NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

This is a list of items that Independent Guåhan made a few months back following the federal ban on cockfighting in the US territories. That was a very interesting time for IG and for me, since a certain part of the Guam/Chamoru community suddenly became hyper-engaged on issues of political status.  For me personally, what made it interesting is that for a few weeks, everywhere I went I would end up having cockfighters talk to me and ask me questions about what can be done and what's going on. One of these days I'll write more about my reflections on that time, but for now, here is the call to action items we created.  **************** What Can WE Do About the Cockfighting Ban NOW? 1. Cockfighting is Culture!  It is important that we continue to defend and practice our culture in the present. Cockfighting is one of those traditions, and it is imperative that we defend our heritage.   2.  Call Your Elected Leaders ! Finding and influencing elected leaders wh

This came via Bruce Gagnon at Organizing Notes and The Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. ************************* Dear Friends: This morning I received an urgent message (see below) from Jeju Island, South Korea saying that yesterday eight leaders of the protest effort against construction of a Navy base had been arrested. Global Network board member Sung-Hee Choi was one of those arrested - her second time in recent months. Gangjeong village resident Professor Yang Yoon-Mo is now in his 45th day of his hunger strike while in jail for trying to block a construction truck. He has vowed to die in jail unless base construction is halted. We need your help. We must show the South Korean and U.S. governments that people all over the world are following the story on Jeju very closely and care what happens. You can write to the South Korean Defense Attaché assigned to Washington DC. at this email and demand an end of the Navy base construction. defenattache

FOR MORE INFO ON EVENT, HEAD TO Latin American Solidarity Coalition . ***************************** Call: Day of Action to Confront US Militarism in the Americas October 11, 2010 Our organizations urge you to join us in a National Day of Action to Confront US Militarism in the Americas on Monday, October 11, 2010. October 11 is the day the United States “celebrates” the beginning of the European invasion of the Americas and when indigenous peoples mark as the 518th year of resistance to invasion and colonialism. We represent Latin America solidarity and peace groups. We are initiating and urge others to undertake the formation of local and regional coalitions – across movements for indigenous rights, immigrant justice, fair trade, peace, human rights, labor rights, gender justice, drug policy reform and other urgent goals – to confront the growing militarism of our culture and budget, the increasing propensity to commit national resources to wars of aggression, and the milita

Just finished up at the Realizing Our Destiny Rally held at Adelup today and organized by We Are Guahan. Mampos yafai yu', lao mampos malulok yu' lokkue'. It was tiring, stressful, chaotic, lao sen gaibali, absolutely worth it. At least 500 people showed up (by my quick counts) to hear the music of Biggah and Bettah and Rockbottom, to take literature from the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice, and also sign up for the decolonization registry. The highlight of the rally was when we formed a human chain around the Adelup field, with more than 300 people, and screamed at the top of our lungs that we would defend this island and that the DOD must hear and pay attention to and act according to what the people of Guam want. Hunggan, esta ma fitme i ROD, lao taya' guaha. Esta hu tuge' gi este na blog, na achokka' ma sangan na makpo' este, a'annok ha' na ti makpo'. Ma diseseha i militat, na yanggen ma fitma este, fitma ayu, fitma enao, para ta f

Yanggen guaha salape'-mu konsedera este na ginagao lismona, ginnen i inetnon Common Dreams. Gof maolek este na website, siempre sina ta alok na Guiya i mas kabales na lugat para infotmashon. Estague i kattan ginagao ni' mana'huyong gi duranten i ma'pos na simana. ************************* In March of 2003 our anti-war numbers were in the millions... We were around 30% of the country according to most polls (that's nearly 100 million Americans!) and yet we had no way to communicate with each other aside from through the Nation and a few websites like CommonDreams.org...." -- Michael Moore Dear Friend, What if you woke tomorrow to find that Common Dreams was gone? Our voices silenced? This community exists only through the support of our readers. Our readership continues to grow, but we are working with limited resources. You won’t find advertising financing our site. Nor will you find that we are influenced by any corporate sponsorships. We ar

Everytime I've taught Guam History at UOG, I always end the semester with the same project. I divide the class into three groups, each representing a different future possible political status for Guam (Free Association, Statehood and Independence) and they hold a forum where they debate which is the best option for Guam. They have to conduct research and prepare to answer certain questions on how Guam would navigate issues such as taxes, military bases, citizenship, economy, culture and so on depending on which option is chosen. Here is part of my usual intro that I attach to my prompt for the project. The political status of Guam – its existence as an unincorporated territory or colony – is something that affects all aspects of our lives on Guam. From our relationship to the islands around Guam, to our relationship with the United States and the rest of the world, to even simply what we on Guam see ourselves as being capable of, the political status of Guam is central to the

