NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

"Climate Change is a 'Matter of Life and Death' for The Marshall Islands
by Jon Letman
Civil Beat
11/4/16


It takes a combination of guts, grit and gray matter to face off against what is arguably the world’s biggest threat — a planet in the throes of environmental and climate upheaval.
That’s exactly what Hilde Heine displays with an understated conviction that belies her own determination as a Pacific Island leader.

In January, Heine, 65, was sworn in as the eighth president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the first female head of state of an independent Pacific Island nation.
Among the many urgent tasks her administration faces is the immediate need to fortify her nation of 29 atolls scattered across 750,000 square miles of the northern Pacific against the impacts of climate change. What’s more, this young nation with a centuries-old history, is challenged by major demographic shifts stemming from the days when the United States used the northern…

A great article that discusses the complexity of the average Chamorro relationship to the United States.

It is inundated with sometimes strange feelings of patriotism, desires for inclusion and casual approval of militarism in close to ever facet of life.

It feels natural for the most part, but at certain moments, doesn't seem to make sense.

As I noted in another article, every once in a while there is a crack in the facade of Americanness for the island, and suddenly the generic patriotism or platitudes of Guam being part of the United States don't make sense.

The colonial truth stares out at your through the crack, and if you've spent your life trying to avoid this reality, it can feel terrifying to realize that your relationship to the United States bares little similarity to what you see around you or what is taught to you at almost every level.

Si Yu'us Ma'åse' to Jon Letman for his great article, which doesn't just ignore the ambivalence that Chamor…