NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Since 2003 I have had a number of uneven traditions associated with this blog. Many of these have dissipated as I have used this blog less and less, but a few I have continued to hold on to. One of the longest held traditions is "Happy US Imperialism Day!" It started as a thinking piece while I was working on my Master's Thesis in Micronesian Studies at the University of Guam. I had spent a few years reading as much as I could about Guam History. I had interviewed hundreds of elders born prior to World War II, who had experienced Japanese occupation. I had even begun working for Puerto Rican filmmaker Frances Negron-Muntaner on a documentary that would later become War for Guam. I was also spending time with activists of every stripe on Guam, trying to talk to anyone who I could find who had long been critical of the things I was just starting to learn about the historical and contemporary realities of the Chamoru people.  I was encountering the history and the present of

I first wrote an article "Happy US Imperialism Day Guam!" about 16 years ago. It was published in Minagahet Zine and later on this blog when I began it soon after. The writing of this article originally was a very formative experience. Part of it eventually became my Masters Thesis in Micronesian Studies. But I also wrote it at a time when I was first trying to find a way to become more public about my critiques and writing letters to the editor of the Pacific Daily News and creating websites/blogs were some of the obvious choices. This article was written when the second Iraq War was only eight months old and the War in Afghanistan was over two years old. It was written at a time when I was feeling frustrated over the deaths of the first few Chamorros in Iraq, Christopher Rivera Wesley being the first. As I said, it was also written at a time when I was first working on developing a critical consciousness and a public voice in terms of writing and philosophy. I had been

  I first wrote an article "Happy US Imperialism Day Guam!" about 13 years ago. It was published in Minagahet Zine and later on this blog when I began it soon after. The writing of this article originally was a very formative experience. Part of it eventually became my Masters Thesis in Micronesian Studies. But I also wrote it at a time when I was first trying to find a way to become more public about my critiques and writing letters to the editor of the Pacific Daily News and creating websites/blogs were some of the obvious choices.  This article was written when the second Iraq War was only eight months old and the War in Afghanistan was over two years old. It was written at a time when I was feeling frustrated over the deaths of the first few Chamorros in Iraq, Christopher Rivera Wesley being the first.  As I said, it was also written at a time when I was first working on developing a critical consciousness and a public voice in terms of writing a

Published on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 by The Nation From the Archive: We Are the Patriots by Gore Vidal CD editor's note: The following essay appeared in the June 2, 2003 edition of The Nation magazine, and we reprint it today following news that Gore Vidal died yesterday at the age of 86:   I belong to a minority that is now one of the smallest in the country and, with every day, grows smaller. I am a veteran of World War II. And I can recall thinking, when I got out of the Army in 1946, Well, that's that. We won. And those who come after us will never need do this again. Then came the two mad wars of imperial vanity--Korea and Vietnam. They were bitter for us, not to mention for the so-called enemy. Next we were enrolled in a perpetual war against what seemed to be the enemy-of-the-month club. This war kept major revenues going to military procurement and secret police, while withhol

Olaha mohon na sina mumagahet este. Gi i fino' Pelosi yan Reid "ti gaigaige gi hilo' i lamasa " impeachment." Lao baba este. Kontat ki taigue este na " threat" kulang taichi i pusishon i Presidente. An taigue este ti sina macho'cho' maolek i sisteman " checks yan balances." Yanggen umisao i Presidente, i obligashon-na i Kongresu, para u na'luhan gui' yan na'tunas gui' ta'lo. Lao yanggen un laknos este na "threat" taimanu sina un atgoya i Presidente? *************************** Published on Thursday, June 12, 2008 by TruthDig.com Gore Vidal’s Article of Impeachment by Gore Vidal On June 9, 2008, a counterrevolution began on the floor of the House of Representatives against the gas and oil crooks who had seized control of the federal government. This counterrevolution began in the exact place which had slumbered during the all-out assault on our liberties and the Constitution itself. I wish to draw the

I'm thinking about turning the posting of this article into a yearly thing for me. It was the first piece that I ever published in Minagahet Zine in 2003 and represented a huge shift in both my thinking and my ability to represent myself and my ideas publicly. At the time I was in the states living with my then girlfriend Rita, writing my master's thesis in Micronesian Studies and also applying to graduate schools. I hadn't really been that active on Guam. I had done alot of research, alot of talking and listening, spent time with different activist groups and learning from them what was being done, what had been done and of course, what was still left to be done. Coming to the states however, I found myself with so much information, stories and pain, most of which never seemed to find its way into public discussions in Guam. Disconnected, lonely, feeling malingu didide', I did what most people in this situation do, I started spending too much time on the internet, loo