NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I first wrote an article "Happy US Imperialism Day Guam!" about 16 years ago. It was published in Minagahet Zine and later on this blog when I began it soon after. The writing of this article originally was a very formative experience. Part of it eventually became my Masters Thesis in Micronesian Studies. But I also wrote it at a time when I was first trying to find a way to become more public about my critiques and writing letters to the editor of the Pacific Daily News and creating websites/blogs were some of the obvious choices.

This article was written when the second Iraq War was only eight months old and the War in Afghanistan was over two years old. It was written at a time when I was feeling frustrated over the deaths of the first few Chamorros in Iraq, Christopher Rivera Wesley being the first. As I said, it was also written at a time when I was first working on developing a critical consciousness and a public voice in terms of writing and philosophy. I had been i…

Litråtu siha ginen i Fanhita Conference, September 11-12, 2019.

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I used to have an assignment in my Guam History classes, where I would have my students visit different schools on the island named for a different local historical figure. They would have to interview an administrator and a teacher to learn how their school honored their namesake and how their namesake’s example or history was or wasn’t incorporated into school curriculum or activities. 
Unfortunately, most schools did little in this regard. Some had a simple plaque, a statue, a poem or a song. Some had a day in which they would honor the person. Many of the schools are named for educators from the past century, usually in the village of the school that came to bear their name. Some teachers or administrators who had family ties in the village could share stories about their school’s namesake, but most didn’t know much and couldn’t share much. 
I would give this assignment to help students understand the value of history, but also the potential uselessness of history. History isn’t …

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 to discuss veteran’s issues and decolonization and honor the late Tony “Submariner” Artero 
For Immediate Release, November 24, 2019- Independent Guåhan (IG) invites the public to attend their upcoming General Assembly (GA) to take place on Thursday, December 5th from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Main Pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. For this GA, the group will honor as Maga’taotaothe late Tony “Submariner” Artero, who was a US Navy veteran and also a strong community activist in pushing for political status change in Guam. In honor of Veteran’s Day, this GA will also feature an educational discussion on the voices of Chamoru veterans and decolonization. 
Tony Artero was a veteran, a war survivor and an entrepreneur, who was part of the Artero family that helped hide US Navyman George Tweed during the Japanese occupation of Guam. Although his father received the Congressional Medal of Freedom for the risks he took, soon after the US military condemned huge tracts …

The Guam Bus is a creative collective run by brothers – Michael and Jack Lujan Bevacqua (Familian Kabesa yan Bittot) – that produces and publishes Chamoru-themed books, comics and other educational materials aimed at promoting the Chamoru language, culture. On Saturday, November 16th, 2019 – from 9 am – 12 pm, at Java Junction, the Guam Bus will be launching its newest publication, Hu Guaiya Hao Taiguihi, a bilingual Chamoru-English children’s book, that is ideal for young readers.The book launch will feature readings, activities, a free Chamoru language lesson and also refreshments. It is open to everyone.
Hu Guaiya Hao Taiguihi is the third Chamoru-language children’s book published by The Guam Bus. The first, Sumåhi and the Karabao was published in 2015 and features different stories of karabao in Chamoru culture and Guam history. The second, The Adventures of Akli’e’ was published in 2017 and provides stories of Guam legends and traditional Chamoru farming tools. Hu Guaiya Hao Taig…