NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I mentioned I was working on an editorial with Victoria Leon Guerrero the other day and it was published in the Pacific Daily News this morning. We crammed alot of statements about what has been going on lately in terms of attempts to shift the buildup conversation into something of pre-DEIS period mode. We discussed Para Hita Todu and some of their motivations and also why they can't be taken seriously as a group that will lead Guam on this issue. All in all I think it was a pretty good editorial and so I wanted to paste it here as well. ********************** Guam Needs Leadership on Buildup Issue Michael Lujan Bevacqua and Victoria Leon Guerrero Pacific Daily News June 26, 2011 Given last week's Sunday Forum topic, which focused on whether or not people should express their support of the military buildup, we eagerly await a future Sunday Forum that will ask the obvious next question as to whether or not people opposed to the buildup should speak out as well. Last

I want to write a longer post about how I detest the use of the "Third World" trope to try to call attention to how unfortunate or wrong things are in the United States. One of the reasons why I loathe it is because so much of that complaint is secret exceptionalist strain, an assumption that of all the places in the world where bad things should happen, none of it should be in the United States. Whether natural disasters, shootings and violence, social breakdown, government corruption, whenever something which tests the cognitive limits of people in the United States, the Third World trope emerges to provide some sense of what happened. It is a way of letting a bit of chaos into the homeland, some nasty, brutish, dark slivers of discourse get to sneak in and give some color and some understanding to something which is supposed to be beyond the white-picket-fence-comprehension of Americans. The worst part about this citation of the Third World is how it can help to reinforce

A few weeks ago, a video went viral on Youtube with Guam as the object of its existence. A Democratic Congressman from Georgia, Hank Johnson, during a hearing made a statement to the effect that, if the planned military buildup of Guam were to go through, was there a threat that the island might capsize and flip over? Although the Congressman later claimed that he meant it as a joke and wasn't serious about Guam capsizing with the addition of 80,000 more people to the island in such a short time, for the next few weeks, videos of him making this remark collected several million views, and he became a favorite target of the mainstream and conservative media. One of the reasons that I didn't pay any attention to this, or write about it on this blog is because, despite the fact that the signifier Guam was being thrown around left and right for weeks, and suddenly appearing in the tweets or mouths of those who otherwise might have gone their entire lives without uttering it, it

Desde i fine’nina na ma mentona este na “buildup” unu ha’ na sinangån-ña Si Maga’låhi Felix Camacho. “Tunas mo’na.” Achokka’ mampos dongkålu este na “buildup” ya meggai na na annok na manera na mannina’dåñu hit ni’ este, tåya’ nai na Si Camacho na guaha sinangån-ña kontra i “buildup.” Kada na Tåya’ nai ha sångan na ti siña ta cho’gue este. Tåya’ nai ha sångan na ti debi di ta cho’gue este. Tåya’ nai ha sångan na båba pat ti possipble este. Tåya’ nai ha sångan todu este na klasi siha…esta ki på’go. Para Hamyo ni’ mangkokontra este na “buildup,” hunggan hu tungo’ na achokka’ matulaika i hinasso-ña i Maga’låhi, ti gof matulaika, sa’ ha sapopotte ha’, lao malago gui’ na mana’parañaihon. Lao gi i mas kabåles na litråtu, este na matulaika gof impottånte . Todu maigi’on, kontodu ayu na kalang mampos dongkålu ya kalang ti fuyong’on, siña maikak. Ya kontudu este na “buildup” maskeseha i pinetpot-ña, siña mana’påra. Ya i mas dikike’ na patte, i mas etigo’ na detail siña tumutuhun i pinedd

For those who don't know, the word "chumilong" is Chamorro for "to become equal." One of the most interesting things to come out of the DEIS comment period and the flurry of activist activity that has taken place, is that after four long and frustrating years, the media does actually start to treat the buildup is an issue which has more than one side. For years, the Pacific Daily News set the tone making primary any positive information related to the buildup and generally minimizing any possible negative issues. The Marianas Variety to its credit often has problems talking about an issue in a very full or complete way. They tend to give one side of the story in most of their pieces, and then another completely different story in another piece. Part of this comes from their regular printing of press releases. In general though, the buildup, even if it has "some questions or concerns" there was still this impression that it was nearly all good, and t

Last Thursday night, I was speaking on a panel at the University of Guam Lecture Hall, as part of a public forum/discussion on the planned military buildup for Guam. I'll be writing more about my thoughts on it later, because there is plenty to consider. I got to listen to and talk to some members of the Government of Guam Civilian Military Task Force, which is in charge of "preparing" Guam to deal with the typhoon of military presence that it will soon be forced to endure. Also, there is the fact that hundreds of people came to attend the forum, and students were even standing lined up along the hall's sides and sitting on the floor. Here's two article from the Marianas Variety and the Pacific Daily News that covered the event. The PDN article in particular is interesting, since it almost completely ignores the spirit of my comments (which could be considered to be controversial, were viciously anti-colonial and pushing for the island's declonization, but