NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

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...

For the entire month of July, I'll be in Hawai'i at the East West Center for the first ever Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Museum Institute. This is an incredible opportunity for me to work with museum professionals and scholars from across the Pacific and network with people from museums, galleries, arts councils and cultural centers from a dozen different island communities.We just finished the first week and it has already been amazing on so many levels. I'm sure I'll be writing more about my experiences over the course of the month Here is the full list of all of those who are attending.  Roldy Ablao, Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum, California Archie Ajoste, Northern Mariana Islands Museum, Saipan Pamela Alconcel, Lānaʻi Heritage Center, Hawaiʻi Wilbert Alik, RMI Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs, Marshall Islands Meked Besebes, Internal Affairs, Palau Michael Lujan Bevacqua, Guam Museum, Guam Mina Elison, Donkey Mill Arts Center, Hawaiʻi Ailini Eteuati, ...

Every territory of the US today is different in some ways, but similar in others. All are islands, even if they are in different oceans. All have non-voting delegates. All are US citizenship, except for one and that is American Samoa, where the people there are US nationals. Interacting with people from American Samoa or with ties to American Samoa is always interesting. Those who are elsewhere in the US but have ties to the islands are often very different than those who are still at home. In recent years, alot of this difference has come down to US citizenship. With those who have moved to the US, lamenting that their status as US nationals has limited their opportunities. While those who are still in American Samoa not necessarily wanting US citizenship because they worry it might mean a loss of their cultural and political rights at home.  It is easy to see the territories of the remains of empire of the US and think that the only recourse is to find ways to further includ...

Being from a colony and engaging with the United Nations can be a surreal experience. It can be intoxicating in terms of experiencing new possibilities, but also feel so grinding and draining when confronted with the networks of power around you, from which you still remain excluded. I base these notions on my own experiences, but also discussions with others and just a general analysis of what it is like to be a contemporary colony. In 2007 I testified before the 4 th Committee at the UN and I have testified at the Committee of 24 regional seminars on four occasions. In my dissertation in Ethnic Studies from UCSD, I incorporated an anecdote from my experience before the 4 th Committee that helped inform greatly my analysis of sovereignty and Guam’s colonial status. It dealt with a broken microphone during my testimony. Perhaps I will share it another time. The surreal nature of this experience derives from loving, representing and fighting for a place that isn’t supposed ...

Connections between colonies are intriguing. They come most naturally from the gaze or the perspective of the colonizer. So colonies tend to be linked together as sites of corruption, incompetence, primitivity and overall negative binary possibility. We see this in terms of how the US looks at its colonies, describes them, produces them as objects of the law, and assume so much in the way of their nature without an ounce of self-reflection. As a continuation of the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration is now holding up foreign worker visas to Guam. They claim to be doing so because of corruption and abuse in the past. Whatever abuses have taken place are a sliver of a drop in the ocean that is American political or economic corruption. Often times people assume that the corruption begins in the colonies, but it is just as feasible that the corruption was imported or taught to the natives by the colonizer. For those of you with fancy literature backgrounds think Heart of Dar...

I spent some time recently with former Governor of Guam Joseph Ada. It was a very enlightening experience and one that I will most definitely be writing about or incorporating into my research and activism with regards to Guam's decolonization. There was one thing that stood out though, especially when comparing the time when Joseph Ada was Governor (1986-1994) to the current moment under the leadership of Governor Eddie Calvo. In both eras Guam's political status remains a fundamental unresolved issue that leaks out and affects so many other aspects of life, even if the general population doesn't understand it or accept the connections. During the term of Governor Ada, the Government of Guam was well organized and focused on negotiating with the US Congress and Feds over the proposed Commonwealth status. These negotiations eventually failed under the term of his successor Governor Carl Gutierrez, but the negotiation of a new, transitional political status for Guam that w...

The conventions for both political parties this year have passed. Because of the time difference on Guam, I wasn't able to watch them as much as I'd hoped, because I was usually in class when people were speaking. I followed the coverage as best as I could, even writing about the Guam delegations for both the DNC and RNC and the way they represented the island in their roll call spotlight moment. I have only attended one political convention in my life and that was in 2008 when I got to be the "Blogger from Guam" to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where Barrack Obama received the nomination for President. I has wanted to go back to another convention or two, and toyed with the idea of attending this year, but my teaching schedule made it impossible. While reflecting on this year's convention and my own experience 8 years ago, I sifted through my digital files and came across this article this article that I written fro AAJA or the Asian American ...

For the past few years, two legal cases have overshadowed the quest for decolonization in Guam. One of them is the infamous Davis case or Arnold Dave Davis v. the Government of Guam, over the alleged violation of his constitutional rights, that a decolonization plebiscite would entail. Taya' ganas-hu para bei pacha este na suheto pa'go. Buente bei fangge' put este gi otro biahi pat tinige'. The other case is Tuaua v. The United States, which represents a challenge to the Insular Cases, or the century's worth of legal cases in the United States that formalize their colonial control over their territories such as Guam, American Samoa and Puerto Rico.  American Samoa's relationship to the United States is perhaps even more interesting than Guam's. Although they are a territory and a colony as well, because of the particularity of their history, they are less intimately connected to the US than Guam is. They are technically an "unorganized unincorpo...

Last year when I attended this same regional seminar in Nicaragua, I wrote a series of posts about my time here under the title of " Quest for Decolonization ." I've listed each of the posts below with easy links for those who might be interested in reading them. I touched on a variety of issues, such as United Nations politics, the history of Nicaragua and the life in contemporary colonies.  These sorts of writing projects are important for me. So much happens when I travel and it can be difficult to keep track of everything, even if I record interviews and take plenty of notes. Quest for Decolonization #1: Tinituhon Quest for Decolonization #2: Statement from the UN Secretary General Quest for Decolonization #3: Small Lands, Big Dreams Quest for Decolonization #4: The Most Famous Chamorro of All... Quest for Decolonization #5: The List Quest for Decolonization #6: Liberation Theology with Father Miguel D'Escoto Quest for Decolonization #7: Decolonial D...

Everytime Dr. Carlyle Corbin from the US Virgin Islands visit Guam I love listening to his stories of the times when Guam's governors were passionate about political status and decolonization and, at least at the governmental level, there was alot more collaboration and communication. I say this now because Guam's current Governor Eddie Calvo speaks every once in a while on the issue of political status, but doesn't seem to have a real interest or passion for the issue the way some of his predecessors did. Previous Governors invested heavily in the idea of educating people on the issue and working towards making decolonization a reality. This Governor, even now in his second-term where he is no longer running for election or re-election, still doesn't seem to really care about the issue and isn't investing in the process. It is unfortunate, as the longer we wait, the more difficult it becomes.  One reason I really enjoy seeing Carlyle is because he brings me up t...