Click on poster for DEEP WATERS Event Information

The Insular Empire

For those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading the late Howard Zinn’s works, you are in for a treat. Whereas standard history books focus on the winners – the capitalists, the generals, the men, the Europeans – Zinn’s work focuses on everyone else. Women, slaves, laborers, Indians – and those struggling to make life better for all of us (40 hour work week, anyone?) are finally given their place in the academic sun. Plus Zinn was just a great writer – and a great speaker.

The Zinn Education Project is coordinated by two non-profit organizations, Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change. The people who are carrying on Zinn’s tradition with this new project are as committed, smart, and karmically positive as he was. I am truly honored to have my work included in their project. Be sure to check it out!

“Guam may be a forgotten outpost of empire, a resting place for Uncle Sam’s boot as he performs a “Pacific pivot,” but the Guamanians’ desire to regain control over their destiny ought to be a lesson – and an inspiring example – to the whole world.”

With last-minute warning of the president’s impending arrival, The University of Guam FITE (Fellows for Inquiry Towards Enlightenment) Club organized a protest entitled “Hey Mr. President, Come Meet the Residents,” outside the gates of Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base. Protestors brought banners and posters, including one lit with flashlights and aimed upwards. It read “Guam: Where America’s President Refuels.”

When Obama was first elected, I was genuinely (if naively) optimistic about Guam’s chances for change. After all, there was finally someone in the Oval Office who was both raised in the Pacific, AND from a family that had directly suffered the indignities and injustices of colonialism. If he wouldn’t pay attention, no one would.

But my repeated attempts to simply SEND him a copy of The Insular Empire went nowhere. I believe it’s quite possible that he’s not even aware of Guam’s colonial relationship with the US – though of course he should be, if only for geo-political reasons. One can only hope that he at least peeped out the window of Air Force One as he was landing, and saw the signs of protest shining up at him, and wondered – as Hope Cristobal would say – “what the fuss was all about.”

Hope Cristobal (Sr.) holding a sign at the entrance to AAFB

The screening starts at 7pm. It will be held at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum, and is sponsored by Watta Loochoo.

I am continually impressed by Julian Aguon. He has a razor-sharp mind and a lightning tongue and a strong heart that beats for justice. In his recent presentation at the University of Guam, he discussed how US Constitutional Law and International Law apply to the question of Guam’s political status. Perhaps not surprisingly, he is now being attacked in the local Marianas press, as an advocate for armed violent struggle. Knowing Julian personally, I found this hard to believe – so I watched his entire presentation just to see for myself. As always, watching Julian was a real pleasure. A few of my favorite quotes (with links to video):

“The right of self-determination legally enjoys the same exalted status as the rule prohibiting genocide. As the rule prohibiting torture. To international lawyers, this is a crime. Colonialism is a crime.” [see the video]

“The whole world has spoken on some of these issues. Why not lift our heads out of the sand, and realize that perhaps, just perhaps, one country’s interpretation of international law isn’t the only game in town?” [See the video]

Aguon ended by asserting that, according to international law, ‘colonialism is a crime, and you’re allowed to fight back.’ Not being an international lawyer myself, I have no means for judging the veracity of this statement; but I did note that he then took great pains to honor the peaceful, non-violent contributions of Hope Cristobal, and her many trips to the United Nations on behalf of Guam. “She illustrates a belief, a conviction, on the part of the colonized population on Guam, that words are the better way.”

An advocate for armed struggle? I don’t think so. A brilliant young indigenous lawyer who’s justifiably pissed-off? Absolutely. More power to him.

UN Advisor and decolonization expert Carlyle Corbin

Dr. Carlyle Corbin and Attorney Julian Aguon will be speaking at an upcoming public forum on political decolonization, presented by the University of Guam and Guahan Coalition for Peace & Justice. To me, the very fact of this forum is a sign of how high the political collective consciousness has been raised on Guam over the past few years. For those who are not on Guam, the event will also be streamed live over the Internet.

PUBLIC FORUM on Political Decolonization

Wednesday, October 19, 5:30 – 8:30 pm Chamorro Standard Time (GMT + 10 hrs)

(LIVE STREAM: Tuesday, October 18, 12:30am PST (GMT – 8 hrs))

University of Guam
CLASS Lecture Hall

Dr. Carlyle Corbin
United Nations Advisor and Internationally recognized expert on decolonization
“The Role of the United Nations in the Self-Determination Process”

Chamorro attorney and author Julian Aguon

Attorney Julian Aguon
Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice
“Defrosting the Self-Determination Imagination: The Trajectory of Right Under International Law”

The Insular Empire is a must-see teaching tool… this excellent project grapples with the moral and legal questions regarding imperialism, military expansion, and self-determination in a way that is brilliantly incisive without being heavy handed.

Dr. Larry Cunningham describes indigenous navigation of the Pacific, long before the arrival of the Europeans.

Guam History professor Anne Perez Hattori describes how the Spanish resettled Chamorros into Catholic villages, and how the “lanchu” system helped to preserve clan structures and ties to ancestral land.