NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

  Recently Senator Will Parkinson introduced a resolution to I Liheslaturan Guåhan calling for a full examination of statehood or another autonomous status. In his statement explaining the resolution he equated statehood for Guam with ensuring the island’s survival.   Is statehood really the only choice for Guam’s future?   This Friday, May 2nd from 5:30-7:00 pm at the Guam Museum, Independent Guåhan will be holding a community forum discussing some of the implications of what statehood might mean for the island. This event is free and open to all. Former UOG President and non-voting delegate for Guam Robert Underwood will also offer his reflections as part of the discussion.   Artwork in flyer courtesy of Teihini Davis   **************   Three Things You Should Know About Statehood for Guam 1.         Unlike Independence, where all people have the right to be free and right to self-determin...

 I am excited this week to sit in a Zoom room with other members of Independent Guåhan to reflect on our role in making possible the Fanohge March for Chamoru Self-Determination on September 2, 2019.  If you aren't familiar with it, this was a historic day. More than 2,000 people marched in support of the rights of the Chamoru people to self-determination and also marched in support of Guam becoming something other than an unincorporated territory. The event was organized by a collective of volunteers, including all three political status task forces and a number of community groups. If you want to learn more about that day, learn some inspiring stories, but also hear some reflections on what has happened in the time since, tune in this coming Wednesday (9/15) at 12 noon Guam time, live on Facebook. 

The newest book by International Human Rights Attorney Julian Aguon will be released later this month. It is already available for pre-order on Amazon.com, and has already sold several thousand copies there. This is an important moment for Julian in terms of him writing and publishing a book like this, at this level where it has national and international reach. It is also important for Guam and UOG Press which is publishing it, since this can help them capitalize on their massive local and regional success over the past few years and help them reach a variety of new markets and audiences.  Julian published three prior books, but they were published locally and by very small presses with limited runs and limited exposure. Below is an interview with Julian when he published his first book "Just Left of the Setting Sun" in 2005. I recently re-read two of his previous books in preparation for the newest one. It was interesting to also come across this interview with him 15 years...

The one the reasons why so many scholars, activists and often times community members feel the need to rethink or rearticulate or reimagine "Liberation Day" is because of a recognition of hope integral it is or has been to our relationship to the US. World War II changed dramatically the relationship between the Chamorus of Guam and the US. It changed it somewhat from the US perspective, but it was dramatically altered from the Chamoru side of the equation. Chamorus who felt a clear distance to their colonizer, even if some were eager to be patriotic, prior to the war, emerged from the war eager to find whatever way possible to express their loyalty, their newfound attachment to America. But as I've written many times before, what Liberation Day does as the basis for Chamoru identity in an American context, is create the Chamoru as a subordinate subject, a minor footnote, that must always be superpatriotic for fear that America will withdraw funds, support, recognition an...

Fanohge Coalition Announces Delegate and New Senatorial  Candidate Virtual Forums in August   The Fanohge Coalition, which is comprised of 37 community organizations, was recently formed in the hopes of promoting the issues of CHamoru self-determination and political status change in the 2020 Guam election. It is the hope of the Coalition, that the elected leaders of Guam be knowledgeable about and engage seriously in changing Guam’s political status and pursuing just redress for the CHamoru people. In early August the Fanohge Coalition will be holding two virtual forums, one for those running to be Guam’s non-voting representative to the US Congress and one for the non-incumbent candidates seeking election to  I Liheslaturan Guåhan.  The tentative dates are as follows:               Congressional Delegate Candidate Forum – August 5 th , 10 am.          ...

Independent Guåhan October General Assembly will commemorate the history of Chamoru petitions for self-determination For Immediate Release, October 21, 2019-  Independent Guåhan (IG) invites the public to attend their upcoming General Assembly (GA) to take place on Thursday, October 24 th from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Main Pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. This month’s GA will commemorate the more than a century of petitions by the Chamoru people for improvements in their political status. In this spirit, the group will honor as  Maga’taotao  the late Senator Francisco R. Santos, a long-serving local leader. Within months of the US takeover of Guam in 1898, the Chamoru people were already politely requesting improvements in their political status. Dozens of petitions were sent to the US Congress and the US Navy prior to World War II, some bearing thousands of signatures asking that the US improve the political status of the Chamoru people, whether by gran...

2000 was the last time that Guam had a significant and focused conversation around political status. There had been campaigns, big and small, around commonwealth or constitutions. Each time there were discussions, community events and also sometime of plebiscite. 2000 was the last time that there was a big community push around the issue, as that was the year a plebiscite was scheduled and some funds made available for public education. This came after commonwealth had died or stalled in the US Congress, and it was decided to start the process over by having a new plebiscite to help determine the direction of future political status negotiations. This new start to the process never really came. The 2000 plebiscite was delayed several times and never took place. I recently went through more than a year of the Pacific Daily News to get a sense of that time, and came across dozens of letters to the editor and articles dealing with the plebiscite and the three sta...

Independent Guåhan will be joining a delegation from Guam that is heading to the UN to testify before the Fourth Committee in the first week of October. We are seeking funds to help cover the costs for this trip. If you are able please donate at our Go Fund Me Page "Funds for Freedom. " ************** Håfa Adai! Every October, the United Nations Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) meets to discuss the status of the world’s 17 remaining Non-Self Governing Territories, including Guam. This is the one opportunity the people of Guam have every year to directly address the 193 member states of the UN General Assembly. This year, the General Assembly will vote on a resolution that includes powerful and important language about the continued colonization and militarization of Guam and the direct impediments to the CHamoru people’s right to self-determination. Guam's governor has also requested a UN visiting mission to assess the status ...

TEACH-IN: FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY’S CONNECTION TO GUAM’S SELF-DETERMINATION HAGATÑA, GUAM (July 11, 2017) - As part of their monthly Teach-In Sessions, Independent Guåhan will be holding a session introducing Filipino Revolutionary History and how Filipino struggles for independence are connected to CHamoru self-determination. The Teach-In will feature Josephine Ong, Kristin Oberiano, Jamela Santos and Ruzelle Almonds. “As Filipinos living on Guam, we need to acknowledge that the fight for CHamoru self-determination is a fight for the ideals of self-governance, sovereignty, and freedom - the same principles that led to the establishment of the Philippines, the USA, and other independent countries around the world,” says Oberiano, whose grandfather came to Guam during the Camp Roxas Era. All four presenters are Filipinos who consider Guam their home and are passionate about the conversation on the island’s political status. Through the teach-i...