NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Today is the first day of the United Nations Committee of 24 Regional Seminar in Managua, Nicaragua.  Although the seminar started 90 minutes late, once we began things seemed to be fine, although the seminar chair Rafael Ramirez from Venezuela called upon people to help create a serene and calm atmosphere today. Speakers who followed him also requested that our discussions today be filled with serenity and calm. These comments struck me as strange at first, although I soon learned what was compelling this emphasis on comity. The first time I attended a United Nations regional seminar it was for the most part uneventful. After I presented, there were no questions for me. My presentation didn't come up again for the rest of the seminar and so formally, my contribution boiled down to seven minutes of talking, the electricity to run the mics and translation devices, and the paper and ink on which each attendee was given a copy of my remarks. The second time I attended a regional s

Last year when I attended this same regional seminar in Nicaragua, I wrote a series of posts about my time here under the title of " Quest for Decolonization ." I've listed each of the posts below with easy links for those who might be interested in reading them. I touched on a variety of issues, such as United Nations politics, the history of Nicaragua and the life in contemporary colonies.  These sorts of writing projects are important for me. So much happens when I travel and it can be difficult to keep track of everything, even if I record interviews and take plenty of notes. Quest for Decolonization #1: Tinituhon Quest for Decolonization #2: Statement from the UN Secretary General Quest for Decolonization #3: Small Lands, Big Dreams Quest for Decolonization #4: The Most Famous Chamorro of All... Quest for Decolonization #5: The List Quest for Decolonization #6: Liberation Theology with Father Miguel D'Escoto Quest for Decolonization #7: Decolonial D

The blog Overseas Territories Review is a great resource, this is something I've reiterated numerous times on this blog. One reason why there is little to no momentum globally with regards to decolonization is the fact that most of the remaining colonies in the world are far flung, midget land masses in the middle of vast oceans. They are small and far away and that combined with the overall apathy that the world feels with regards to continuing forms of really existing colonialism, creates an easy recipe for taya'ya'ya.  Knowledge and information can lead to networks of solidarity, ties of political and social imagination that can make the plight of the remaining colonies of the world feel more important, more relevant, more significant than the complaints of islanders who will never be self-sustainable. If you do not already follow this blog, please begin to do so. Here is a sampling of the recent articles you will find posted there: ************************ 1

I have heard some people say that colonization deprives colonized people of the ability to imagine. I might have even said this at some point over the years. There is some truth to this, but over time I've come to realize that it is not really an issue of not imagining or not knowing how to imagine, to envision a possible future. But it is more about the constricting of the colonized's imagination, of contorting and distorting it so that it will always move and evolve within a groove that matches the example of the colonizer. The vision of the future will always be filled with the shadow of the colonizer's massive presence. It will force the flow of future possibility so that it always seems to head to up towards the colonizer, that the future for the colonized isn't something that is about their freedom, their choices. But instead it is about their accepting the teleology of the colonizer, of becoming him and shaping your future to become a minor version of it. This is

Life has been keeping away from this blog for the past two weeks. It is upsetting because I haven't been able to finish up all the drafts I started for my "Quest for Decolonization" series. I am hoping to find time before the end of the month, but things are so up in the air right now. I'm teaching five hours everyday and then have film commitments, family commitments, writing commitments, activism commitments, government commitments and a host of other obligations. I have kept this blog going for more than 10 years now and so I promise that I will return to wrap things up. This year's Regional Seminar for the UN was different than any of the other experiences I've had with the United Nations and I want to be sure that I can articulate more of my thoughts. So keep coming back to this blog for the next few weeks, I have a few more things to share about my recent trip and Guam's continuing quest for decolonization.

Normally decolonization discourse at the UN is fairly focused. This doesn't mean that it is focused in a way that it becomes more efficient or effective. I mean it is focused around certain territories only. That certain territories out there, especially those over which there is a territorial dispute between various sovereign nations, they get the attention. They receive the focus of discussion and intervention. In contexts such as the UN, the words of support you offer your allies is your primary currency. It is the main way you show your friendship and solidarity to others. That is why, for example, in the UN the neighboring Micronesian islands around Guam, tend to vote against Guam when it comes to decolonization. Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia all tend to vote against Guam, because it is one of the few ways they can throw their support behind their sovereign ally of the United States. The discussion becomes a nexus of thes

There are so many interesting things when traveling to different parts of the world. Environments and landscapes change. Languages and cultures change. The sense of time can feel different. The referents that we use to pin down meaning, to create social and cognitive maps shift. It can be disorientating in a very fundamental sense. You rely on certain things to give a sense of stability. Certain things to be understood by those around you. When those shift it can be bewildering.  One thing that I've found most interesting from the two UN regional seminars that I've attended, both in Latin America, is the way the pantheon of historical referents shifts. In a Guam context, there are certain figures that can be safely and comfortably referred to and provide a stable sense of communal meaning. Magellan, Yokoi, Hurao, Kepuha, San Vitores, the Archbishop, various Governors, maybe some MMA fighter or a Chamorro musician. People may debate their legacy, their social value or pulsi

Someone once told me that Nicaragua is a land of wounds. If Latin America is a land of open veins, Nicaragua is a land of wounding after wounding. Since becoming independent from Spain in the early 19th century, it has gone through regular periods of social upheaval and repression, generally with the United States playing some form of oppressor. In the 1850's a US mercenary and would be monarch William Walker took over the country and re-instituted slavery. Although the US government didn't necessarily fund and organize his private imperial venture, they recognized his facade of a government, as it would be one where they were certain it would follow their interests. Walker was expelled by a coalition of local Central American leaders who all detested the power that the United States and its economic and military emissaries tended to wield over their local affairs. As the United States saw Latin America as their sphere of influence, they closely monitored any potential inte

In the United Nations there are various ways of "protesting" or challenging something. At the regional seminar this year, like most years, the usual verbal sparring took place between countries and colonies. The Falkland Islands or Malvinas are off the coast of Argentina, but are a longtime colony of the UK. A war took place over them several decades ago, which Argentina soundly lost. The Argentinian delegate to the seminar always asserts the right of his country over the islands. The representatives of the Falklands always challenge and counter that. The Latin American countries will always come to the aid of Argentina, all proclaiming that the Malvinas are part of Argentina! Sometime these exchanges wake up the attendees, sparing them from more dreary diplomatic time gnashing. Other times, they are so used to the angry spitting of accusations that this is more boring than the usual tame speech reading and droning posturing. But the more passive aggressive way of protest

Although the world could probably agree on the fact that colonial should no longer exist and be eradicated from the world, this does not mean that much of the world will lift a finger to do anything about it. The consensus over something can in a way kill the possibility of doing anything about it. It is an interesting dynamic that creates this effect. The more people agree that something should not exist, the more they tend to assert its existence as being marginal and small. Or that it contemporary emergence is irregular and unique, it does not represent much of the world save for itself. The fact that all can agree on colonialism being eradicated also creates the impression that it is beyond contestation or beyond intervention. For instance, almost everyone in the world would agree to some form of the notion that "politicians are corrupt." The commonsensical quality of this can be problematic. The larger and wider spread a notion like this is, the more difficult it can b