NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I would have loved to have talked to Martin Luther King Jr. And when I say that, I don't mean the fiction that is often trotted out each year by governments and educational systems. That MLK Jr. is a neutralized version of the man I've read about. That figure is one who has been shorn of all his radical content, and becomes a middleman for the American nation, allowing it to bury its racist past and present, without having to adequately deal with either. The MLK that I've studied was eloquent and fiery, but his targets were much higher and much more difficult to strike. He wasn't just seeking white and black children to play together on playgrounds. He wanted some fundamental changes to American society which would ease the terrible systems of economic and social inequality, which continue to disproportionately affect non-whites. I'm looking forward to getting a copy of this book Death of a King: The Real Story of Martin Luther King Jr's Final Year

When I left Guam in 2003 to start graduate school in the states I knew I wanted to research and write about Guam and Chamorros, but wasn't sure what angle to take exactly. My tagline for my research while in grad school was "everything Chamorro, anything Guam" and sometimes "everything Guam and anything Chamorro." Decolonization was something I was becoming more and more interested in in scholarly terms, even if it was something I had already been advocating and working on in an activist context. Would I do something more cultural? Something in your typical social movement, social science way? Would I do a historical project and come up with my bounded bundle of time and go from there? I ended up taking a more philosophical route and I'm grateful that my committee was willing to let me engage in that way. I ended up using my "data" and my evidence in a more philosophical way, or the way that philosophical essays and arti

After serving eight terms as one of the most progressive members of the US House of Representatives, Dennis Kucinich is leaving Washington D.C. next month. Kucinich was often the most reasonable voice in very unreasonable and irrational times. He ran for President several times, once I got to see him at a campaign stop in Atascadero, California. He was proud defender of the often time embattled and much maligned label of liberal. He will be missed. Below is the text for one of his most famous speeches given in February 2002. ***************** A Prayer for America by US Rep Dennis Kucinich February 17, 2002 I offer these brief remarks today as a prayer for our country, with love of democracy, as a celebration of our country. With love for our country. With hope for our country. With a belief that the light of freedom cannot be extinguished as long as it is inside of us. With a belief that freedom rings resoundingly in a democracy each time we speak freely. With the unde

Last year anthropologist David Vine visited Guam as part of a research trip where he visited areas around the world where communities were protesting (in various ways) the presence of US bases near them. While this is his most current research project, he is best known for his work on chronicling the plight of the Chagos Islanders, who come from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. If you are in the military you have most likely heard about the base there. If you are a fan of the live-action Transformers films then you might remember it being featured as a secure location where a sliver of the infamous all-spark is kept safe. If you are someone, who like me keeps lists of the not-so-great-things that have been done by the US over its history, than Diego Garcia is a particularly gross and recent atrocity. Through postwar collusion between the US and British governments, the people living in Diego Garcia were first tricked into leaving their island and barred from returning

Barack Obama's re-election campaign has officially begun, with the release of a video through his website . Here is the video below, which features people from around the United States getting geared up to help re-elect the President. Ti siguru yu' hafa siniente-ku put este. Ya-hu Si Barack Obama. Ya-hu gui' desde i fine'nina na humuyong gui' gi i 2004 na DNC giya Boston. Ga'o-ku gui' kinu Si Bush yan kinu todu i otro ni' sina manmalalagu para i ofisina gi 2012. Hunggan desganao yu' na ti gof "liberal" gui'. Ya ha na'desganao yu' meggai gi i ma'pos na dos na sakkan annai ti ha tachuyi hit kontra i manriku yan i Manrepublicans. Gof lalalu yu' na ti ha huchom GTMO. Ayu i mas fa'set na prublema. Huchom ha'. Sotta todu i mampinengle guihi. Manmapopongle todu kontra i lai internationale. Pues sotta ha' todu. Hunggan, sina na gigon manmasotta siha, ma hatme i US, lao maolekna ennao kinu i gagaige ha' i &quo;