Tomorrow my Guam History classes will be conducting their political status forums. For this exercise, which is their last big group project, I divide them into three groups, one for each of the potential future political statues of Guam, and they have to debate which is the best for Guam. I'll write more about this project later, but it is usually the most fun part of my entire semester, since its high energy, usually gof na'chalek, and I'm always happy when students find small and large ways to surprise me with their arguments. One of the highlights of tomorrow will be when some producers who work for the show Dan Rather Reports will be filming one of my classes when they are debating political status, and then interviewing me afterwards about Guam's history. They are on island doing a story about the infamous military buildup which is always looming in a menacing ambigous form on Guam's horizon. They spent a week last month following Congresswoman Bordallo around

If you're in Washington D.C. later this month, consider joining this protest... Yanggen pon gaige giya Washington D.C. gi i otrona na simana, put fabot saonao este na linahayan... Hassuyi nai gi este na momento, yanggen solidarity hao nu i Okinawans (kontra i bases Amerikanu), gaige hao lokkue' gi solidarity nu i taotao Guahan. ****************************************** NO MORE US MILITARY BASES IN OKINAWA -- Rally on April 25, 2 p.m. in front of the Japanese Embassy, Washington D.C. NO MORE US MILITARY BASES! Please come and oppose new US military bases in Okinawa! What: To protest a new US military base in Okinawa (Japan) When: April 25th, Sunday at 2 pm Where: In front of the Japanese Embassy 2520 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20008 The new Japanese government, pressured by the US, seems to be leaning toward building a new US military base on Okinawa, which is a tropical island in Japan. The people of Okinawa, who already host more than 30

Chamorro activism on Guam has experienced a huge upsurge in recent weeks because of the fear, concern and anger over the military buildup and the DEIS. There are plenty of new faces out there, new voices, and most importantly plenty of new tactics and strategies being employed. After the protests and very visible spectacles of Chamorro activists and groups such as Nasion Chamoru from the early and mid 1990’s, it was commonsensical for years to say that that sort of grassroots, nationalistic, progressive and inherently decolonial activism was dead. Although time passed, there were some very important victories, and a few big losses, it didn’t seem like the activists were changing as the island around them changed because of what they had done and accomplished. So for instance, the 1990’s was the decade for vibrant and shocking protests. They weren’t shocking because of any of the particular acts that the protestors conducted, but rather shocking simply because they existed. For an isl

The website Para Guahan is a great source of information from people who are being critical about the planned military buildup. When I say critical, I mean there are people from all different points on the political spectrum posting there, commenting there and sharing there. There are those who want to stop the military buildup, those who want to stall it, those who want to mitigate its impacts and those who want to ensure that the buildup truly does benefit the people of Guam. For those of you out there who are looking for helping in navigating the Draft Environmental Impacts Statement about the military buildup, then head over there. For example, click here to read some notes on Volume 2 Chapter 16 of the massive tome. Also, if you do want to get involved, there's information there on how you can. Yesterday, an interesting post appeared there which I wanted to repost here. It was a list of 198 Ways to Resist the Guam/CNMI Military Buildup . The list comes from the Albert Ein

Hafa Adai Taotao Tano’ Ti este mismo i mensåhin i Maga’låhi. Lao este un otro gof impottante na mensåhi ni’ debi di un taitai antes di un taitai i otro na mensåhi. Put fabot i Taotao Guahan. Po’lo påppa’ i lapes-miyu yan i pluman-miyu. Puno’ i telebishon-miyu. Na’fanmaigo’ i famagu’on-miyu yan godde’ i ga -miyu. Basta todu i buskabidan-miyu, put fabot fanngaha’ yan atan magi. Siempre ti mannina’desganao Hamyo ni’ este na mensåhi. Esta hu tungo’ na meggai giya Hamyo ni’ ti yan-miyu i Maga’låhin på’go’. Esta gi fino’ Ingles “keyao na nganga” gui’. Pau tunok ginnen i ofisinå-ña gi i otro sakkan, ya put este na esta ti apmam na tiempo-ña, guaha nai kulang taibali gui’. Guaha nai an un atan i atadok-ña siha, na kamten gui’, esta o’sun gui’ nu este na lina’la’, ya esta listo gui’ para u dingu i ofisinå-ña. Lao para på’go na momento, Guiguiya ha’ i ma’gås-ta, ya Guiya gumigiha gi este gof dongkulo na “military buildup.” Hu konfotme na guaha na biahi kalang binådu Si Camacho ni’ esta para

Whether or not you support the military buildup which will hit Guam over the next few years, like one of those catastrophes from the film 2012, you should be concerned about the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that is being released on Nov. 20th. Anytime the Federal Government (including the military) plans a large project, they are required to do an EIS in order to assess the impacts and damages that the project might have on the surrounding environments or communities. The EIS process is meant to provide those who will be affecting with a report on what is going to happen to them should the project proceed and be completed. The community is given a short window where they are allowed to respond to the EIS, and regulatory agencies are given the power to suggest alternative plans or recommend that parts of the project, or the entire project as a whole should not be allowed to proceed. For Guam's military buildup EIS, a number of massive projects are being combined into a sin