NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Hafa hinassosso-mu put Si Judith Butler yan i che'cho'-na? Annai hu tuthuhun i lina'la'-hu gi eskuelan Grad, guaha nai ti komprendeyon i tinige'-na siha, pi'ot put "gender" yan "sex." Estaba kalang taya' sensia-ku put asunton "gender yan sexuality" pues ti hu hulat gumacha i tinige'-na Si. Ma gof dingu i chi-na siha i hinasso-ku. Lao ti apmam, mana'payon yu' gi i hinasso-na siha. Dumidide' dumidide' hu tumutuhun kumomprende hafa kumekeilek-na, ya pues humuyongna na hu gof agradesi taimanu ha puga' asunto siha put hemplo gender, sex yan i tahtaotao. Lao para i mannatibu na feminists siha, fihu ma sangan na Si Butler gof conservative, pat gof liberal. Ha sangan na apa'ka na palao'an gui' ya pues todu tiempo manunuge' gui ginnen ayu na estao. Ti sina ha dingu i estao-na, pues achokka' gof "radical" i tininge'-na siha gi este na banda, gof otdinario gi i otro banda. Gi i

I'll have more details soon on this year's trip to the United Nation's, but in the meantime, here's: THE UN report on the Petitioners speaking on The Question of Guam . It contains, summaries of the testimonies presented dealing with Guam. ********************* MICHAEL TUNCAP, of the Pacific Islands Study Group of the University of California, Berkeley, said that as a descendant of a 4,000 year civilization that had existed before the nations of Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States, he requested that the United Nations recognize the inalienable right to self-determination of Guam. The continued occupation of United States military forces in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands was rooted in a system of racial inequality between European Americans, Asian and Pacific settlers and the indigenous Chamorro people. He said that since initial contact with the United States in 1898, massive pacification and military occupation had prevented the people of Gu

Minagahet Zine Volume 6 Issue 2 - March 24, 2008 http://www.geocities.com/minagahet Hafa Adai, yan welcome to i mina'trenta sais na Minagahet. It is that time of year again, almost time for another dinaña' Famoksaiyan or Famoksaiyan gathering. This year's gathering is titled " Guma'Famoksaiyan: Gathering Strength for the Journey Ahead ," and is scheduled for May 23-25, 2008 in San Diego, California. This year's gathering is being co-sponsored by Chamorro Hands in Education Links Unity (CHELU) Inc. For more info or to find regular updates, please head to the Guma'Famoksaiyan blog. This issue of Minagahet will be, for those who don't know much about Famoksaiyan, an introduction to hayi ham? and ginnen manu ham? And for those who already do know about Famoksaiyan it will be a retrospective of sorts, a collection of different events and projects that we've completed over the past three years. Ti bai hu kedagi hamyo, it has been surreal putting t

At long last, I am pleased to announce, the date, location and details for the next Famoksaiyan gathering!!!! Sen magof hu put este, sa' pa'go na sakkan, esta i mina'tres na dinana'!!! Guaha nai ti hu hongge este na chalan yan karera. Taimanu na manmatto ham gi este na chinago, gi este ti apmam na tiempo? In honor of the occasion, I've even started a new blog just for the conference, where myself and the conference committee can post updates and other news. Click on this link to head over there, apologies for now, since there isn't much posted up there, Guma'Famoksaiyan . Alot more details soon, lao para pa'go nahong ha' na in na'hiyong este na mensahi!! ************************ Guma’Famoksaiyan Gathering Strength for our Journey Ahead May 23-25, 2008 San Diego, California Famoksaiyan is a group comprised of dedicated and passionate people who work on issues of decolonization, cultural and language revitalization and the dissemination of informa

I have a radio interview lined up for tomorrow, with i kayu-hu Migetu Tuncap from UC Berkeley. We're going to discuss what Migetu has been doing at UC Berkeley in terms of getting Pacific Islanders recognized, funded and with their own faculty and programs, and also my recent trip to the United Nations and what's happening right now in Guam and the military buildup. I'm pasting the information below for the interview, and also a list of radio interviews done by members of Famoksaiyan over the past year on similar topics. Check them out, the interviews are very good and very informative. There are alot of voices involved and touching on so many important issues for Chamorros, whether it be environmental damage, military build up, economic dispossession, cultural and language revitalization and even music. ********************************* Apex Express: Asian Pacific Islander radio Thursdays 7PM-8PM, KPFA 94.1 FM, KFCF Fresno, www.kpfa.org Thurs. Nov. 29th: US Troop Increase

One thing which was discussed and highlighted as critically important at last weekend's beautiful and incredibly inspirational Famoksaiyan conference in Berkeley and Oakland, California was the need to be informed and make your voices known on the issue of the impending military build up of Guam. (I will absolutely have more on the conference soon) At the conference we passed out comment forms which the military is distributing to the public on Guam in hopes of convincing us that we have a say in the process and that our concerns will be taken seriously. In one way, we can look at this act and think that they are trying to fool us, trick us into thinking we have more power in this situation than we really do. Even if we sent a million letters to them telling them to stop this increase, they would do it anyway. There is unfortunately alot of truth to this, however, we also need to see the vulnerability and anxiety of the military in their offerings of transparency. The movement of

