"Chamorro Voices: Sovereignty, Decolonization, Militarization, Language, and Diaspora" (and other events)
Good morning,
Please join us today [Weds, 10/3/12] at 12 pm for "Chamorro Voices: Sovereignty, Decolonization, Militarization, Language, and Diaspora" with UHM undergraduate poet Joleen Togawa Salas, chairperson of Guam’s Independence Task Force Michael Lujan Bevacqua, We are Guåhan cofounder Leevin Camacho, and indigenous rights attorney Therese Terlaje (more information below). These speakers will address issues of sovereignty, decolonization, militarization, language, and the diaspora. UHM assistant professor Craig Santos Perez will moderate the panel. The seminar will be in the Tokioka Room, Moore 319 and is cosponsored by the English Department.
On Friday, 5 October from 5-8pm, the Marianas Club will be hosting I Kinalamten Gi Fina'tinas-ta (The Movement Through Our Creations) at KAMA 201, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. Blacksmith Peter Toves and weaver Maria Barcinas will display their work and Craig Santos Perez and Melvin Won Pat-Borja will share their poetry. At the end the night, there will be a screening of Chamorro made and inspired films. The event is sponsored by the Center for Pacific Islands Studies.
"Chamorro Voices: Sovereignty, Decolonization, Militarization, Language, and Diaspora"
Joleen Togawa Salas is a native from the island of Saipan and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sociology at UH Mānoa. She credits her poetic influences to music because it has inspired her in dance, word, and life since a very young age. She hopes to become a writer to proudly contribute to her cultural background. Biba Pasifiko! Biba Kutura!
Michael Lujan Bevacqua is the grandson of Elizabeth Flores Lujan (familian Kabesa) and the Chamorro master blacksmith, Joaquin Flores Lujan (familian Bittot). Michael is the father of two ñangñang children, Sumåhi and Akli‘e‘, and is an instructor of history and English at the University of Guam. He earned a PhD in ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego. His research deals with outlining the structures of colonialism in Guam and theorizing the everyday possibilities of decolonization for Chamorros.
Leevin Camacho is an attorney and the cofounder of We Are Guåhan, a multi-ethnic collective of individuals, families, and grassroots organizations concerned with the future of Guåhan. We Are Guåhan aims to inform and engage its community on the various issues concerning the impending military buildup. Leevin grew up in Guåhan and after graduating from John F. Kennedy High School, he attended University of Washington and earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. His law degree is from Boston University and he currently practices law in Guåhan.
Therese Terlaje is an attorney who has served as legal counsel to the Guam Legislature and as counsel to the Democratic Senators of I Liheslaturan Guåhan. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Creighton University and went on to earn a law degree at University of California, Los Angeles, where she became the first Pacific Islander to chair the Asian and Pacific Law Students Association. She has been an advocate for indigenous rights and the decolonization of Guåhan.
Craig Santos Perez is the cofounder of Ala Press, costar of the poetry album Undercurrent (Hawai‘i Dub Machine, 2011); and author of two collections of poetry: from unincorporated territory [hacha] (Tinfish Press, 2008) and from unincorporated territory [saina] (Omnidawn Publishing, 2010); a finalist for the Los Angeles Times 2010 Book Prize for Poetry; and the winner of the 2011 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Poetry. He is an assistant professor in the English Department at UH Mānoa, where he teaches Pacific literature and creative writing.
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