NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Gaige yu' giya Okinawa på'go na simana.

Para bei fama'nu'i gi kolehio yan konfirensia guini. I fina'nu'i siha put decolonization yan nina'la'la' lengguåhen natihu siha.

Para bei faninterview taotao Chamoru ni' manmastastation guini giya Okinawa put i sinienten-ñiha nu i taotao guini. Put hemplo, kao hinasson-ñiha na mamparehu i estao i taotao Okinawa yan i Chamoru? Guaha meggai parehu put i halacha na hestoria-ta siha, lao kao ma ripåpara este? Pat osino gi lini'e'-ñiha kao manentrangheru?

Bai hu bisita lokkue' i kampon protest taiguihi gi este na litråtu. Este giya Henoko, nai i militåt Amerikånu ma keke ekstende i sagan-ñiha guihi, lao i taotao ti yan-ñiha este, ko'lo'lo'ña put taimanu na u ma destrosa i ginefpågon lugåt.

I ma'pos na biahi na hu bisita iya Okinawa, tinatiyi yu' ni' pakyo' dangkolu. Matto guihi para un konferensia, lao ma cancel i dinana' put i pakyo'. Gi ayu na hinanao sumaga' yu' gi un kuatton hotet para tres dihas, ya taya' bida-hu. Ti manali'e' ham yan i meggai na atungo'-hu siha guihi. Para kuatro na sakkan hu bisisita iya Okinawa. Kumuentos yu' meggai biahi gi diferentes na klasin dinana' academic pat activist. Hu bisita i diferentes na lugat, taiguihi Henoko pat Takae, nai guaha protest pa'go put taimanu trinatrata i tano' ni' militat Amerikanu. 

Guaha otro konferensia guihi gi otro na mes. Malago' yu' na bei hanaogue, lao kalang mappot. Ayu Mes Chamoru, fihu i mas mitinane' na mes para Guahu.  I kinalamten para Independensia guini giya Guahan esta gof machalapon. Guaha na biahi gof annok i taotao ni' sumapopotte gui' gi media, sa' meggai gi gurupun-mami yan-niha manoghe gi kanton chalan…

One thing that I often try to impress upon people, especially those who want to become activists and get involved in struggles in Guam against things such as militarization or in favor of things such as decolonization, is the importance of understanding the nature of your fight and what you are up against. One of the key advantages to considering social movements in war terms is that it helps you understand better that feeling right or being right has close to no effect on whether or not you win your battles. The only way in which that feeling of righteousness would carry any significance is if you believe that God is the ultimate judge in terms of who wins and loses on the battlefield and so strategy and planning matters little when all rests in his His hands. Sureness in your cause and the need for your fight can help bring you to the fray and keep you there, but if anything it can actually hurt your ability to strategize perceive the discursive field that awaits your interventions…

I have been working for the past week on answering some questions for an antibase group in Italy. Through David Vine, best known for his book Islands of Shame about Diego Garcia, they held a virtual meeting amongst demilitarization activists from around the Pacific and Europe. A physical gathering of antibase activists in Italy coordinated virtual presentations from speakers representing struggles in Guam, Okinawa, South Korea, Hawai'i, Diego Garcia and elsewhere. It was an inspiring and invigorating moment even though because of time differences I was hunched over my computer at 2 in the morning. The group found the exchange of information so interesting they decided to produce a book that would give a road map to the struggles that are happening around the world, to help us better see how we are connected.

Here is the text for the short presentation that I made during last year's demilitarization network solidarity meeting. 

*****************

--> I apologize tha…

The Battle of Guam/Okinawa project took several months but it was well worth it.

After visiting the Sakima Art Museum in Okinawa I was consumed by a painting that is in their permanent collection, "The Battle of Okinawa." This painting was designed to show the horror of World War II in Okinawa, when the island was destroyed in a typhoon of steel. This painting was the height of the Museum and filled with imagery that intrigued, haunted and horrified. I knew I could never match up to the intensity of that image, but felt the need to try to create my own intervention.

After traveling and visiting Okinawa so many times in the past few years and seeing the way our tragic histories have given us similar difficult experiences, I wanted to build upon the intent of the original Battle of Okinawa painting, but also put my own wishful solidarity, in whatever form I could find it. I decided to try to paint an image that could combine the effects and impacts of World War II in both Gua…

The_Target_Villageby LemmyCautionTK

 Please watch this video above. It is subtitled and discusses Okinawan resistance to US bases there, most recently protests about the use of the Osprey in the northern forests.

I will be heading back to Okinawa in March for another study and solidarity tour. I'll be speaking at a Island Language symposium at Ryuku University and visiting programs dedicated to revitalizing the Okinawan language. I'll also be meeting again with anti-base and independence advocates there. I'm also hoping to see more of the museums and cultural areas while I was there. During my last trip I was limited in terms of what I could see because my schedule was so packed. This time I'm hoping there will be more room to negotiate.

For those who want to see my thoughts on my previous two trips to Okinawan please check out the links below:

Occupied Okinawa: My trip in May 2012.
Okinawa Dreams: My trip in November 2011.

I have been to Okinawa twice over the past year. The first time last November for the Japan Peace Conference and then earlier this year in May, where I traveled with Ed Alvarez (director of the Commission on Decolonization) and former Guam Senator Marilyn Manibusan on a solidarity trip to meet with Okinawans interested in discussing decolonization. I saw so many things, meggai lini'e'-hu guihi, but one image that has stayed with me is a military fence covered in brightly colored ribbons. 

The fence in question was part of Camp Schwab near Henoko Bay in Northeastern Okinawa. It is the site of a proposed expansion of US facilities in the island and so it has been a site for regular protest and resistance as well. In order to secure the closing of Futenma in Ginowan City, a base that lies right in the middle of a crowded urban area, the US required that their bases in the north of the island be expanded to make up for the loss of their facility. As part of this proposed realignmen…

‘The Fadang Between US’ by Michael Lujan Bevacqua
The Marianas Variety
1/4/12

IN NOVEMBER of last year, I travelled with 10 others as delegates to the 2011 Japan Peace Conference in Okinawa. This conference is held annually in any prefecture in Japan that hosts U.S. military bases, and is attended by thousands from every corner of Japan who discuss issues of peace, demilitarization and nuclear abolition. As delegates from Guam, we spoke about the military buildup, the Pågat lawsuit, and our ideas for peace in the region.

It is not hyperbolic to say that my trip to Okinawa was a dream come true. After reading so much about Okinawa since the military buildup was first announced, it was very enriching to finally visit the place and see things for myself. The fates of our islands have recently been tied together by the strategic and political interests of the U.S. and Japan, but this entwining is very cursory, ti tahdong. In the week prior to my trip, I spent time re…

I am in Okinawa for the next four days for two conferences dealing with peace and demilitarization in the Asia-Pacific region. I am in my hotel room right now, and have great internet access and so that means that I'll be blogging while I'm here. The name of my blog posts about my experiences in Okinawa will be "Okinawa Dreams." In the coming days keep returning to my blog to learn more.

I spent yesterday and the day before reading up on Okinawan history, trying to find any possible historical connections between our islands. By now, everyone knows that we have been connected in terms of force realignment and that Marines are supposed to be transferred from Okinawa to Guam at some point in future, but this connection is relatively recent and is a result of the regional interests of the US military. What other connections could there be?

In my cursory research, I found references to Okinawans coming to Guam in the 1800's as farmers, and other references to people …