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Showing posts with the label New York

Right to Democracy and Right to Self-Determine

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In my life I have attended a number of events, whether in person or virtually, where representatives were gathered in solidarity from each of the current US territories. But in these spaces, there was usually just a single representative from different territories, owing to the distances or difficulties in physically bringing together people Guam, the CNMI, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and American Samoa. One thing that made the recent Right to Democracy summit different for me, was the amount of people in attendance representing each of the territories, and how each community wasn’t reduced to a single voice, a single soundbite or a short presentation. The experiences of those in the current US territories was not on the fringes or the margins, which is the norm, but instead we were all centered. This summit focused on developing a network across the territories, with the aim of helping to dismantle US colonialism, created a lot more possibilities than usual and that was exc...

UN Report Back

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Independent GuÃ¥han to host United Nations Report Back Event, Provide Updates on Recent Historic Trip For Immediate Release, October 23, 2017 — Independent GuÃ¥han is hosting a Report Back on October 26 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the University of Guam School of Business and Public Administration Room 131. At the forum, a group of delegates, who recently traveled to the United Nations in New York, will provide updates on their testimonies and meetings concerning Guam’s decolonization. Independent GuÃ¥han organized a group of twelve members and volunteers, who petitioned the UN Special Political and Decolonization Committee (4th Committee) at their annual meeting to discuss the situation in Guam. This trip was especially historic, because the Commission on Decolonization also sent a strong delegation — Governor Eddie Baza Calvo, Vice Speaker Therese Terlaje, Senator Telena Nelson and Dr. LisaLinda Natividad all testified before the 4th Committee. Senator Fernando ...

Imprisoned Independentistas

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MÃ¥kpo' i tiempo-ña si Barack Obama. Gi i hinichom i uttimo na sakkÃ¥n-ña, meggai na petitions manhuyong put difirentes na taotao ni' mangkinalabobosu, ya kada manggagaggao mina'a'se para un presuneru. Dos na Chamorro ni' mapopongle komo presuneron federÃ¥t para u masotta. Mas ki un siento mit na taotao mamfitma petiton para i nina'libre si Leonard Peltier un Natibu na Amerikanu, lao si Obama ti ha ayuda gui'.  Estague na tinige' siha put i masottÃ¥-ña si Oscar Lopez Rivera, un independista ginen Puerto Rico.  ***************************** Obama commute sentence for political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera López Rivera, whose commutation was announced with 208 others, has been incarcerated for 35 years for his role in fighting for Puerto Rico’s independence by Sam Levin The Guardian/UK January 17, 2017 Barack Obama has commuted the sentence of Oscar López Rivera, a victory for the Puerto Rican independence activist who is considered to be on...

America and the Abyss

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--> Na'fanlilisto hamyo! Esta mamagi i finakpo'. Esta siña ta lili'e'. TÃ¥ya' otro siña masukne para este.  ******************* "American and the Abyss" by Andrew Sullivan New York Magazine 11/3/16 The most frustrating aspect of the last 12 months has been the notion that we have been in a normal, if truly ugly, election cycle, with one extremely colorful and unpredictable figure leading the Republican Party in an otherwise conventional political struggle over policy. It has been clear for months now, it seems to me, that this is a delusion. A far more accurate account of the past year is that an openly proto-fascist cult leader has emerged to forge a popular movement that has taken over one of the major political parties, eroded central norms of democratic life, undermined American democratic institutions, and now stands on the brink of seizing power in Washington. I made this argument at length in April , when Donald Trump...

Trump and the NAACP

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I am truly terrified about Donald Trump being elected President of the United States. As they say in English, all bets are off, if he wins, because he is so thin-skinned and ideologically inconsistent, anything could happen, and the worst probably will.  One thing that I can definitely give Trump credit for, is that he has created, on a regular basis, the most random stories about a presidential candidate I've ever seen. Most often, these stories are horrifying to varying degrees, they deal with him ripping people off, stoking racial hatred or just being stubborn in the face of clear facts. Alot of them have to do with the gap between who Trump presents himself to be, a super rich, generous, intelligent and good tempered person, and who he actually is on a daily basis. Here's one such article that caught my eye. *************************** No, Donald Trump Did Not Win a Medal from the NAACP Christine Wilkie Huffington Post 10/23/16 WASHINGTON — A photograph of ...