International community needs to recognize turmoil faced in Guam

Shiloh Melei, the author of this article was a summer intern in the AFSC Hawai’i office through the City and County of Honolulu summer youth employment program.  He is a Farrington High School Student, a member of the winning 2008 O’ahu High School interscholastic poetry slam team.  Congratulations to Shiloh and keep up the great work!  Mahalo to Michael Bevacqua for sharing his mana’o and for the Hawaii Independent for covering news that others are ignoring.

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http://thehawaiiindependent.com/?/page-one/read/international-community-needs-to-recognize-turmoil-faced-in-guam/

International community needs to recognize turmoil faced in Guam

Jul 29, 2009 – 10:59 AM | By Shiloh Melei | The Hawaii Independent

From Spanish missionaries to Japanese soldiers to the U.S. Armed Forces, the tiny island of Guam has held the feet of foreigners on her shores for hundreds of years. And for hundreds of years, its people have been made to live under the rule of those foreigners. As a result, the culture, people, and land have all suffered greatly.

Missionaries banned the native tongue as well as cultural dances so that they were almost completely forgotten. Native birds have become extinct thanks to Brown Snakes brought overseas by U.S. cargo ships. The constant rising of new buildings to hold the rapid increase of people coming to the island has reshaped the landscape. Chemicals leaked from military weaponry and technology has polluted the land. Military nuclear testing in the 1970s exposed the islands inhabitants to massive amounts of radiation, followed by an increase in the island’s rates of still births and radioactivity related cancers. These problems come in addition to a high cost of living as available land is being taken away by the military.

The abuse of the land and its people has been going on for hundreds of years, but not without resistance. Many representatives from Guam have given testimony to the United Nations Special Political and Decolonization Committee about the abuse of their homeland, urging for help in the liberation of Guam.

The tiny island of Guam and its people may not be able to last another hundred years of this abuse.

Michael Lujan Bevacqua has been active in working toward liberation. Bevacqua is a recent graduate from the Ethnic Studies Ph.D. program at the University of California in San Diego, editor of the Chamorro zine Minagahet, and a co-founder of the Chamorro activist organization Famoksaiyan. He also helps to maintain several websites dedicated to the issues of Chamorro history, culture, and decolonization. Bevacqua was selected to attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention as the official blogger from Guam, and has organized numerous events and conferences in both California and Guam to inform people about the struggles of Chammorros and their islands.

His dedication to his homeland is reflected in almost everything he does. When talking with his two-year-old daughter, Bevacqua speaks only in Chamorro so that she will be one of the few people in the world who will be able to speak the language fluently.

He is also an avid reader of manga — Japanese comics. Like most readers Bevacqua began reading manga for personal enjoyment. But unlike most readers, he translates manga into his native Chamorro tongue and hopes to bring a sort of Shonen Jump to Guam. Shonen Jump is an extremely popular manga magazine in both the U.S. and Japan, which, when translated, will allow native Chamorro speakers to share in Bevacqua’s enjoyment of these world renowned stories.

His appreciation for other cultures while strengthening his own is a way of life that Bevacqua honed while spending time in Africa when Apartheid was still occurring. As the son of a “White” father and a “Brown” mother, it was difficult for him to discern where he belonged-something that has shaped his political views on issues today.

The proposed Military buildup on Guam is one such issue he strongly opposes. This buildup refers to the U.S. decision to relocate from Okinawa more than 20,000 Marines and their dependents to Guam. So much military force is already funneled onto the island that it is often referred to as “the tip of the spear.” Plans are for the United States to send 48 F-22 and F-15 fighter jets, six B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers, and adding as many as six nuclear submarines to the three already stationed on Guam. This would be done regardless of the damage already dealt to the island as a result of housing the military.

Bevaqcua refers to himself as an “information activist,” meaning he works to let people know about the issues Guam is facing.

The tiny island of Guam and its people may not be able to last another hundred years of this abuse. The international community must stand up on behalf of them-people who see wrong and speak up about it rather than sit in silent tolerance. These are the kind of people who can inspire change for treatment of Guam. These are the type of people who can change the world.