a life that conflicts with what they migh...

After attending two international conferences in Japan, the initial luster has faded a little bit. The conferences are still impressive, but I am starting to see their limitations, but also the ways the organizers are attempting to overcome them. When I attended the 2010 World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, I was completely blown away. Nina'manman yu' ni' i lini'e'-hu guihi. Compared to conferences that I have organized in both Guam and California around similar issues, the level of attention and precision at this conference, (which by the way lasted for more than a week) was incomparable. Kalang taiparehu este. There were more than 100 overseas delegates, and in Hiroshima over 7,000 conference attendees (more than 2,000 in Nagasaki). And despite this logistical nightmare, almost everything started on time and finished on time. Compare this to the three Famoksaiyan conferences that I helped organize in San Diego and the Bay Area California in 2006...

"Republicans: The Truth is Stranger than Dystopian Science Fiction" By John Amato August 17, 2011 06:00 AM' Crooks and Liars.com If you witnessed the last GOP Presidential debate on Fox News, you witnessed a Republican field of candidates that have become a cross between the John Birch Society, the Moral Majority and Americans For Tax Reform . When Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed burst onto the scene via the College Republicans , they were considered the tea party of their day by both parties. Complete radicals who had insane ideas and weren't to be taken seriously. I mean, they really loved South Africa under Apartheid. Fast forward 30 years and their ideas have become embedded into the heart of the GOP. Thomas Frank predicts much of what happened to Obama in interview with Amy Goodman back in August of 2008 because he understood their bag of tricks as well as anyone ever has, especially on deficit spending : But the most insidious one,...

I've been meaning for sometime to write some of my thoughts on the resistance to militarization taking place in the small village of Gangjeong on the island of Jeju in South Korea. I put up a couple of posts llast week about the most recent round of protests. I traveled there for two days last summer in order to learn about the struggle going on there against plans to build a joint Naval facility for US and South Korean forces. The facility would be used for Aegis Destroyers and would displace many farmers an end up destroying some very beautiful and unique coral off the coast. I was struck by the tenacity of the villagers when I was there. They knew that things were against them, that much of the rest of the island and the rest of South Korea didn't care what happened in their quaint village, and that better something like this be put in a tiny village then in the backyards of some larger community. Such is the logic that has meant that Okinawa which is 0.6% of the total la...