NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

2016 World Conference against A & H Bombs Declaration of the International Meeting Seventy one years ago, the USA used nuclear bombs for the first time against humanity by releasing atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With tremendous destructive power and radiation, the two bombs burned out the cities and claimed the lives of about 210,000 people by the end of the year. It was a hell on earth. The Hibakusha who survived then had to suffer from latent effects and social discrimination for many subsequent years. Such inhumane weapons should not be used again in any circumstances whatsoever. The nuclear powers still maintain more than 15,000 nuclear warheads. Not a small number of them are on alert for launch. The concern for the outbreak of nuclear war due to deteriorating regional tensions is real. A recent study shows that even if only a small percentage of existing nuclear weapons are used, it would cause serious climate change and would bring the huma

Last week was quite a crazy one. Governor Calvo, in his State of the Island address the week before, unilaterally called for a decolonization plebiscite, that instead of following existing GovGuam law, would circumvent it by using the referendum system instead. At the core of the Governor's plan would be the allowing for all people to cast votes in the plebiscite, but only a certain number, would be counted. It was a plan that might solve one problem, but create several dozen more. The past week was filled with meetings about this, in which the Governor eventually came to the understanding that his approach wouldn't necessarily be the best way, although it had been helpful in helping raise public interest in the issue. At present his office and the Commissions on Decolonization have committed to working together on developing an educational plan for a political status vote, and so things are looking up for the moment. Here is a statement that I helped draft in response to

I miss having Robert Underwood in the US Congress. I often tell my students that the position of the non-voting delegate is where you can see so much of Guam's colonial position in action on a regular basis. While the delegate is supposed to be the tokenistic cover that hides the real existence of colonialism, it nonetheless constantly exudes that truth. The colonial position of Guam, its stupidity, its inequity, the sea of inclusions and exclusions are all realized in the strange existence of the non-voting delegate, and are all visible regardless of how many American flags or bald eagles they stand patriotically in front of. When Underwood ran for the Governor of Guam position in 2002 and lost, he gave a very important lecture series at UOG called "Thinking Out Loud." He discussed his time in office there, but most importantly discussed the need for Guam to re-imagine its relationship to the United States in a way that would be more productive and more closely relat

I want to write about these two statements, but I don't have much time today. Too many things to do. For now, I'll just leave them here for you to read and analyze and draw your own, hopefully critical conclusions. ***************** Statement of Governor Eddie Calvo "We Support the Buildup" I want there to be a clear message from Guam about the military buildup: we welcome it and we are at the table with the Navy to iron out the details. The military buildup is a program we support for many reasons. Among the countless economic benefits to the quality of life of our people is the honor of hosting the Marines during this dynamic period in world history. Is it a perfect proposal? No. That's why it's critical to maintain a professional and healthy dialogue fit for negotiation. We were respectful, yet strong when negotiating with Navy and federal officials when we came to office. The result of those negotiations was the Four Pillars. Wh

Published on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 by Common Dreams Indigenous Groups: 'No Keystone XL Pipeline Will Cross Our Lands' Native American communities along proposed route vow resistance against 'black snake' pipeline - Sarah Lazare, staff writer  Native American communities are promising fierce resistance to stop TransCanada from building, and President Barack Obama from permitting, the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline."No Keystone XL pipeline will cross Lakota lands," declares a joint statement from Honor the Earth, the Oglala Sioux Nation, Owe Aku, and Protect the Sacred. "We stand with the Lakota Nation, we stand on the side of protecting sacred water, we stand for Indigenous land-based lifeways which will NOT be corrupted by a hazardous, toxic pipeline." Members of seven Lakota nation tribes, as well as indigenous communities in Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana, Nebras

Three years ago I was fortunate enough to travel to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to represent Guam at the World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. This meeting is held annually at either of the two cities where atomic bombs fell during World War II. The meetings are attended by thousands of peace and anti-nuclear activists across Japan and across the world. Here is the statement below from this year's conference, held last week.  **************   Declaration of the International Meeting                  Sixty-eight years have passed since Hiroshima and Nagasaki suffered the atomic bombings.  The bombs instantly devastated the two cities and took lives of over 200,000 citizens by the end of 1945.  They created a “hell on earth,” which denied humans either to live or die as humans.  The Hibakusha, who survived the days have continued to suffer from wounds in both mind and body.  The tragedy like this should never be repeated anywhere in the world.         Nucl

Below is the joint statement from all the delegates who attending the International Forum during the 2011 Japan Peace Conference last month in Okinawa.As delegates came from around the Pacific and Asia, each area has a separate paragraph which deals with their particular issues. You can see some of the concerns that I raised in my earlier Okinawa Dreams post on Nationalism and Solidarity however. While this statement lays out a clear map of solidarity, the question always remains, how do these ties become more than strands of knowledge or awareness of things? When do they become imbued with power? *********************** International Forum Joint Communique For a US-Base-Free, Nuclear-Free and Peaceful Asia-Pacific without Military Bases Japan Peace Conference Okinawa Nov. 24-25, 2011 The International Forum “For a Nuclear Weapon-Free Peaceful Asia-Pacific without Military Bases - Solidarity among Okinawa, Guam and Asia-Pacific” was sponsored jointly by Japan Peace Commi