NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

At the funeral for Maga'låhi Ed Benavente today, I got a chance to talk to former Governor of Guam Felix Camacho. When Felix Camacho was first elected the group Nasion Chamoru was in decline in terms of its political power. Angel Santos had been elected into the Guam Legislature years earlier and formally left the group. Nasion itself had continued to fight and gotten a number of reforms implemented around land for the landless and for families that had lost land after World War II to the US military. Felix Camacho, seeking to make a sort of peace with Nasion Chamoru, which had been a notorious thorn in the side of the previous administration, reached out to Ed Benavente and offered him a position in his cabinet. I remember that time well, as I had already started hanging out with members of the Colonized Chamoru Coalition and so I got to listen in while members of Nasion Chamoru discussed whether or not Ed should join with Camacho. I won't describe the deliberations in detai

Friday, 22 April 2016 Decolonization Debate Held at Tiyan High Written by  Clynt Ridgell Pacific News Center The Governor's office and the Commission on Decolonization facilitated a student debate on decolonization. The debate was held at Tiyan High and it featured students from various GDEO high schools. The students were broken down into three groups one for free association one for independence and one for statehood.  "We may fear that we will lose our citizenship and federal programs but if you look at the Federated States of Micronesia also known as the FSM they have their own passport their own citizenship yet they can travel to anywhere in the United States without a Visa and they can still obtain their federal help,” said Fredalyn a student from Tiyan High who represented the free association group.  "With independence we will be able to have more control and finally vote for all of our leaders we can sign our own

This past year I was fortunate enough to help Dr. Kelly Marsh-Taitano and Tyrone Taitano with the annual island review for Guam to be published in The Contemporary Pacific. I've been reading these annual reviews for years now and they are always a wonderful resource for people who are trying to trace trends or movements in the island. These reviews sometimes have a good way of highlighting certain things that the mainstream media in Guam ignores or doesn't give much attention. For this year's review I focused on the section dealing with the Commission on Decolonization. This is one thing which the reviews often times draw alot of attention to, even if the island community in general isn't paying attention or doesn't care. I'm pasting below the Guam review from 2003, written by Chamorro Studies and History professor from the University of Guam Anne Perez Hattori: ******************** Guam - Island Review by Anne Perez Hattori The Contemporary Pacific 200

The issue of Tiyan has been constant my entire conscious life, but has shifted so much over time. When I was younger it was a base one that I remember visiting several times. As I got older it became an issue of protest, the site of the most infamous protest act in modern times, the jumping of the fence by Angel Santos and others and their subsequent arrest where he spat on an officer. When I returned to Guam after living in the states for several years Tiyan had been returned to the Government of Guam and everything about it was different now. Before I left Tiyan was thought of as a beautiful place, that had the military "betde na cha'guan" luster that brightens the eyes of so many locals. Once it had been returned it began to symbolize something else, decay and incompetence of the Government of Guam. I found it interesting that the toxic chemicals in the area were put there by the US military, but people seemed to ascribe its disgusting qualities instead to the local

I nobia-hu Isa ha ayuda mama'tinas Forum gi UOG gi painge put "sexual harassment." Gof impottante este na asunto, lao ti meggai umadmimite este. Ti meggai tumungo' put este na asunto. Guaha famalao'an yan lalahi lokkue', mansinexual harassed, lao ti ma tungo' na ayu hafa masusedi. Hinasson-niha na ossitan ha' pat linachi ha', ya taya' sina u macho'gue put este. Maolek na ha hatsasayi hit este na babao gi UOG. Gi fino' Audre Lorde, ti prinitehi yu' ni taisangan-hu. Siempre ti prinitehi hao lokkue'. Estague iyo-na Live Blog ginen i Forum gi painge. ******************* 5:50 – Excited to see Mary Camacho Torres, senator-elect, and Prof. Ron McNinch in the audience.  Approximately fifty to sixty students are currently present. 6:07 – Dr. KB begins speaking.  “Sexual harassment at the University of Guam.”  Intersectionality.  Privilege, domination, and oppression.  —Imbalance of power relations regarding gender, class