NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Every September 11th since September 11, 2001 has a surreal quality to it. As if in a world where history repeats and meaning is always muddled, somehow the events of that day achieved a special, extra level of meaning for those that were alive and of age to experience it. At least this is what they say, and how true this seems depends a lot on your relationship to the US and what type of imaginary tissue connects you to it.  9/11 always means another set of memorial or retrospectives. These commemorative acts help us lock in a particular narrative for conceiving what happened that day, what it means, and whether or not we allow any understanding of events that helped led to that attack. At these memorials people recall where they were when they learned of the attacks and reminders of how scared they were, but how America rose again from those ashes.  Mixed into this naturally is a lot of what you might call blind patriotism or shallow patriotism. September 11 th , as the US se

Fanhokkåyan is my series where I share articles, writings and other documents from some of my previous websites, most notably the Kopbla Amerika/Chamorro Information Activist website and Minagahet Zin e. The one I'm sharing today is an intriguing one, as it represents a piece that helped shape alot of my own perceptions as an early activist about Chamorro issues, in particular their relationship to colonial legacies. This piece, which I co-wrote with a friend of mine at the time, built off the idea of "soul wound" a theory that was first popularized in considering the contemporary place of Native Americans in relation to their historical (or continuing) trauma. It is far too easy for us to argue that we shouldn't be stuck in the past by recounting how Chamorros have been hurt by colonizers, that is a common interpassive point. In truth, we need to recount it and we need to understand it, most importantly so that we can change things today, so that we can reshape th

My first forays into the world of public discourse and engagement came on the pages of the Pacific Daily News through letters to the editor. For years I conducted research in the Micronesian Area Research Center library and through interviews with politicians, activists and manåmko', but the thoughts and ideas that were spawning in my head didn't have many outlets save for discussions in classes or with trusted elders or friends. In 2004 I gave my first public presentation on the issue of decolonization or critical Chamorro Studies, when I shared a section of my research at a forum titled "World War II is it Over?" organized by the Guam Humanities Council at the Agana Shopping Center. I spoke alongside Dr. Patricia Taimanglo, the late historian Tony Palomo and Guam military historian Jennings Bunn. After that, I spent several years in graduate school presenting at conference around the US, often times to empty rooms, as Guam papers tended to be very low on the prior

I first wrote this article 13 years ago while I was applying for graduate school in the states and working part-time at the Guam Communications Network in Long Beach, California. My auntie Fran Lujan was working there as well and they had an irregular publication called Galaide'. Prior to my leaving Guam, I had photocopied hundreds of articles from the Pacific Daily News around the time of the the 9/11 attacks, and I had spent more than a year trying to organize my thoughts on it. It seemed so strange in that moment, how everyone was reaching out to the United States, trying to find a way to patriotically or tragically feel included in its embrace. But the more that people asserted their inclusion and their belonging, the more the structure of their exclusion became pronounced and obvious. I used the article below as my attempt. It remains my first all-out attempt at a critical intervention. I still find myself making some of these arguments, whereas others I have moved on from o

Gi Botasion 2016 gi sanlagu todu manatlibas esta. Anggen ilek-hu gi ma'pos na sakkan na siempre para fangganna' si Trump giya New Hampshire yan giya South Carolina, siempre "bileng hao!" "taihinasso hao!" i ineppen-miyu. Lao atan ha' i botasion pa'go. I taotao ni' todu sumangan na ti sina mangganna' gi patidan Republican, sigi ha' mangganna' gui'. Gi ma'pos na sakkan, meggai sumangan na si Jeb! i mas takhilo' na gayu. Machuchuda' i kaha-na salape'. Gof matungo' gui' yan i familia-na. Lao atan ha' pa'go. Tumunok gui'. Malagu gui' tatte para i familia-na, taya' gi kannai-na fuera di i mala'et na lago'-na siha. ***************** What Donald Trump's Win in South Carolina says about the Republican Party "Time for a Reality check" by Igor Bobic and Ryan Grim The Huffington Post 2/22/2016 WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump comfortably defeated his Repub

The Andrea Smith kao magahet na natibu pat kao mama'natitibu gui', issue has been appearing all over my Facebook lately. I may or may not share much of my thoughts on the issue, but it was interesting how much the issue of Andrea Smith reminded me of Ward Churchill. Both are scholars that have had a huge impact on the representations of Native Americans in scholarly terms. Both of them have have been significant voices that have helped in some ways "mainstream" native American issues or voices. But both are figures who have been challenged in terms of their authenticity. In both cases the issue persists of how questions over their native identity will affect their theories, their legacies and so on. I've included below a series of articles on Ward Churchill's case when he was fired from the University of Colorado. His "Indianness" in terms of his authenticity as a Native American wasn't so much questioned when he came under fire,