NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Connections between colonies are intriguing. They come most naturally from the gaze or the perspective of the colonizer. So colonies tend to be linked together as sites of corruption, incompetence, primitivity and overall negative binary possibility. We see this in terms of how the US looks at its colonies, describes them, produces them as objects of the law, and assume so much in the way of their nature without an ounce of self-reflection. As a continuation of the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration is now holding up foreign worker visas to Guam. They claim to be doing so because of corruption and abuse in the past. Whatever abuses have taken place are a sliver of a drop in the ocean that is American political or economic corruption. Often times people assume that the corruption begins in the colonies, but it is just as feasible that the corruption was imported or taught to the natives by the colonizer. For those of you with fancy literature backgrounds think Heart of Dar

Some recent articles about budgets and bills and the yinaoyao between the Legislature, most notably Senator BJ Cruz and Governor Eddie Calvo and his team at Adelup. Ti menhalom yu' put este na asunto siha, pues tåya' otro sinangån-hu. Taitai este siha, ya hagu un diside håyi gaitinina yan håyi mambebende dinagi. ******************** September 10, 2016 The Honorable Edward J.B. Calvo Governor of Guam Ricardo J. Bordallo Governor’s Complex Hagåtña, Guam 96910 Re: Response to Lapse Message on Substitute Bill No. 250-33 (COR) Dear Governor Calvo: Håfa adai! On September 1, 2016, I delivered a letter to you relative to the concerns you identified regarding Substitute Bill No. 250-33 (SB250), now the Annual Appropriations Act of FY 2017. I had hoped my clarifications would have prompted you to direct your fiscal team to reconsider its initial findings on SB250. Unfortunately, based on your lapse message to Speaker Judith T. Won Pat, you have disregarded the fact

It has become common to say and hear lately that Puerto Rico, a fellow colony of the United State is in crisis. Numbers I have come across cite more than $70 billion in debt, with the island suffering with an unemployment rate of 11.4% and a poverty rate of 45%. Basic public services in health care and education have been dramatically affected and the island is experiencing a rapid brain drain as those who have the means to leave, seem to be doing so. But what type of crisis this is or the causes of it are almost always lost in the discussion. The usual colonial or developing nation narratives ties problems like this to why islanders can’t take care of themselves. In this way, the problems Puerto Rico is having are about local corruption, political immaturity and a cultural unwillingness to become more civilized. All of these things lead to the notion that Puerto Rico must therefore be saved by those who are politically or economically better than it. Curiously enough, through

It has become common to say and hear lately that Puerto Rico, a fellow colony of the United State is in crisis. Numbers I have come across cite more than $70 billion in debt, with the island suffering with an unemployment rate of 11.4% and a poverty rate of 45%. Basic public services in health care and education have been dramatically affected and the island is experiencing a rapid brain drain as those who have the means to leave, seem to be doing so. But what type of crisis this is or the causes of it are almost always lost in the discussion. The usual colonial or developing nation narratives ties problems like this to why islanders can’t take care of themselves. In this way, the problems Puerto Rico is having are about local corruption, political immaturity and a cultural unwillingness to become more civilized. All of these things lead to the notion that Puerto Rico must therefore be saved by those who are politically or economically better than it. Curiously enough, through

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

The pay raise controversy is now largely moot, but it did bring up some very important points about governance and about the connection or lack of connection that people feel to their governments in a democracy. In a democratic society, the government is supposed to represent the people, but that responsibility that people have is sometimes rejected, primarily because people want to cover their apathy or their lack of engagement. They complain more ferociously because they are not engaged, because they may not actually know what is going on. This does not mean that their critiques are not without merit, but only that they are often not very productive because the passion or conviction with which they are spoken has no bearing to how effective they are, or how much those critiquing actually understand. It was intriguing in this controversy to see how so many people would direct their ire to the Guam Legislature, simply because they were the ones doing the listening. The

Si Ben Pangelinan i mas ya-hu na Senadot gi i Liheslatura. Gi entre todu i mampulikat Guahan, Guiya i mas hihot sumopopotte "Independence" para i mamamailan Guahan. Guiya i mas gaitiningo' gi i Liheslatura put kosas decolonization. Annai i pumalu gi halom i gubetnamenton Guahan yan gi entre i pulitikat ma yute' i "decolonization registry" ya ti ma atetende, i ofisina-na kumatga ayu. Gi fairs yan otro na events publiko, fihu manannok i i fafacho'cho' gi ofisina-na gi un lamasa. Manreregister taotao siha para i registry. Nina'magof yu' kada nai matto i tinige'-na siha gi iyo-ku Inbox. Estague unu na tinige'-na put Bill 19, ayu na sen madiskuti yan senmamali na sina na lai. *********************** Gambling with the people’s trust OVER the past several elections, the people of Guam have resoundingly voiced their opposition against gambling and gaming initiatives that have been proposed, that all promised monetary b

Today in class will be learning about the Wars Against Spain in the early 19th century. It is a period where Spain loses all of its colonies in Latin American (except for the Caribbean) in less than 30 years. In order to understand the roots of those anti-colonial wars we need to understand the indigenous forms of resistance that continued for centuries even after Spain had colonized, converted and enslaved most of Latin America. We'll be learning today about Tupac Amaru II who led an uprising against the Spanish in 1780. Below is a song written by Alejandro Romualdo that I sometimes share with my students. And hunggan, kumayu Si Tupac Amaru yan Si Tupac Shakur. Tupac Shakur was named after Tupac Amaru.  A CHORAL SONG FOR TUPAC AMARU By Alejandro Romualdo Valle Lo harán volar con dinamita. En masa, lo cargarán, lo arrastrarán. A golpes le llenarán de pólvora la boca. Lo volarán: ¡Y no podrán matarlo! They will blow him with dynamite. As on