NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

My two columns from earlier this year published in the Pacific Daily News on the ban of cockfighting in the US territories. I've been slowly working towards an article on this topic, targeting two main aspects.  First, the debate over whether or not we can consider cockfighting to be part of Chamoru culture or whether it is really Chamoru or not. This is deployed in very interesting ways in this debate, as people seem to feel that if it isn't really Chamoru then it is ok and right to ban it. Whereas others tie to a strong, grounded sense of authenticity in contrast to perceived sort of softness of Americanized life.  Very interesting sort of discursive dancing around authenticity.  Second, the role that Guam's political status plays in the cockfighting ban. Some people argue that we don't necessarily see Guam's colonial status at play here, since this is just another way that big government in Washington, the elites impose things on the little man. This way of

Several years ago, Senator Tommy Morrison was pushing for the reinstatement of Discovery Day as a local, Government of Guam holiday. For those younger or more forgetful than myself, Discovery Day was a holiday created in 1971 to commemorate the "discovering" of Guam by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. It was celebrated until the early 2000s when it was removed as a local holiday. For those who aren't familiar with the festivities associated with Discovery Day, it was normally a time for the southern village of Umatac/Humatak to shine. A fair or carnival would be held in the village, with the highlight of the day being a re-enactment of the arrival of Magellan.  If you have never been to a Discovery Day before I suggest you go just to witness the surreal nature of this reenactment where Chamoru huts are burnt and Chamoru are killed by a guy in Spanish armor who usually arrives in Umatac Bay via a motorboat. The village of Umatac in particular enjoyed this holiday as it brou

TEACH-IN: FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY’S CONNECTION TO GUAM’S SELF-DETERMINATION HAGATÑA, GUAM (July 11, 2017) - As part of their monthly Teach-In Sessions, Independent Guåhan will be holding a session introducing Filipino Revolutionary History and how Filipino struggles for independence are connected to CHamoru self-determination. The Teach-In will feature Josephine Ong, Kristin Oberiano, Jamela Santos and Ruzelle Almonds. “As Filipinos living on Guam, we need to acknowledge that the fight for CHamoru self-determination is a fight for the ideals of self-governance, sovereignty, and freedom - the same principles that led to the establishment of the Philippines, the USA, and other independent countries around the world,” says Oberiano, whose grandfather came to Guam during the Camp Roxas Era. All four presenters are Filipinos who consider Guam their home and are passionate about the conversation on the island’s political status. Through the teach-i

It is intriguing the way that so many people assume something to be impossible and frightening in a particularly local or familiar context, but then completely miss the way that they accept such things in other contexts without even a hint of fear or apprehension. In Guam, a colony of the US for more than a century, and a colony of Spain for several centuries prior to that, this is frustratingly true and real in terms of the people of the island, both indigenous and non-indigenous, living in terror of Guam becoming independent. For other nations and other locations, independence is something to celebrate, a key moment in terms of a nation's development or evolution, something to look back on pride, even if your country has serious problems past or present. But it is intriguing how for example, Filipinos, Chinese or Koreans and others on Guam can celebrate the nationhood and the independence of their own nations, whether it be from colonialism, from imperialism or from their own s

Last year I got the chance to work with a great group of people on a film project. It is tentatively titled Lalahen Sinahi. I co-wrote the script with Kenneth Gofigan Kuper, and we made it almost entirely in Chamorro. We had an intense couple of weeks filming it, only to have some of the scenes disappear on us. Ken is currently off-island attending graduate school, but when he returns next month we'll need to figure out what to do next with the project, if we should shoot it again or try to salvage what we have.  As we were writing the screenplay, a specter who was always shadowing our discussions was Quentin Tarantino. His dialogue driven stories was something we both wanted to capture in small and large ways. Sometimes people can get irritated with that type of storytelling, but when it works, it is incredibly effective and ridiculously engrossing. The flavors that he infuses into the dialogue, the tension he builds can be amazing. I am hoping that in either this project or o

In a few days I'll be heading to Japan to teach there but also learn more about peace, demilitarization and antinuclear movements there. Later this year I'll be traveling to Okinawa to work more with independence and demilitarization groups there. Somewhere on the horizon is a trip I'm planning to take to Taiwan to meet with indigenous groups. I wrote an article several years ago on solidarity in the Asia-Pacific region, and argued a core feature of it was imagination and sharing an imaginary. One of the most intriguing aspects of human consciousness is the way we can feel disconnected to those right next to us and intimately connected to people on the other side of the world. Proximity or similarity don't necessarily dictate these things, because there is always the possibility of solidarity, that disparate groups can nonetheless find a common cause of purpose or goal together. If we consider all the islands that have been damaged by US military testing, training and