I thought for sure that when I saw this article in my inbox this morning, that Guam would be on the list. In 2006 Foreign Policy magazine listed Guam as one of the six most important "foreign" bases of the more than 800 that it has around the world. Others included on that list were Camp Anaconda in Iraq, Bezmer Air base in Bulgaria, Manas Air Base in Kyrgistan, Guantanamo Bay, Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean, When I saw this article about the "Cost of Empire: Five expensive, controversial U.S. Military bases" I was sure that Guam, especially after all the extra attention it has gotten this year (Obama almost visiting, Guam almost getting capsized) would get a place on this list. But when I read through it and saw Guam missing, I wasn't quite sure why. Was this another case where Guam was now considered to be domestic and not foreign? Were these sites decided by region and so Kadena took the Asia-Pacific slot which Guam might have had? The author d

Prime Minister of Japan Yukio Hatoyama has just resigned , and from the news reports that I've read, they are all attributing this to the fact that he could not keep a campaign promise that he made, to resolve the US basing issue in Okinawa. This is a very interesting turn of events. As I posted a few weeks ago, the road for the US military buildup to Guam is far from smooth, uneventful or straight. It is instead gof matahlek , very twisted and looks to only get mas matahlek as time goes on. A recently posted piece on The Huffington Post by Steve Clemons, can help shed some light on how it came to this: *********************************** Of Presidents & Prime Ministers in the Age of Obama by Steve Clemons Jan ken pon. Scissors cut paper. Paper covers Rock. Rock smashes scissors. There is an interesting drama playing out between several world leaders today that reminds of this game. President Barack Obama seems to be smashing the political fortunes of Japan Prime Ministe

Halacha, hiningok-hu este na sinangan, ko’lo’lo’na gi entre i manakhilo’ yan i mansappotte i buildup giya Guahan, “Ai gumof matahlek i chalan-ña este na buildup.” Gi i hinasson este na taotao siha, estaba gof “simple” este na buildup. Madisidi todu esta, (ya mungga chathinasso sa’ siempre ma planunuyi hit esta lokkue’), ya gaiprubecho este para i taotao Guahan, kontat ki ti manggongon hit yan ti mamaisen kuestion hit. På’go, ayu i manggof malago na u fåtto (ya u magåhet) i buildup, ma susukne i kumokontra i buildup, put i meggai na mampos annok na prublema na para u katga magi. Gi minagahet, desde 2005, ayu na prublema siha, esta manggaige guini, esta manggaige guihi giya Japan, yan esta manggaige lokkue’ giya Washington D.C. I manmalago i buildup, ti ma admite este siha, achokka’ annok, na guaha giya D.C. yan Japan ni’ ti ya-ñiha este na buildup, ya siña mas piligro gui’ kinu prubecho para Hita, ti ma admite. Instead, ma fa’finu todu. Kontra Hita ni’ sumångan na matahlek yan piligr

I've been living back on Guam for more than a year and a half now, and while I've become immersed in Guam politics and issues, my knowledge of national or regional politics in the states has taken a hit. While I was living in San Diego for five years while in grad school, I eagerly followed the ideological battles between Democrats and Republicans. This following culuminated in the presidential election in 2008 which ended up consuming my blog for a year. I used to be able to name 90 of the 100 US Senators and close to a 100 of the members of the House of Representatives. Nowadays however, when I try to recall who is the junior Senator from whichever state, I'm pretty sure I'm just making up whatever name I recall (unless its someone who has been there for ages). For instance, I have no idea how it came up in a conversation, but last fall, a student who had gone to school for a year in Pennslyvania asked him if I knew who the Senators for that state were now. I mistake

Put este na klasi siha, na ti bai hu fa'yi'us Si Obama. I Manrepublicans, hinasson-niniha na gaige Si Obama gof chagogo' gi i banda Akague', lao ai adai, ti nahong iyo-na "inakague pulitikat" para Guahu. Esta noskuantos biaha desde mahula' gui', na nina'desganao yu' . Otro fino'-ta, achokka' sina hao i mas "liberal" na taotao annai malalagu hao para ofisinan pulitikat, gigon humalom hao mumas conservative. Ti sina masuhayi este. Ginnen i sistema. Gigon na manakikihon hao "power" lumaconservative. Despensa, sa' ti bei fangge post pa'go. Manegga' yu' Cricket gi i internet pa'go. Tres na matches manachagigigu. Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan, West Indies vs. England yan South Africa vs. Australia. Ai adai, esta kalang bulachu yu' nu este na binila'! *************************************** Published on Saturday, February 28, 2009 by Salon.com Obama's Efforts to Block a Judicial Ruling on