NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

On Thursday, December 12th, from 4-6 pm, a public hearing will be held on Resolution No. 255-35 (LS) titled " RELATIVE TO SUPPORTING GUAM’S APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP TO THE UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES ORGANIZATION (UNPO)." Please consider testifying in person on Thursday or submitting testimony via email in support of this resolution.  Written testimonies may be delivered to the Office of Speaker Tina Muña Barnes at 163 Chalan Santo Papa, Hagåtña, Guam 96910or via email to speaker@guamleg islature.org . Joining the UNPO could bring an higher level of visibility Internationally and nationally to Guam's issues. Manny Cruz and I wrote as much in recent weeks in columns and letters to the Pacific Daily News.  ***************************** Group connects marginalized people across the world Michael Lujan Bevacqua Pacific Daily News November 21, 2019 Speaker Tina Muña Barnes has proposed a resolution that would seek Guam’s membership in the UNPO, or the Unre

Testimony to the Fourth Committee of the United Nations From Michael Lujan Bevacqua, Ph.D. Co-Chairperson, Independence for Guam Task Force October 3, 2017 Buenas yan håfa adai todus hamyo ko’lo’ña si Maga’taotao Rafael Ramirez Carreño i gehilo’ para i kumuiten Mina’Kuåtro, gi este na gefpå’go na ha’åni. Magof hu na gaige yu’ guini på’go para bai hu kuentusi hamyo yan kuentusiyi i taotao Guåhan put i halacha na sinisedi gi islan-måmi. (Hello to all of you on this beautiful day. I am grateful to be here now so that I can speak to you, in particular H.E. Rafael Ramirez Carreño, Chair of the C24, and speak on behalf of the people of Guam about recent events that transpired in our island home.) My name is Michael Lujan Bevacqua and I am a professor of Chamorro Studies at the University of Guam. I am also the co-chair for the Independence for Guam Task Force, a community outreach organization tasked with educating our island about the possibilities should

My column for the Guam Daily Post about my most recent visit to Okinawa. There were some serious questions about the nature of Okinawan struggle for decolonization and their place in the global order as a people that were being discussed. I got to participate as much as I could in these talks, all adding more content to my research on their independence movement. ****************** --> “The Indigenous Idea” by Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Guam Daily Post March 16, 2016 Over the weekend I attended a symposium at Okinawa International University on the topic of whether or not the Okinawan people are “indigenous.” For some, this may seem like a strange question, as on the surface Okinawans seem to simply be Japanese. They look like Japanese, sound like Japanese, how could they be indigenous? A few decades ago, the idea of even considering Okinawans to be indigenous would have ranged from being ludicrous to heretical. This was due to a long period of coercive ass

For the recent exhibit I worked on, Sindalu: Chamorro Journey Stories in the US Military, I wanted to make certain that the story we told included the experiences of Chamorro women in the US military. This turned out to be more difficult than I initially imagined. Chamorro women have served in the US military since the Korean War, but it is only recently that people really recognize that they are a central part of the military. This isn't just on Guam, but throughout the United States, women have served for a long time, but are always thought of as being supplementary, extra bodies, hence there is often ridiculous irritation when they demand certain rights or demand to be treated fairly. For most people the military is a man's domain, and so women are generally seen as weakening the grand military phallus of the nation, with their complaints about harassment, rape and lack of equality. Women who have served in the US military

Vicente Garrido Blaz passed away recently. Although he spent most of his life outside of Guam he was for the past few decades a major force in Chamorro history and the telling of the Chamorro story. For so many the history of Chamorros has been intimately linked with the US military, first as Guam was their colony, later a battleground and now as a strategic military location. Chamorros were used to being objects, fodder, extras in the background in that story. Someone like Ben Blaz changed the way that story was told because it helped to form the Chamorro as a potential subject, someone who had reached a certain pinnacle within that infrastructure that always dictated the meaning of Guam. Now this is still tokenism. This does not mean that Chamorros achieved an ability to see themselves in a decolonized way, but within a colonized framework Blaz through his service as a soldier and his service in Congress was empowering. This is one that that people often miss when the

 As part of his re-election campaign you can go on President Obama’s website and buy a mug that features “Made in the USA” on one side and a copy of his birth certificate on the other. It is meant to be a cute jab at those who continue, despite a mountain of evidence, to claåim that President Obama is not only Muslim and Socialist, but is also Kenyan. It is both astounding and appalling to report that an estimated 1 in 10 Americans and 3 out of 10 Republican believe that Obama was born in Kenya and therefore ineligible to hold his current office. While the Obama campaign created this mug as a joke, this refusal to recognize Obama as American is not really funny and is indicative of the racism that still exists in the US. These “birthers” are not just fringe elements, but parts of their beliefs have made it into mainstream Republican talking points. Birthers are racist, but the ideology they draw from is used by far more people than just themselves. Racis

Last month I was fortunate enough to be in Denver, Colorado to witness the nomination of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States of America by the Democratic Party. My presence there was part of a program called the "State Blogger Corps" whereby a grassroots blog from each state and territory of the United States would not just be allowed to attend the Democratic National Convention, but also be given full media access and even a seat on the floor of the convention with your state or territory's delegation. Through my blog " No Rest for the Awake " I covered the convention from the perspective of Chamorro, Guam and US territorial issues. I ended up writing several dozen posts and even had a few other people write guest posts. To this day I am still backposting notes, interviews, funny stories, cute/crazy moments with delegates, bloggers, media people, security and elected officials. In hopes of puting a clear conclusion on this great experience,

What I Learned from the DNC #5: Tokenism (this is the fifth in a series of concluding thoughts on my time as the blogger from Guam at the 2008 DNC) ************************** The presence of Guam and other territories at the DNC is a form of tokenism, it is not a gesture of respect or recognition based on necessity or power, but a gesture made to exude the benevolence and grandness of the one making the gesture. In times past the presence or inclusion of certain ethnic groups could be construed as tokenism, empty gestures to include you, which do not recognize you as having any power or standing. Nowadays, especially in this election where “white” people are showing continued quiet, but nonetheless present resistance to voting for a black man, the patchwork of ethnic groups that make up the Democratic party have to be respected and have to be recognized. With Asian American, Native American, Latino American and African American populations playing key roles in whether swing states

During the 2004 Presidential election I received the following email from a Chamorro in the states. As you can tell from its tone and content, she was most definitely a Republican, and most likely someone who ga'umegga' Fox News. Her basic argument is that Chamorros and other non-white groups are foolish to follow the Democrats instead of Republicans. Michael, you have the correct idea of involving the Chamorro people in politics to become a “voice of the island”. I, myself am working on getting the Chamorro people to register to vote and get involved. However, Michael, it is my believe that as a former resident of Los Angeles, you are influenced by the Liberals out there. The fact of the matter is that Chamorro people resemble the Republican Party more as they are devout Roman Catholics (i.e. pro-lifers, anti gay lifestyle, etc. etc.). If you would do your research you will find that the Democrats have been lying about the Republican Party for ages! The Democrats are the wealt