NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I used to run (with the help of a few others) the blog Peace and Justice for Guam and the Pacific . It is still online and features more than a thousand articles from a variety of sources dealing with issues of peace, militarization and culture primarily in Guam, but also in the wider Pacific. I was working on the draft of an article recently talking about Nasion Chamoru and their effect on Chamorro activism and Guam society. I found on that blog several articles and I wanted to share some of them below. ***************** Mayors shuns Chamorro Nation By Mar-Vic Cagurangan Variety News Staff July 16, 2007 GUAM senators yesterday gave the Japanese delegation a rundown of demands that they want from the U.S. government in exchange for hosting the 8,000 troops that will be relocated from Okinawa, while Chamorro activists told the delegation that they don't want the Marines to come to Guam at all. The delegation, however, declined to give audience to Chamorro Natio

I have been writing about a "military buildup" to Guam for more than 10 years now. In 2004, there were hints of a buildup to Guam and in 2005 the first formal parts of a buildup to Guam were announced. There were constant discussions for years as numbers shifted and plans were released and later changed or scrapped. There was a period of intense debate for about two years when formal plans were released and public comment began. Despite quite a bit of resistance to the Department of Defense's plans, they went through with their Record of Decision. The rhetoric of the DOD was that these plans were set and things needed to be pushed forward at record pace. Things slowed down considerable however, due to funding restrictions, economic downturns, a change in administration and military priorities shifting elsewhere. But the funny thing about the "buildup" is that while we can focus it around certain particular projects or acts, the military importance of not just

Tomorrow, the Department of Defense will be holding a public hearing in the LG Multipurpose Room in the SBPA Building at UOG, from 5 - 8 pm. The hearing is about the MITT or Marianas Islands Training and Testing Area, which is the largest training area the United States military has in the world. If you would like to make your voice heard please come out and testify or at least collect some information.  *************************** Mariana Islands Training and Testing Area From Draft EIS/OEIS Executive Summary “The purpose of the Proposed Action is to conduct training and testing activities to ensure that the Navy meets its mission, which is to maintain, train, and equip combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, and maintaining freedom of the seas. This mission is achieved in part by conducting training and testing within the Study Area.” The No Action Alternative is required by regulations of the CEQ as a baseline a

Below are pictures from the Inagofli'e' Peace Vigil held in February in Tumon. Yesterday on my blog I posted my Marianas Variety column about it from last month. You can read it by clicking here .

“Inagofli’e’” Michael Lujan Bevacqua Marianas Variety 3/5/13 This past Sunday the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice organized a peace vigil in Tumon, at the memorial site where a terrible attack took place two weeks ago. This vigil was meant to honor those who were killed and those who were hurt in the attack, and also provide a space for members of the community to come together and make sense of what happened. Candles were lit, blessings were offered, a song was sung, a healing circle was formed and some doves were let loose. Although the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice organized the event, it would not have been possible without the help of many local organizations and leaders, including a group of JFK high school students, who each contributed something. The vigil was given the name “Inagofli’e’.” This is a word that many people today may not be familiar with, but has a very deep beautiful meaning in Chamorro. The word can be broken d

Hawaii: Head of the Tentacled Beast By Jon Letman, October 18, 2012 Foreign Policy in Focus Fresh from hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Honolulu last autumn, U.S. President Barack Obama recently told members of the Australian Parliament that America’s defense posture across the Asia-Pacific would be “more broadly distributed…more flexible—with new capabilities to ensure that our forces can operate freely.” The announcement of America’s “ Asia-Pacific pivot ” by its first Hawaiia-born president was highly fitting, since the Hawaiian Islands are at the piko (“navel” in Hawaiian) of this vast region. A less flattering metaphor for Hawaii’s role in the Pacific is what Maui educator and native Hawaiian activist Kaleikoa Kaeo has called a giant octopus whose tentacles reach across the ocean clutching Japan, Okinawa, South Korea, Jeju island, Guam—and, at times, the Philippines, American Samoa, Wake Island, Bikini Atoll, and Kwajalein At

Just for clarification, there are two components to the conference that I attended in Okinawa last week. The first component is an international forum on the topic of how to create an Asia Pacific region that is free of military bases and nuclear weapons. For this forum, there are roughly a 100 or so people in attendance, all of whom are the leaders of various anti-base, peace or anti-nuclear civil society groups throughout Japan. The title of this forum is “For a Nuclear Weapon-Free Peaceful Asia-Pacific without Military Bases – Solidarity among Okinawa, Guam and Asia-Pacific.” The second part is the yearly Japan Peace Conference, which is always held in a part of Japan where the local community hosts US bases. Last year’s gathering was in Sasebo, in Nagasaki. This part of the conference is massive compared to the forum. The International Forum takes place in small hotel in Naha. The full-fledged peace conference takes place in a large amphitheater, that seats 2,000 people. The or

