NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

In light of COVID-19, Independent Guåhan moves their annual Na’lå’la’ concert on air and online this Saturday on KUAM For Immediate Release, July 8, 2020 –  Since 2017, each July Independent Guåhan has hosted a free concert,  “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom.” This event is a chance for the community to connect to conscious and empowering messages for social change and decolonization through music, poetry, art and dance. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to social distance, this year’s concert is going online and on-air.  Independent Guåhan invites the community to tune in Saturday, July 11 th  from 7 to 10 pm on KUAM TV 8 for “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom Vol. 4.” The concert will also be livestreamed on KUAM News’ Facebook page. The concert is held each year close to the Fourth of July or Independence Day in hopes of opening up the holiday up to a new more locally focused interpretation. Independent Guåhan encouraged the island as a whole and beyond those attending the

For several years I have been assisting Siñora Rosa Palomo and Professor Gerhard Schwab who are my colleagues at the University of Guam with the development of an amazing, new, free language learning website built around the learning of the Chamorro language. Humuyongña i na'ån-ña " Learning Chamorro ."  After years of tirelessly working on building the site, it was launched last week. A Pacific Daily News article about it, was picked up by USA Today and shared several thousand times on social media. The website would not be possible without the love labor of GuamWebz and Rhaj Sharma. Some media on the launch can be found below. Sen magof hu na put fin in baba este na website. ********************** Date: March 12, 2017 We take this opportunity to thank everyone of you for registering and continuously visiting our website. All of us together have visited our website more than 1.7 million times. It is your continuous encouragement and support that has kep

In response to the confusion and anxiety on the island following Donald Trump's electoral college victory over Hillary Clinton last month, I decided to organize Teach-In on what Trump's reign might mean for Guam. I was expecting a small crowd of maybe 20 or 30 students. In truth, we had more than 70 people attend, with most of them staying almost an hour past the end time to keep asking questions and discussing their concerns. The Teach-In was so successful that I would like to have a monthly teach-in based on relevant issues in the community. The next one that I'm planning is on war reparations scheduled tentatively for January 5th. Stay tuned for more information. *************************** Trump Teach-In at UOG Calls for Independent Political Status by Bruce Lloyd The Pacific Island Times December 6, 2016 In the spirit of the anti-Vietnam War teach-ins that informed opposition to that war in the 1960s, members of the Guam Commission on Decolonization Tuesd

Tantalizing Democratic Experiments by Michael Lujan Bevacqua Guam Sunday Post November 6, 2016 Gof kinenne’ yu’ nu este na botasion, ko’lo’lo’ña i botasion gi sanlagu. Hu såsangan este, achokka’ esta hu gof komprende na mas ki taibali este na botasion nu hita guini giya Guahan, sa’ tåya’ botu-ta gi botasion para i presidente. I have been obsessively following the election for President of the United States for more than a year, and this is something that sometimes surprises people. The drama of it is both repellent and compelling. I cannot turn away from this event that seems to move both in frustrating slow motion, but also at a frenetic Mad Max-like pace, careening at frightening speed toward a possible dystopia. As a local decolonization activist, or someone who is actively advocating for a change in our political status, my obsessing over the U.S. presidential election can seem contradictory. As a distant American colony on the edge of the Western Pacific, w

It is so intriguing the way in which local media covers Liberation Day in Guam, the holiday meant to commemorate the American re-taking of the island from Japanese forces during World War II. Objectively, the American reoccupying of the island in 1944 was not a liberation, at least not in most senses of the word. It's level of "liberation" depends largely on whether or not you exclude the Chamorros, the indigenous people of Guam, who have called this island home for possible thousands of years. It is very bewildering how we predicate the idea of Liberation Day being a liberation on the experiences of the Chamorro people, because so many of them express it as being a liberation, but calling it a liberation requires suspending their human rights and reducing their to a mere colonial effect of the United States. You can refer to July 21st as a liberation from Japanese occupation, as a liberation of US territory from foreign clutches. Even if Chamorros themselves may call i

The Independence for Guahan Task Force held their second monthly general meeting last week and it was a significant success, with 70 members of the community coming to listen to educational presentations and provide feedback. Here are some media reports on the meeting, both before and after. As you'll read below the educational portion of the evening focused first on security threats to Guam due to it being a strategically important unincorporated territory of the United States. Second, it contained a presentation on Singapore, the first model of an independent nation that Guam can look to in terms of inspiration as it pursues independence itself. Each monthly meeting will feature a new independent nation to analyze and compare. ****************************** Does the US military turn Guam into a regional target? By Timothy Mchenry Pacific News Center September 20, 2016 The topic was chosen after audience members at the first general assembly co

Achokka' tåya' botasion para Gubetnon Guahan gi på'go na såkkan, humuyhuyong un interesånta na botasion gi bandan Kongresu. Ayu na pusision fihu mafa'na'an "Kongresu" lao gi minagahet i titilu-ña "Ti mambobota na Kongresu." Gaige este na ofisina sen chågo' guatu giya Washington D.C. Ya para este na cho'cho', kuatro ha' na taotao ma go'te gui' desde ki mababa i pusision gi 1972: Si Tony Won Pat, Si Ben Blaz, Si Robert Underwood, ya i gumo'go'te gui' på'go si Madeleine Bordallo. På'go na såkkan mandesnik kuatro na gayu: Dos gi bandan Republican: Si Margaret Metcalfe, un komesetiante, ya ha chagi tumague si Bordallo gi ma'pos'ña na såkkan. Gof hihot gui' gi as Calvo, i Maga'låhen Guahan på'go. Si Felix Camacho, eståba na senådot yan Maga'låhen Guahan. Si tatå-ña i uttimo na ma'apunta yan i fine'nina na ma'ilihi na Maga'låhen Guahan. Si Camacho yan i familia

Some updates on ongoing Chamorro language related efforts. Most promising is the fact that there are two groups that are actively pushing now for Chamorro language (one full Chamorro, the other bilingual English/Chamorro) immersion schools. I have my own ongoing efforts, but as usual life, teaching and other obligations get in the way. Over the summer, I can at least thankfully report that my good friend in Chamorro language revitalization Ken Kuper (who is currently getting his Ph.D. in Hawai'i) organized a number of important events and got some media projects started. Look forward to those coming out soon over social media and in local events. ********** Chamorro immersion program ensures Guam's language isn't lost by Isa Baza 8/15/16 KUAM News With fewer and fewer children speaking the Chamorro language every year, the Guam Department of Education is stepping up to create a Chamorro immersion program that may help keep our island's native tongue fres