NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Fanhokkåyan is my series where I share articles, writings and other documents from some of my previous websites, most notably the Kopbla Amerika/Chamorro Information Activist website and Minagahet Zin e. The one I'm sharing today is an intriguing one, as it represents a piece that helped shape alot of my own perceptions as an early activist about Chamorro issues, in particular their relationship to colonial legacies. This piece, which I co-wrote with a friend of mine at the time, built off the idea of "soul wound" a theory that was first popularized in considering the contemporary place of Native Americans in relation to their historical (or continuing) trauma. It is far too easy for us to argue that we shouldn't be stuck in the past by recounting how Chamorros have been hurt by colonizers, that is a common interpassive point. In truth, we need to recount it and we need to understand it, most importantly so that we can change things today, so that we can reshape th

One issue that every young Chamorro activist has to deal with, is the same issue that so many on Guam struggle with; their relationship to the United States. Guam's relationship to the US in general is ambiguous, it may be considered very American one moment, but then barely American the next. People from their may be the epitome of Americanness one moment, and then foreigners the next. This is not really an issue of active racism, but just a result of the basic relationship between a territory and its colonizer. Such is the nature of all fundamentally unequal power relationships. When one is supposed to be over another, there is a wide gray area where both benevolence and tyranny and be found. If we recall the era of slavery in the US for example, you could treat your slaves like garbage or you could treat them like members of your family. Either way was allowed. There was no rule that said you have to be especially cruel or that you have to torture or maim them, but there was a

When Geocities disappeared a few years ago it was a depressing time for me. I had several websites that were stored on Geocities and alot of things that I've collected and written over the years just disappeared. Some of them I still have, and have survived the years through various laptops I've had or by being attached to an email I've sent. But I believed the majority of it had ended up in the trash can of nonexistence where so many things of the internet go. A few years back AOL closed down there community pages, and many websites that hadn't been maintained in years, but were nonetheless an important source of information were lost. One of my favorite sites there was the old Nasion Chamoru page. It had so much info there, I found myself for years going back there to look at pictures, read old articles, and see other info about the group and about Chamorros in general. The webmasters tried to start up a new Nasion Chamoru page on blogger, but never really did muc

Minagahet Zine was started at the community website network Geocities in 2003. The space was free, uploading and downloading was easy to use, and at that time, almost everyone who had a website, but wasn't really good at making websites was on there. Late last year Geocities closed down, leading to the erasing and closing of thousands of peoples' pages. Fortunately I was able to save Minagahet Zine by upgrading its status. Unfortunately, its sister site Kopbla Amerika was not saved, and so I will have to figure out a place to archive and possibly republish the information and articles which could be found there. So after six years of it being located at "http://www.geocities.com/minagahet " you can now visit Minagahet Zine at http://www.minagahetzine.com ! I uploaded the latest issue there last week, but I am slowly updating all its archived pages one by one. Be sure to update your bookmarks! Ya Si Yu'us Ma'ase nu Hamyo ni' sumapopotte ham desde dos

In just under two weeks I'll be in Denver, Colorado blogging for Guam at the Democratic National Convention. The DNC has made great efforts this year to provide blogs and bloggers access to the convention. In 2004 they credentialed just 30 bloggers, this time around there will be more than 120. I feel very fortunate to be included in this list, and hope that I can do my part, which might seem like a paradox to some, in first, supporting the Democratic party this year, and second laying bare the hyspocrisies and inconsistencies that Guam endures as an American colony. Sounds, strange, but this sort of bewildering contradiction is the norm in Guam. Although I was able to vote in California's Democratic primary in February, by virtue of my attending UCSD, by November I will be back on Guam and thus again be unable to vote in the Presidential elections. I will be at the convention first as an expression of the colonial desire in Guam, my presence there is yet another celebrate

I have been out in the states for school for almost five years now. Since being out here I have had alot of time to write, think and research about what life is like for Chamorros out here. At present for a summer fellowship I got from the Cal Cultures Program at UCSD, I am working on a paper which will discuss the presence or absence of "decolonization" and "political action" in Chamorro social organizing in the state. Alot of answers I've gotten over the years as to why Chamorros just don't appear to be political involved in anyways shape or for, deals with how they are comfortable with who or what they are, where they are at, and for those who left Guam, they are glad to finally be "real Americans." Other answers deal with the fact that Chamorro culture is simply food, parties and having fun, and that there's really now room for being politically active or decolonizing there with the busy fiesta schedule. The reasons for Chamorros not being

There has been a small spike in the amount of hate mail that I get in the past two weeks, and its one of the things thats been slowing me down. There's actually plenty of things slowing me down lately, but I'm slowly trying to get them organized and together. I'm trying to prepare to support my new baby for the fall. I'm working on getting my prospectus done by the end of the school year. I'm preparing for the 2nd Famoksaiyan conference which is scheduled for April 20-22. I'm also preparing for the conference Crossing Borders 2007: Ghosts, Monsters and The Dead which my department is hosting this weekend, where I'm also presenting a paper. Hate mail, makes a hectic and crazy schedule even crazier. It sucks energy into the writing of nasty and hurried responses which sometimes make you flush with power and pride at the way you vanquished your nemesis' stupid points, but also makes you wrecked with anticipation for their response. I have been getting ha