In my continuing efforts to make sure that I have way too much to do, I'll be moderating a forum tomorrow on decolonization and self-determination at UOG. Details are below. ************************* Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice and the University of Guam present:. PUBLIC FORUM on Political Decolonization Dr. Carlyle Corbin United Nations Advisor and Internationally recognized expert on decolonization "The Role of the United Nations in the Self-Determination Process" Attorney Julian Aguon Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice "Defrosting the Self-Determination Imagination: The Trajectory of Right Under International Law" Wednesday, October 19 5:30 - 8:30 pm University of Guam CLASS Lecture Hall THE PUBLIC FORUM WILL BE LIVE STREAMED AT THE FOLLOWING CHANNEL FOR THOSE OFF-ISLAND: Tuesday, 12:30 am PST http://www.ustream.tv/channel/we-are-guahan

For Immediate Release from the Guåhan Coalition for Peace and Justice July 25, 2011 Local Author/Attorney Wins Prestigious Petra Award for Human Rights Work One of Guam’s finest writers and attorneys, Julian Aguon, was recently chosen as a 2011 Petra Fellow for his “distinctive contributions to the rights, autonomy and dignity” of the people of Guam and the Pacific region, and the work he has done “for the cause of justice, fairness, and human dignity,” according to the Petra Foundation. The Petra Fellowship comes with a $7,500 financial award, which will be presented to Mr. Aguon in Cambridge, Massachusetts the weekend of November 18 - 20, 2011. Mr. Aguon will also join an “inclusive, informal, hands-on national network of citizen activists who are working across the lines of age, ethnicity, class and issue to build a more just society,” according to the Petra Foundation. As described on the Foundation’s website, “The Petra Foundation was established in 1988 to sustain the

GLOBAL MILITARISM: GLOBAL PEACE? A DOCUMENTARY FILM/ DISCUSSION SERIES The third film in the Global Militarism: Global Peace? documentary film/discussion series for the Fall semester 2010 is scheduled for 6 p. m. Thursday, November 18, CLASS Lecture Hall, UOG Campus. This series is co-sponsored by the Division of Social Work and the Communication Program at the University of Guam in cooperation with the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice and WeAreGuahan. Each film in this series explores the dynamics of global militarism and its impacts in different parts of the world. Each screening is followed by commentary by three panelists and facilitated discussion. This event is free and open to the public. UOG and GCC faculty and high school teachers are encouraged to offer this film event as an extra credit option. The featured film on November 18 is Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai'i by Hawaiian filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly. Kelly is a native journalist and filmmaker who

Just finished up at the Realizing Our Destiny Rally held at Adelup today and organized by We Are Guahan. Mampos yafai yu', lao mampos malulok yu' lokkue'. It was tiring, stressful, chaotic, lao sen gaibali, absolutely worth it. At least 500 people showed up (by my quick counts) to hear the music of Biggah and Bettah and Rockbottom, to take literature from the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice, and also sign up for the decolonization registry. The highlight of the rally was when we formed a human chain around the Adelup field, with more than 300 people, and screamed at the top of our lungs that we would defend this island and that the DOD must hear and pay attention to and act according to what the people of Guam want. Hunggan, esta ma fitme i ROD, lao taya' guaha. Esta hu tuge' gi este na blog, na achokka' ma sangan na makpo' este, a'annok ha' na ti makpo'. Ma diseseha i militat, na yanggen ma fitma este, fitma ayu, fitma enao, para ta f

Minagahet Zine Fatfat'Nga'Fulu'Hugua Volume 8 Issue 2 "Critical Comments" August 25, 2010 There hasn’t been an issue of Minagahet for a few months, because I, like so many people on Guam have been waiting to see what will happen next in terms of the planned military buildup. Now, at last the time has come, and the FEIS ( Uttimo na EIS) is out, but in this issue of Minagahet, I want to take a look back at some of the comments that were made about the DEIS ( Draf na tinige’). The DEIS ( Draft Environmental Impact Statement ) comment period was an incredible three months. The public engagement and critique was far beyond anyone could have expected. 9,000 – 10,000 comments were submitted to the Joint Guam Program Office, thousands and thousands more than they most likely anticipated. The public comment meetings were dominated by people who were either against the buildup or at least suspicious about how this sort of massive movement of people and ra