I just wanted to give everyone an update on the Famoksaiyan 'Our Time to Paddle Forward:' Summit on Decolonization and Native Self-Determination. The date is still set for next April 20-22 with the program on the 21st taking place in Oakland at a place called SMAAC. On the 22nd the program will be taking place at UC Berkeley in Barrows Hall. The schedule for presentations and sessions is filling up fast and we have a very exciting lineup so far. I'll have more details and descriptions later, but for now, I'll just list the titles. Remember, if you are intereted in attending or want to know more, just email me. Information Sessions: Marianas History Getting to Know The Department of Interior 10 Books About Guam That You Should Own or Know Overcoming the Activist Label Workshops: Writing for Social Change Guahan Economic Sustainability Working Group Collaborating on Chamorro.com Campus Organizing for Pacific Islander Students Chamorro Language Introduction Presentations:

FAMOKSAIYAN: “Our Time to Paddle Forward” Summit on Decolonization and Native Self-Determination April 20-22, 2007 History: On 14 & 15 April 2006 more than 100 Chamorro scholars, activists, and community leaders gathered at the Sons and Daughters of Guam Club in San Diego to share their work and research, and to participate in discussions relating to the future of their people and native homelands. The name of this gathering was Famoksaiyan: Decolonizing Chamorro Histories, Identities and Futures . This initial meeting of native leaders inspired such a great deal of research questions and possibilities that concrete action plans were soon implemented on an international forum. Over the past year we have held regional meetings in Berkeley, Long Beach, Oakland and Guam and helped plan a number of historic events. In October of 2006, several members of Famoksaiyan organized a trip to New York City to testify before the United Nations Committee on Decolonization, about the question

Last week for the first time that I know of, I got Youtubed. I'm surprisingly ambivalent, confused, aburido, over this. Sure, there were feelings of excitement. Lana, sen paire este. Feelings of hope too. I got Youtubed along with Julian Aguon and Victoria Leon Guerrero since all of us were on an edition of KUAM News Extra last week to discuss political status and the impacts of the military increases that are already taking place on Guam. Hami na tres, manhohoben ha', and so while we were on Guam we were constantly introduced and interpreted as young people who are taking up the cause of decolonization. By being on Youtube, hopefully we can reach young Chamorros and others on or from Guam who wouldn't ever read Minagahet Zine or even the PDN. But there were chathinasso lokkue. Lao pinat mandikike'. Most prominent of these worries deals with the fact that my symbolic existence, the social substance that I am in the world, seems to slowly be moving beyond the mea

Tonight I'll be presenting as part of the Decolonizing Our Lives forum which is taking place at the UOG Lecture Hall at 7:30. Its been a very exciting and stressful week planning and preparing for this forum, but it looks like its going to be worth it. I came later in the preparation process, so I've been fortunate enough to get to do smaller and more exciting things such as radio and TV interviews. Last night I was on KUAM on their News Extra broadcast, along with Victoria Leon Guerrero, who has done the majority of the organizing for this event, and Julian Aguon, whose latest book The Fire This Time provides extremely important information about the potential economic, political and cultural damages Guam is facing with the increases in military presence it will receive over the next few years. If you want, head to KUAM and check out the interview. They have the video of me up right now, although I don't know for how long it'll be there. http://www.kuam.com . For t

Came across this while I was googling my name. While the first article below was very exciting, especially since it has circulated the internet on other leftist or alternative news websites, the second article which is the same article except in German, was mind-blowing! Taitai, yanggen taotao Guahan hao gof impottante este sa' put i mamailan i isla-mu, yanggen taotao Lagu impottante lokkue, sa' injustice este na debi di un na'suha. POLITICS: Natives of Guam Decry U.S. Expansion Plan Aaron Glantz SAN FRANCISCO, California, Dec 12 (IPS) - A Pentagon plan for a massive military build-up on the Pacific island of Guam is meeting with resistance by ethnic Chamorros who live there and the Chamorro diaspora in the United States. According the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute, the Pentagon has already moved attack submarines and cruise missiles to Guam, where it is forming a strike force of six bombers and 48 fighters that have been deployed from bases in the cont

REMEMBERING OUR ROOTS: DECOLONIZATION IN GUAHAN (GUAM) A report-back/ cultural event about the military build up in the pacific @ La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley (2 Blocks from Ashby bart) Thursday, Nov. 30 7:30pm - 10pm (doors open at 7) $5 - 20 no one turned away with performances by: jacob perez, joevana santos, erica benton, and much more! come join us for discussion, music, poetry, culture, food, and good vibes from guahan! and check out this link if you can about a radio interview held recently at kpfa... http://kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=17065 - Interview with Victoria Leon-Guerrero, Miget Tuncap, Kerri Ann Borja, Erica Benton about how the US military base build-up on Guam will further erode their rights. Chanting by Guma Palu Li'e Music by Chris Barnett "War Song" , Erica Benton "Back to Guahan" biba nasion chamoru! support chamoru self-determination! stop da u.s. military build-up in the Pacifik!

Every year one of the three Ethnic Studies graduate programs in California (Berkeley, UCSD, USC) take turns hosting a conference called Crossing Borders. The reasoning behind the creation of this conference is that there isn't really a national Ethnic Studies conference for the type of comparative work that these three departments do. There is though the National Association of Ethnic Studies (NAES), but the work there tends to be Ethnic Studies work as it was first articulated in the 1960's, meaning about getting in touch with your roots, knowing your history and carving out a space for your people in the United States. I love doing this sort of Ethnic Studies (i freskon pao-na "strategic" pat "crass" na essentialism) , but unfortunately this isn't what my department at University of California, San Diego or the other two departments are supposed to do. So, if you are Chicano and are looking to learn Chicano history and become well versed in its nuan