NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The newest book by International Human Rights Attorney Julian Aguon will be released later this month. It is already available for pre-order on Amazon.com, and has already sold several thousand copies there. This is an important moment for Julian in terms of him writing and publishing a book like this, at this level where it has national and international reach. It is also important for Guam and UOG Press which is publishing it, since this can help them capitalize on their massive local and regional success over the past few years and help them reach a variety of new markets and audiences.  Julian published three prior books, but they were published locally and by very small presses with limited runs and limited exposure. Below is an interview with Julian when he published his first book "Just Left of the Setting Sun" in 2005. I recently re-read two of his previous books in preparation for the newest one. It was interesting to also come across this interview with him 15 years

The Fanohge Coalition formed earlier this year in part as a way of continuing the energy that was captured during last year's Fanohge: March for CHamoru Self-Determination. So far the group has written letters to elected leaders, organized forums and is planning to also send out a candidate survey this month. The Fanohge Coalition is made up of 37 different groups, and represents a wide swatch of Guam society. There are political status task forces, non-profits, small businesses and cultural organizations. Some are more conservative, some are more progressive. All are united however by the idea that the Chamoru people deserve to be treated with dignity in their own land and part of that is protecting their right to self-determination. Another unifying aspect to the coalition is the belief that Guam's political status should be changed to something more equitable. The coalition isn't untied by any particular options, but believes that a new status where Guam and its communit

In my Chamorro Studies class last week we were discussing the concept of inafa'maolek, which has become canonized as a central value of Chamoru culture as of late. The term fa'maolek has long been in use, it even occurs in the Garrido Manuscript from 18th century Guam. Inafa'maolek most likely was used as well, but not necessarily as a primal or central concept for defining Chamoru identity or culture. That comes about much more recently, primarily through the work of Robert Underwood when he uses the terms in the 1970s, while trying to define what the Chamoru cosmology of the 19th century was, and what of it had persisted up until the 20th century.  Inafa'maolek has many meanings, all of them however focus around expressing community through interdependence or through cooperation. It is about working together to sustain a society. It is about humans sustaining nature, sustaining their families and so on. It is a collective concept that is focused on building sustaina

In genera the website Vox is like a hundred breaths of fresh air each week. The videos that it puts out each week are enjoyable and informative, bumping up against critical political and cultural issues (ranging from borders, to hip hop, to even the infamous worst movie ever The Room). But on a regular basis, the voice that I appreciate the most is that of its co-founder and editor-at-large, Ezra Klein. His articles are well-written and often help bring together my diffuse and disparate thoughts about the new list of scandals from the Trump administration. They help articulate thoughts still fuming and forming in my mind, with a welcome clarity, at a time when it seems so difficult to be politically sane. His most recent piece on Trump's impromptu interview with The New York Times at his golf club, helps bring together so many troublesome issues about the Trump administration, and connects them to the man at its core, where there is increasing evidence each day, that he may no

There is a strangeness when you consider independence movements of the past with the formal process today as outlined by the United Nations and international conventions. Independence movements of long ago were, as you might imagine, violent. Colonizers didn't want to give up their conquests and fought wars to try to prevent those they had colonized or settler communities that had developed their own sense of local identity, from becoming self-determined. Untold numbers died and suffered needlessly for this selfishness and cruelty, eventually these colonies led to conflicts between colonizers. The international system was formed out of those violent, tragic and horrible battles to keep hold of territories and control the lives of entire peoples and their resources. It was developed over time, not necessarily to protect or help those who had been victimized, but rather help decrease the chances of any further conflict between colonial and imperial powers. The basic rules or c