NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Last year a graphic story that I wrote titled "I Sindålu" was published in the creative anthology Pacific Monsters edited by Margret Helgadottir. It was a fun story, that I thankfully got to write in the Chamoru language, with English translations. It tells the story of a Chamoru soldier who is dealing with the trauma of what he experienced while being deployed in a foreign land. He comes home to Guam and live in a ranch at the edge of the jungle, and begins to feel menaced by the spirits of his ancestors, the taotaomo'na. I really liked writing this story and was happy to see it in print, but I am terrible at promoting things, especially if I'm the one who created it ( ai lokkue'). Here is an interview that I did with the website The Future Fire.   ************************* Sunday, 6 May 2018 Interview with Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Future Fire http://press.futurefire.net/2018/05/interview-with-michael-lujan-bevacqua.html May 2018 I n th

I have been traveling for the past few weeks and struggling while conducting research and giving a variety of presentations, to also finish up a couple of articles. One of them is based on the research I did for the Guam Humanities Council a few years ago for their exhibit Sindålu: Chamorro Journey Stories in the US Military. It was an exciting and interesting project on a variety of levels. I got to share some interesting stories that I've come across in my archival and oral history research, some of which haven't really ever been publicized before. I also got to tackle some issues in terms of understanding or unpacking contemporary Chamoru identity. The veteran subjectivity is so pervasive and somewhat hegemonic in Chamoru culture today, that it ends up taking a great deal of space, even for those who aren't veterans themselves. How many people when talking about issues of decolonization and demilitarization feel a inner need to curb their potential voice, their potenti

My latest film collaboration "The Speakers" with Kenneth Gofigan Kuper and Edgar Flores  will be screened twice at  # GIFF  this year. Biba GIFF 2018!  It is the perfect film for those looking for a never-ending parade of silly and stupid jokes in the Chamoru language, with a profound message about language revitalization somehow mixed in.  Like our previous films, it was created by Ken and I, with ourselves as the actors, but the true star of the short film is meant to be I Fino' Chamoru!  It will be featured as part of the Made in Marianas Showcase A and can be watched on October 6th at 2:45 pm and October 21st at 1 pm at the Guam Museum. Si Yu'os Ma'åse to the team at  # GIFF  for once again giving our Chamoru language revitalization efforts a platform!

I have been wracking my brain for the past few hours and also "tearing apart" at least digitally my computer looking for the source for a quote that I had included in my notes and now need to use in an article I'm completing for The Journal of Okinawan Studies. As of now I have yet to find it unfortunately and I'm hoping that this quote didn't come from a news article that I had photocopied years ago but had yet to scan or transcribe. If that is the case, I may never find the citation for it. Part of the joy, but also the frustration of searches like this, is the random surprises and nostalgia bombs that end up crossing your path. While searching through more than a decade of research, I came across so many bits and pieces of things, some of which ended up being keystones in my academic cosmology, others I had completely forgotten. One thing I came across that I wanted to share was these three articles below. They all come from August 2007, at a time when th

Este i nuebu na hinekka ginen as Craig Santos Perez yan i asagua-ña si Brandy Nalani McDougall.  Anggen ti un fåhan este trabiha, put fabot, yemme' i link gi papa'.  Meggai na gefpå'go na tinige' ginen i mantitige' yan manyiyinga' ginen i islan Guåhan yan i islas Hawai'i guini.  Banidosu yu' sa' unu na tinige'-hu "Ga'pang's Quest" mana'saosaonao gi este na hinekka.  Gof maolek i prisu lokkue', ti gof guaguan.  Dosse pesos ha'. ************************* Home(is)lands: New Art and Writing from Guahan and Hawaii, edited by Brandy Nalani McDougall and Craig Santos Perez. Purchase from Amazon here. “Despite the vast distance between Hawaii and Guahan (Guam), these islands and their peoples have experienced similar cultural, historical, ecological, and political struggles. Writers and artists from both places have been engaged in unwriting colonial representations and envisioning decolonial fut

The UN C24 Regional Seminar in St. Vincent and the Grenadines was my fourth occasion to testify as an expert in this setting. My first invitation was in Ecuador in 2013. This was followed by twice in Nicaragua in 2015 and 2016. After going through my old testimonies in preparation for this year's seminar I did not cringe, as I normally would when reviewing old work or writings. I noticed in my first instance of testifying that I was very general and almost theoretical. I was using elements of the dissertation in Ethnic Studies that I had just finished a few years earlier. In the years since I have shifted to providing more updates to the C24 and more facts about what is happening and the impediments that Chamorros and Guam face.  As a bit of nostalgia, I'll post here my testimony from the regional seminar in Quito, Ecuador. ************************ Statement to the Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Third Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism Quito

A few years ago two of my poems were featured in a creative/scholarly anthology titled The Space Between edited by Marata Tamaira. It was one of my first academic publications and I was honored to be included in it. I recently came across this interview that noted Chamorro poet and scholar Craig Santos Perez did with Marata following the release of the anthology. Craig recently asked me if I'd be willing to have one of the poems that was featured in the anthology, "My Island is One Big American Footnote" to be included in a new Micronesian anthology that he is co-editing. In many ways, this poem fit the theme for the overall anthology, as that concept of the space between can be used to understand the liminal place of something, the marginal and confused positionality. Yet it also can evoke an intimacy, as close of connectedness and love. ***************************** Anthology Spotlight: The Space Between Interview with Marata Tamaira By Craig Santos Perez The Poe

Chamorro Soil, Chamorro Soul by Michael Lujan Bevacqua May 4, 2016 The Guam Daily Post Last week’s University of Guam Film Festival or UOGFF was very exciting for me personally. In three of the films featured, I had a role in creating, whether as an actor, producer or consultant. I had a minor speaking role in the film “You’re Not Going Anywhere…Kid” directed by my former student Kyle Twardowsky, who shot the entire film on his iPhone. The documentary “War For Guam” which was premiered last year on PBS stations around the United States was also shown. It was directed by Frances Negron-Muntaner, a prominent Puerto Rican scholar who teaches at Columbia University. I worked for a several years as a co-producer (along with local filmmaker Baltazar Aguon and others) on this film that shows the Chamorro experience in World War II, primarily through the re-telling of the stories of American holdout George Tweed and Chamorro priest Jesus Baza Duenas. The final film, which was

“New Perspectives on Chamorro Self-Determination” by Michael Lujan Bevacqua February 17, 2016 Guam Daily Post This Thursday, February 18 the next “Around the Latte Special Seminar Series” will be held at the University of Guam. This series of symposia is being organized by Dr. Unaisi Nabobo-Baba and myself on behalf of the UOG school of Education and UOG Chamorro Studies. In Fall Semester 2015, we held four special seminars on topics ranging from female empowerment, the Japanese occupation of Guam and the state of education on Guam. To start of the Spring 2016 Semester we have an exciting discussion titled “New Perspectives on Self-Determination in Guam.” The seminar will take place Feb. 18 from 4 – 6 pm in SBPA 129 at the University of Guam. The public is invited to attend and light refreshments will be provided. This symposium will be focused on a newly published issue of the academic journal “Micronesian Educator” which is housed in the School o