NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Independent Guåhan’s June General Assembly focuses on issue of military dumping and vandalism in the village of Toto For Immediate Release, June 20, 2017 – Independent Guåhan (IG) has continued to bring decolonization outreach and education to Guam’s villages with two successful forums in Malesso’ and Chalan Pågo. This month’s General Assembly (GA) will be at the Toto Community Center on June 29, from 6:00 -7:30 p.m. The focus this month is on the troubling history of military dumping on Guam and also creative ways communities can deal with problems such as vandalism and crime. Each meeting, IG honors a Maga’taotao, or outstanding person. This month the group will honor the legacy of Tan Deda, or Magdalena S.N. Bayani, a war survivor, master techa and pillar of the M-T-M community who passed away recently. IG honors the strength and perseverance of Tan Deda and all other war survivors as June 28 is Guam War Survivors Memorial Day. In analyzing the impacts of Wo

This is the of Cetti Bay from the river. Cetti Bay and Sella Bay are both spots in Southern Guam that are favorites for people with boats and hikers to visit. People known them as beautiful secluded places. In truth their history goes much deeper than that. Sella in particular was notorious in the 1970s as a site of protest against US militarization. The US Navy had wanted to build an ammuniation wharf there. Chamorro rights activists, Senators and environmentalists came out to protest this and were able in delaying the process so much the Navy eventually gave up. Before there was Pagat or even Pott's Junction, there was Sella Bay. But even beyond this, if we look at these two villages in ancient times, we can see a tragic lesson they embody. In ancient times these bays were actually villages. Cetti was known as Atte and Sella was known as Sidya. They were on different sides of the Chamorro Spanish Wars. Sidya sided with the Spanish, while Atte sided with rebel Chamorros. A

If you have the means, consider donating to this cause below. The Global Network is a very important organization who is doing important work in terms of promoting peace in the world (and the heavens above). ********************** Dear Friends, I hope this letter finds you doing well.  I have just returned from Washington DC where I was part of a trial of those arrested at the White House on March 19 opposing the endless and growing string of U.S. wars.  On that day 113 people (including many veterans) were arrested but only 18 of us went to trial.  We were found guilty by the judge but he chose to impose only a minor fine, which was a victory of sorts. I am writing to ask for your help.  As you may know the Global Network will be 20 years old in 2012.  We’ve been asked by the leaders of the Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea to hold our annual space organizing conference there next year.  Our Board of Directors/Advisers has agreed and we will travel to the villag

One of the problems in their fight is that while most of Jeju may know about their resistance, news of this fight has barely reached the mainland of South Korea. This was something which I had heard two days earlier from Mr. Kang Sang-won in Pyeongtaek when he was talking about the difficulties in trying to get people outside of the immediate vicinity to care. One of the problems with the rural struggles in South Korea against US base expansion is that the news of their fight barely reaches the large population centers of South Korea. For instance, while most of Jeju Island may know about the resistance of the villagers of Gangjeong or the city of Pyeongtaek may know about the resistance by local farmers, or even the citizens of Paju might know about the displacement of villagers in order to expand the Mugeon-ri training fields, but this news doesn't travel very far otherwise. I heard this most specifically from Mr. Kang Sang-won in Pyeongtaek when he was talking about the difficu

We took a train south from Seoul to reach the city of Pyeongtaek. At the train station we were met by Mr. Kang Sang-Won, the director of the Pyeongtaek Peace Center, who took us to his office. We spent some time in his office, learning the history of the problems that they have had with the always expanding military bases in the area, and later were taken on a tour around the area to see the bases themselves. To give you a little background, in 2006 Pyeongtaek became a central struggle in the anti-base movement in South Korea. In the areas around Pyeongtaek, there are two US military bases, Osan which is an Air Force base and Camp Humphrey’s which is an Army base. In anticipating of moving US forces from Yonsang in Seoul down to Camp Humphreys, the South Korea government announced plans (three years earlier) to take huge pieces of land from farmers and small villages around the two bases. In an effort to stop the taking of these lands, local farmers and peace activists from around Ko

Last Friday while I was opening my grandfather's shop at the Chamorro Village, I took a break to head over to Chief Kephua's circle where a wave was being held to bring awareness to Bill 185 which the Guam Legislature will soon debate. The bill has been very controversial since it was first proposed as it would provide for civil partnerships and therefore legal couple rights/benefits for gay couples. I've included below some pictures and a press release written by Guam Youth Congress speaker Derek Baza Hills about the wave. If you are interested in learning more about these issues you can follow the GALA Guam Twitter feed . Proponents of Civil Rights and Bill 185 “Civil Partnership” to hold Thank You wave (Hagåtña, Guam – Thursday; February 4, 2010) As the Guam Legislature counts down until the expected February 22 scheduled session date, Bill 185 will appear before Senators and debate on the merits of the bill. As over thousands of fam

I started a Youtube account in late 2006, just so I could rate Guam videos. I never even had any intention of ever uploading a video, since at the time I was using my infamous disposable cameras to capture everything and couldn't imagine buying myself a digital one. The first video that I ever uploaded wasn't even one of mine, it was something I had found on the internet on a Department of Defense information website. The video was meant to be a sort of press release on a round of public meetings that the DOD was having with regards to the military buildup, which at that point had been announced only a year earlier. After that I uploaded some videos which had been posted on the website of Guam's Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo. In fact the most watched video that I have is a video of her being introduced in the House by a fellow Congressman, who pronounces her name last name as if it were "bordello." Eventually after my mom bought me a digital camera during a

I watched Shiro's Head: The Legend last week and one of the stupid jokes that I made with people, is that you can't really be sure it was filmed on Guam. As a film which is billed as the first Guam/local major motion picture this might seem stupid, but the joke is that for all the landscape they showed of Guam, there were no political signs! For those of you who don't know why this is an issue, every two or four years (for some races) the roadsides of Guam become crowded with signs for Guam's legislative, mayoral, congressional and gubernatorial races. For most people on Guam, unless they have had the opportunity to meet a candidate at a funeral, party or other public event, these signs are the main way of "getting to know" the candidates. For some the candidate's face is most prominent, making what they are wearing, how their hair looks, or what kind of facial expression they are making crucial in determining whether people feel that they can trust/li

Ti apmam bai hu gaige ta'lo gi i isla-ku. Gi este mamaila na simana, para ta silebra i fine'nina na kumpleanos-na i hagga'-hu, Si Sumahi.