NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The start of each UN Committee of 24 Regional Seminar usually begins with a type of plenary or keynote speech/statement. This is usually a prominent political leader or activist from the country or region that is hosting the seminar or a high-ranking elected official of the host government. As this year's seminar is in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, attendees were treated to a speech by the country's Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. His speech moved in and out of a variety of different topics, although there was one part that struck closest to home for me. Early on in his remarks he discussed his country achieving their independence almost 40 years earlier. He said that while he was a child raised in colonialism, he had grown into maturity through fighting for independence. For many countries, the birth of their nationhood is far in the past and so those who invoke it, do so across great temporal and rhetorical distance. But for a variety of former colonies, your independence

My position on Martin Luther King Jr. is somewhat similar to my position on Jesus Christ. I have a strong affinity for both of them in their radical dimensions, the way they challenged system of oppression in their time and proposed a powerful message of social change into something that was potentially more equitable. Both of them have of course been edited and watered down significantly in their message, to the point where both of them can be invoked in the name of so many things that they would have violently detested in their lives. Gof ya-hu si Jesus Kristo komo un zealot. Lao anggen un lahen Yu'us, hmmm, ti bali nu Guahu i mensahi-ña. Parehu yan si MLK. Gof annok gi sinangån-ña yan gi bidå-ña na zealot lokkue'. Lao atan ha' på'go, i manracist na taotao, ma u'usa i estoria-ña para u ma puni i tinailayi yan taihustisia gi på'go na tiempo.  Below is a great article that outlines the radical dimensions of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy.  ******

For most Chamorros, there is only one religion which gets to be designated as a "Chamorro" religion. That is Catholicism. Even though it has only been a part of Chamorro lives for just a few hundred years, it became intimately connected to so many parts of Chamorro life during that time, that for some scholars and individuals you cannot be Chamorro today unless you are Catholic or participate in Catholic rites. For others the Chamorro religion deals with taotaomo'na or aniti, ancestral spirits, their reverence and worship. We see elements of this in the way that cautious respect for the jungle and other natural areas persisted in a quiet supernatural or spiritual form, even when the overt belief in the spirits of Chamorro ancestors became weakened and almost forgotten. Although positive perceptions and connections to our ancient ancestors are common today, few people accept this as their religion alone. Instead they mix elements that to some might be contradictory toget

Unu na parehu na sinisedi para hami yan i nobia-hu Isa, na dumangkolo ham gi kumunidat ni' gof gaihinengge yan umeskuela ham gi eskuela ni para i manggaihinengge lokkue'. Para guiya, Lutheran gui'. Para Guahu SDA. Lao gi i kareran-mami gi lina'la', in dingu ayu na lina'la. Hunggan manhohongge yu' gi aniti, yi'us yan todu ayu siha, lao ti parehu yan antes. Gi inestudia-hu gi koleho yan i intaitai-hu/inaligao-hu komo academic, pa'go na meggai mas meggai na tiningo'-hu put i diferentes na hinenggen taotao, lao ti sina dumichosu yu' nu unu na hinengge pat guma'yu'us. Gi i klas-hu put Estorian Mundo, sesso hu kefa'nu'i i estudiante-ku siha put na ti kabales todu i sisteman hinengge gi hilo' tano'. Achokka' un sen hongge na i gima'yu'us Katoliko i mas kabales na rilihon, gi i inestudian estoria, sina ta li'e' na ti uniku ayu na rihilon. Ha a'ayao meggai gi estoria-na yan i kustumbre-na ginen otro ma

Click here to DONATE to support the website Common Dreams! Here is a sampling of the type of news you can find there. It has been a main source of information for me since ever since. Here is a sample of the news you can find there from just the past week.  ************* Published on Saturday, December 26, 2015 by Common Dreams 'Whatever It Takes': Okinawa Sues Tokyo in Effort to Block US Base Prefecture's governor vows to take anything necessary to block construction of American military camp by Nadia Prupis, staff writer   Okinawa officials on Friday filed a lawsuit against the central Japanese government in a new bid to block the slated construction of a U.S. military base in the prefecture's Henoko region. "We will do whatever it takes to stop the new Henoko base," Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga said during a press conference Friday. "Okinawa's argument is legitimate, and I believe that it will be cer

I have always found it interesting how George Takei went from simply a sci-fi actor to a cultural icon and progressive activist. I remember him from the Star Trek films and original TV show, and knew he had to be important in a general way because he was one of he few Asian American actors I would see regularly on the screen. I did not know at the time he was gay, but eventually he reentered my general view of the world as an activist for gay rights, progressive causes and seeing the funny side of life through his Facebook page. Part of the reason that I really like Star Trek as cultural universe and historical text is because it has some progressive roots. The characters of both Uhura and Sulu were minor, but significant in their day as being examples of regular non-menial role for Asian and African American ctors. Both Takei and Nichelle Nichols have worked beyond the limits of Hollywood and extended into civil rights struggles and movements, using their position and fame to help f