NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

  SIGN THIS PETITION! DEMOCRACIES NEED DEBATES! CALLING FOR THOSE SEEKING TO BE ELECTED AS THE SINGLE NON-VOTING DELEGATE TO GUAM, MEET PRIOR TO THE NOVEMBER 3rd ELECTION FOR AT LEAST ONE DEBATE.  Text is below" *************************** Albert Toves  started this petition to  Congressman Michael San Nicolas  and  2 others The people of Guam are only allowed to elect one delegate to represent us in the U.S. federal government. While this is a non-voting delegate position, whoever is elected to this position has a lot of power as Guam’s main, and often only voice in Washington D.C. This person must ensure the even though we are thousands of miles away, our voices are heard. Our representative also has the ability to create new opportunities for Guam and should help keep us informed of federal policies and activities that might affect us.  Guam’s representative to Congress must have in-depth knowledge about the needs of our island and a solid understanding of how to navigate U.S.

Independent Guåhan to discuss veteran’s issues and decolonization and honor the late Tony “Submariner” Artero  For Immediate Release, November 24, 2019-  Independent Guåhan (IG) invites the public to attend their upcoming General Assembly (GA) to take place on Thursday, December 5th from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Main Pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. For this GA, the group will honor as  Maga’taotao the late Tony “Submariner” Artero, who was a US Navy veteran and also a strong community activist in pushing for political status change in Guam. In honor of Veteran’s Day, this GA will also feature an educational discussion on the voices of Chamoru veterans and decolonization.  Tony Artero was a veteran, a war survivor and an entrepreneur, who was part of the Artero family that helped hide US Navyman George Tweed during the Japanese occupation of Guam. Although his father received the Congressional Medal of Freedom for the risks he took, soon after the US military condemned

Independent Guåhan will honor the legacy of Richard Flores Taitano and discuss reforming local government in June GA Independent Guåhan (IG) invites the public to attend their June General Assembly (GA) on Thursday, June 28, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the Main Pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. The educational focus for the evening will be on how Guåhan’s government can be radically reformed in an effort to provide more checks and balances and participation for the island’s residents. Media coverage and social media chatter provide regular reminders of Government of Guam corruption and malfeasance. Many feel that the levels of corruption are so high that they provide an obstacle to ever achieving independence. In this month’s GA, Independent Guåhan will discuss ways that the government of a decolonized Guåhan could be reformed to reduce corruption and also provide more means by which people can participate in the functioning of their democracy. Models from other Pac

I have spent the past few weeks meeting with people who are running for political office here in Guam this year. Some for senator, some for governor. This year promises to be an exciting one in terms of campaigns and candidates. With five teams running for governor (4 Democrats and 1 Republican). More than 80 packets for senatorial candidates have been picked up, with only 15 possible seats in the legislature. Mampos meggai na månnok manmalålagu gi kånton guma'! What is different this year however is not just the amount of candidates, but also the diversity in terms of their background. More and more, people are running for office who haven't been in formal government service before. They haven't worked in a political machine. They are outsiders, activists, educators, working class people, lawyers, professionals, veterans, journalists and more. The question remains however, and I will acknowledge from the very start of the conversation, that there is nothing intrinsic

It is common in Guam to feel very alone in terms of decolonization. History books and political commentators tend to argue that the age of decolonization is over. It happened in the 1960s or 1970s, and that those who remain colonized missed the boat. They missed the decolonial sakman and are therefore stuck, in whatever political status they have. It is an intriguing way of justifying the status quo. A way of arguing that the current world order or framework isn't simply something that has happened. But rather the end. Teleological or evolutionary, but ultimately that an apex is reached and there can't be any further reconfiguration of power or reality.  In the 1980s this notion was called "The End of History" after Francis Fukuyama. It wasn't real or true, but it felt authentic, in the same way each epoch achieves a certain character or feeling of self-realization. We have seen History continue marching on. And those who still have claims

The new book from the Guam War Survivors Memorial Foundation is coming out soon. It will be titled Legacy Beyond Faces and I am honored to have a few articles in it. I've been on the board for this foundation for a few years now and written several articles for them. It is nice that after spending decades celebrating the US and their role in liberating the island from Japanese control during World War II, now we are investing more energy in documenting the stories of our elders and putting them into a more respectful context. If you look at the way Chamorros have been traditionally represented in documentaries, books and other types of media, they are mere footnotes to the exercise of American military might. They suffer, they cry, they die, they hope and most importantly, they stay loyal to the US and affirm its best elements, as an avatar for democracy, justice, liberty and freedom. But the Chamorro experience is unfortunately lost in these accounts. For even if it is compelling

The other day Independent Guåhan's held it's April teach-in at UOG, this time with a focus on "democratizing the media." The discussion focused on Guam's media landscape and ways that community members can create alternative means of educating or informing people on island about pertinent issues. For years I ran a number of different forms of alternative media, such as blogs, websites, podcasts and even a zine called Minagahet. From 2003-2010 I, and sometimes others ed ited a zine which focused on Chamorro issues from a critical and largely progressive perspective. You can still find it online, although the last issue was released during the DEIS comment period in early 2010. The name Minagahet which means "truth" came from a comment that a friend of mine had written on a message board many many years ago. It was an exchange with some Chamorros who felt that decolonization was stupid and impossible. My friend had written a long response see

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

Per United Nations Resolution 1541 (1960), the colonized people of non-self-governing territories such as Guam have three options to choose from when deciding a path for their decolonized future. The first is integration with their colonizer, which is commonly known in Guam as statehood. The second, free association is to form a foundational agreement and share parts of your sovereignty with another power, which is usually your former colonizer. Finally, there is independence, which contrary to common misconceptions does not mean isolation from the world, but rather joining it as a sovereign and equal entity. As I have experienced over the past decade, discussing decolonization in Guam can move from inspiring to frustrating quite quickly. People seem to resist decolonization in general and independence in particular as being impossible or dangerous. Although I have met few people on Guam who have read the work of Francis Fukuyama, most notably his book “The End of His

My first forays into the world of public discourse and engagement came on the pages of the Pacific Daily News through letters to the editor. For years I conducted research in the Micronesian Area Research Center library and through interviews with politicians, activists and manåmko', but the thoughts and ideas that were spawning in my head didn't have many outlets save for discussions in classes or with trusted elders or friends. In 2004 I gave my first public presentation on the issue of decolonization or critical Chamorro Studies, when I shared a section of my research at a forum titled "World War II is it Over?" organized by the Guam Humanities Council at the Agana Shopping Center. I spoke alongside Dr. Patricia Taimanglo, the late historian Tony Palomo and Guam military historian Jennings Bunn. After that, I spent several years in graduate school presenting at conference around the US, often times to empty rooms, as Guam papers tended to be very low on the prior