NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

In light of COVID-19, Independent Guåhan moves their annual Na’lå’la’ concert on air and online this Saturday on KUAM For Immediate Release, July 8, 2020 –  Since 2017, each July Independent Guåhan has hosted a free concert,  “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom.” This event is a chance for the community to connect to conscious and empowering messages for social change and decolonization through music, poetry, art and dance. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to social distance, this year’s concert is going online and on-air.  Independent Guåhan invites the community to tune in Saturday, July 11 th  from 7 to 10 pm on KUAM TV 8 for “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom Vol. 4.” The concert will also be livestreamed on KUAM News’ Facebook page. The concert is held each year close to the Fourth of July or Independence Day in hopes of opening up the holiday up to a new more locally focused interpretation. Independent Guåhan encouraged the island as a whole and beyond those attending the

Democracy Now! is doing some great coverage of the protests over the North Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Here are some interviews and a column from Amy Goodman after a warrant was put out for her arrest in response to her coverage. If you are able, please consider donating in order to support their continuing efforts. ******************** Native American Activist Winona LaDuke at Standing Rock: It's Time to Move On from Fossil Fuels September 12, 2016 Democracy Now! While Democracy Now! was covering the Standing Rock standoff earlier this month, we spoke to Winona LaDuke, longtime Native American activist and executive director of the group Honor the Earth. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. She spent years successfully fighting the Sandpiper pipeline, a pipeline similar to Dakota Access. We met her right outside the Red Warrior Camp, where she has set up her tipi. Red Warrior is one of the encampments where thousan

This week I'm at the symposium "Creating Futures Rooted in Wonder: Bridges Between Indigenous, Science Fiction and Fairy Tale Studies" at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. I was fortunate enough to be invited out to speak and participate in workshops. The symposium has been amazing so far, because the discussion is so in line with thoughts I've had for years, the only difference is now I am finding so many others, books and journals that are parts of a conversation I can now join. I've always been into nerdy and geeky things such as comics, science fiction, fantasy, but about 15 years ago I began to care more about Chamorro culture, history and language. I have spent every moment since trying to find ways of bringing together those various passions. At this symposium I've found people from various Pacific Islander and Native American communities who feel the exact same way and have the exact same creative/political desires.  Here are some of

Next week public comment and informational meetings will be taking place in Tinian and Saipan with regards to recently proposed plans to militarize Tinian and Pagan. For people that are wanting to follow the discussion there between leaders and activists I've gathered together some recent news from The Saipan Tribune and The Marianas Variety. CNMI leaders are putting out a request for help in terms of analyzing and disseminating information about the DEIS or draft environmental impact statement for the build up proposals. They are also requesting an extension as the document is close to 2,000 pages long. It has also, as far as I know, not been translated into Chamorro or Carolinian. *************** 'CNMI will benefit from military trainings here' by Jayson Camacho Saipan Tribune 4/20/15 The U.S. Department of Defense’s planned military buildup in the region has put the CNMI community in a quandary, with some supporting military activities on Tinian and Pagan

I'll be here tonight at University of Hawai'i, Manoa.

Bluem Pacific will be hosting its first Film Workshop Series on September 2nd 2012! Explore how to write a script, get tips and advice on acting, learn how to choreograph awesome fight scenes, and much more at the UOG Lecture Hall starting at 3pm! All workshops will be intro-styled workshops, so don’t you dare be intimidated about anything! Following the workshops, is a film showcase exhibiting 100% locally produced films that promote culture appreciation, environmental care, and community development! Both the Film Workshop series & the Film Showcase will be FREE!? Wow Wee!!! *IMPORTANT INFO – All workshop participants under 18 years of age must have a parent/legal guardian present to register. Registration begins at 230PM in the UOG Lecture Hall. Event Location: UOG Lecture Hall (between The English and Communications Bldg and The Humanities and Social Sciences Bldg) Workshop Series: 3PM to 6PM Film Showcase: 6PM to 9PM The mission of Bluem Pacific is:

A question that more people should ask themselves on island, "Are you down for the movement?" You shouldn't downgrade this question to simply asking are you on the side of the people singing, or are you a part of an activist group or a chant group. Although the people who will ask you those things may be avowed members of groups, and may be the one to assert very forcefully and openly that they belong to something, este na kinalamten, ti iyon-niha ha'. This movement is larger than them alone. It is something that has been so long in coming, and has always been here as long as Guam has been a colony. It has taken so many forms, but it is always nurtured forth by the discontent of being ruled by another, being lied to by another, being taken advantage by another, and not getting the basic respect or dignity you deserve. Colonization comes with fictions, it comes with dichicheng na mames na dinagi, it comes with so many sweet little lies. When your house is on fire