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Showing posts from February, 2019

Two Poems Written By Angel Santos in Federal Prison

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Two poems written by the late Angel L.G. Santos while he was in US federal prison in the year 2000. I will write more on them another time, but for now, let them stand here as a testament to who he was and the times in which he lived, and also, how he helped to affect the course of Chamoru and Guam history up until today. ************************ Who Are We To Uncle Sam – Friend or Foe? (by Angel Leon Guerrero Santos) As I pen this poem, while I sit in prison, For you silence my voice, in the American tradition; Who are we Uncle Sam, are we friend or foe? If we are your friend, then treat us as so; Our land and our water, the air God giveth,  You came to our island, and then you taketh; We have drinking water, at Fena Lake you will find, You want us to pay “Now!”, cause it’s no longer mine; Our language and our culture, is 4,000 years old, You pass your own laws, “No More!” we are told; We live and we learn, you say we are one, You build y

Adios Janet Benshoof

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Every year, at some point during at least one of my classes I'll mention the name "Janet Benshoof." It isn't a name commonly known on Guam, at least among the general population, but it was a name that was notorious for a short period in the early 1990s, and one that probably deserves more attention. Janet Benshoof was the ACLU attorney who came to Guam to lead the fight against the strictest and harshest anti-choice, anti-abortion law within the US and its empire as of 1990. She was the only person arrested under that harsh anti-abortion law that made national headlines. Reading her obituary though I saw that her work was truly international, joining causes for the betterment of women's lives across the globe. In her obit below from the New York Times there is even a section that deals with her time in Guam and a quote from Former Governor of Guam Joseph Ada. One day I'm gonna write an article about that time in Guam's History, because it represents

Fina'nu'en Mes Chamoru

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Both i hagå-hu (si Sumåhi) yan Guahu will be exhibiting as part of this special Mes Chamoru exhibit in the lobby of the Outrigger Hotel in Tumon starting March 1st. A reception will take place on the 1st starting at 5:30 pm. If you are able, please come and join me and Sumåhi. We've been working for the past few weeks on our pieces. Gof banidosu na tåta yu' på'go!

Language Losses on College Campuses

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A few years ago, the University of Guam underwent a long discussion over the changing of its GE or General Education requirements for students. The intent was to update the system and lower the overall credit requirement. No system reform can ever be perfect or make all stakeholders happy, but this overhaul seemed to be strangely arbitrary and disconnected from UOG's mission, purpose or advantages as an educational institution. For most of its existence, you could argue that UOG was a colonial institution. You could argue that it continues to be one today. When I say colonial, it is not meant to describe that it came from the outside and therefore it implicitly bad. This is something that has been and can continue to be argued over forever. When I say colonial, I am invoking it to refer to the type of education it provides. How it is rooted and what it is meant to do. All cultures have some form of education and that education comes with different intents, to teach certain thin

Un Rigålu put Ha'ånen Guinaiya

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Ha'Ã¥nen Guinaiya ta'lo gi otro simÃ¥na.  Estague un rigÃ¥lu para todus hamyo guenao huyong ni' manamÃ¥ntes put guinaiya yan i fino' Chamoru.  Estague na tinige' put courtship yan konstrumbre Chamoru put umakkamo' Ã¥ntes di gera.  Tinige' este as Illuminada Perez, ni ma'estra gui' gi kinalamten para i nina'la'la' i fino'-ta.  *************************** Kustumbren Chamorro put Inakamo’ By Illuminada Perez   Annai sumuttero pat sumuttera un patgon, mana’eyak i lahi na patgon gumualo’ yan pumeska, parehu ha’ gi saddok pat i tasi, yan mamoksai mÃ¥nnok yan babui. I sottera, mana’eyak manlakse, manganchiyu yan manarekla gi halom guma’. Desde i diesisais años i patgon, ha tutuhun manenteresao put guinaiya yan inakamo’. Yanggen esta ti siña machomma’ i lahi yan i palao’an ni’ u maguaiyan-ñiha, pues i lahi ha sangÃ¥ni i mañainÃ¥-ña para u fanmamaisen saina. Tenga i nana, i tata, i tiha yan i matlina, mañaonao manhÃ¥nao para i gima’ i