NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I write regularly about "the decolonization conversation."

I use this to refer to the wider public discussion and sometimes debate about Guam's future in terms of its political status.

There are three main options that are to be considered when thinking about Guam's future status.

Each of them provides a higher level of self-governance than remaining an unincorporated territory, although they can be slightly to very different.

This conversation around Guam's political status has been around for more than a hundred years, although we often don't think about it that way.

During the late Spanish period, Chamorus chafed under colonial rule, especially after the rest of the Spanish Empire had achieved independence or was actively rebelling or forming nationalist movements.

Nowadays we don't know much about this, because we don't teach our own history very well. If we did take seriously the teaching of our history, we would have a general sense of the effo…

Independent Guåhan will present on the risks of drafting a constitution as a territory and honor the late Lt. Governor Frank F. Blas for June GA
For Immediate Release, June 18, 2019- Independent Guåhan (IG) invites the public to attend their upcoming General Assembly (GA) to take place on Thursday, June 27th,  from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Main Pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. This GA will focus on the risks involved should Guam decide to pass a constitution as a territory of the US. As part of this educational focus, the group will honor as maga’taotao the late Lt. Governor of Guam Frank F. Blas. 
Following the passage of a federal law that enabled Guam to draft a local constitution, the second Guam Constitutional Convention (ConCon) was held in 1977. A constitution was drafted and approved by the US federal government; however, it was rejected at a 4-1 margin by the voters of Guam. There are many reasons why the draft constitution was rejected, but many of them stemmed from the…

This is a list of items that Independent Guåhan made a few months back following the federal ban on cockfighting in the US territories. That was a very interesting time for IG and for me, since a certain part of the Guam/Chamoru community suddenly became hyper-engaged on issues of political status. 
For me personally, what made it interesting is that for a few weeks, everywhere I went I would end up having cockfighters talk to me and ask me questions about what can be done and what's going on. One of these days I'll write more about my reflections on that time, but for now, here is the call to action items we created. 
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What Can WE Do About the Cockfighting Ban NOW?
1. Cockfighting is Culture! It is important that we continue to defend and practice our culture in the present. Cockfighting is one of those traditions, and it is imperative that we defend our heritage.  
2. Call Your Elected Leaders! Finding and influencing elected leaders who are willing to support coc…

My trip to Spain took me through South Korea, where I spent seven hours in the Incheon Airport in Seoul.

In the same way that Guam and Okinawa have been connected for years now because of US military plans, so too have Guam and South Korea become connected as well.

Guam has been a potential target for North Korea for many years now, as it is one of the most prominent US bases in the region.

But over the past year the danger to Guam has become far more pronounced, from both sides of the Pacific.

Late last year, North Korean rhetoric became more focused around Guam, far more than it ever had before.

The year before that, Donald Trump was elected President of the US, and his foreign policy approach hasn't been very ideologically based, but seems to be rooted in impulsive Twitter tirades.

Both of them combined mean that people on Guam have no idea what to think or even worry about next.

North Korea is portrayed as a tin pot regime, simply full of bluster one moment, and then the most…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Decolonization gi Fino' CHamoru: Future Status Options for Guam Discussed in UOG CHamoru-Language Panel
Mangilao, GU - On Thursday, March 1, 2018, 6:00-7:30 p.m., the Dean of the School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Guam will host a CHamoru-language panel from the Commission on Decolonization to discuss the status options for Guam/Guåhan: Statehood, Free Association, and Independence.
The event is called "Decolonization gi Fino' CHamoru" (in the CHamoru language).It will be held in Room 131.It is free and all are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The panel, co-organized with Commission Director Amanda Blas from the Office of the Governor of Guam, will include special presentations gi Fino' CHamoru (in the indigenous CHamoru language) from representatives of the Taskforces on Statehood, Free Association, and Independence.Handouts and other educational materials in English will also be available.
The taskforces are direc…

I have not written one of these posts in a while, although the collecting of Chamorro sayings continues. Fina'kuentos Chamorro is where I post different Chamorro sayings or phrases, they are important in providing us a sense of the Chamorro worldview, both in history and in a contemporary context, and give us a sense of the Chamorro particular flavor to life. Sometimes this flavor can be very familiar to other cultures, sometimes it can be very Catholic, sometimes is can appear to be very tied to the land and people here themselves.

This saying "Si Yu'os, Yu'os. I taotao, taotao ha'" can be both very simple, yet also encompass very deep thoughts. It translates simply to "God is God, man is man."

On the surface it is simply that men should not worry about things that are beyond their control, as those things lie in God's hands and he will determine what happens. It is a simplified serenity prayer.

But it can also extend further into helping unde…

“Tinestigu put Resolusion 294-34” November 22, 2017 Michael Lujan Bevacqua
Buenas yan Håfa Adai, mansenådot yan mansenådores guini gi este na gefpå’go na ha’åni, pi’ot hågu Senadot San Nicolas. I na’ån-hu si Michael Lujan Bevacqua. Profesot yu’ gi Programan Inestudion Chamorro gi Unibetsedat Guåhan yan gehilo’ yu’ para i inetnon kumunidåt “Independent Guåhan.” Lao guini på’go gi me’nan-miyu ti hu kuentusisiyi ayu siha. Tumestitigu yu’ guini på’go komo un Chamorro yan taotao Guåhan.
Hu agrådesi i oppotunidåt para bai hu fata’chong guini på’go ya bai hu sangåni hamyo ni’ didide’ ginen i hinasso-ku put este na resolusion yan i meggai asunto ni’ pinapacha.
Put resolusion 294-34, ti hu sapopotte gui’. Ya para bai hu na’klåru i pusision-hu put este na asunto gi este kuatro na punto:
Fine’nina: Gi tinituhon este na resolusion, guaha infotmasion put NEPA, i National Environmental Policy Act. Mafå’tinas este na lai para u na’siguro na i gubetnamenton Estådos Unidos ha respeta i guinahan i t…

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…

If you ask just about any Chamorro about their thoughts on reunification or the unification of the Marianas Islands, they would most likely all say "Hunggan, gof maolek enao. Hu gof sapotte enao." In the past, differences between the islands due to colonial divisions and anger over treatment during World War II may have kept Chamorros from the north and the south apart, but that isn't really the case anymore. There maystill  be some latent feelings of superiority that people of one island may have over another, because they feel culturally, linguistically or technologically superior, but even that is started to fade at the political level as all the Marianas Islands are basically territories of the United States now, one with more power than the other.

So while common sense has changed on this issue, there has been little substantive efforts. All governors of Guam that I can remember have at some point expressed interest in unifying the Marianas Islands. They have said …

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 Jo…

The United States has long ignored its obligation to Guam with regards to educating the people on their political status and enhancing their understanding of self-determination with the intent of pushing them towards a greater degree of self-government. For decades, activists and Government of Guam officials have called on the United States to fulfill this obligation, with little to no success. This past year however represented the first instance in recent memory of the United States accepting this obligation, as the Department of Interior has provided a grant of $300,000 to the Government of Guam to be used for political status education. Similar grants were also provided to other colonial possessions of the United States, with a similar educational purpose in mind.

This money is promising, however most likely unique. Previous attempts to get this type of funding were met with confused responses at multiple levels and didn't go anywhere. As of today it isn't clear what exac…