1. |
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Self-Guamination
In 1668 silence sailed from Spain
and invaded the shores of Guam
The Spanish hushed the Chamorro culture with rifles
and the sounds of extinction were deafening
They justified genocide with bibles
Burnt down huts, destroyed villages,
and called it…Catholicism
they forced us to our knees to praise a foreign GOD
as if chanting to our ancestors was anything less,, than spiritual
The Spanish brought disease, soldiers, and missionaries to our island
colonization was their mission
silence was an order
and fighting back, meant us clinging to our culture
They stripped us of our true identity
and banned our language,
snatching our native tongues out of our mouths
and forcing Spanish down our throats
until we choked on their clumsy syllables
changing hatsa, hugua, tulu
to uno, dos, tres,
colonizing us was carried out in 3 simple steps:
ONE: destroy the native language so the savages couldn’t communicate
TWO: confiscate land in the name of GOD while resisters were executed
THREE: inter-marry, rape, and procreate until indigenous bloodlines were diluted
but they did not realize WE were warriors.
Standing six feet tall, strapped with natural body armor and
with chests so wide, one Chamorro chief exhaled the breath of his entire village
Chiseled abs cut so deep they reached their spines
make no mistake our bloodlines had backbone weaved into a double helix
machinery and technology were irrelevant
hands like the sea, simultaneously gentle and deadly we fed our people by harvesting
the ocean sustainably
what was once a beach that provided all our necessities’
became a port for Spanish military
we calmed unnecessary currents with tactics that were as unpredictable as an undertow
because we were able to see genocide glide with the tide
weather high or low
it just goes to show that our people stayed true to themselves
with hearts like a coral reef we set a barrier around our way of life
we were
and still are
one of the oldest civilizations in the pacific
I tao tao tano “the people of the land”
..the indigenous
are being swept out to sea like a plea in a bottle
from our shores to yours
we carried this message over 5,803 miles of deep blue
because although we speak true
this attempt to teach you may get lost in migration
Not by choice, but by force
And of course, we’ve won many battles
But mortal wounds left immortal scars on our true identity
reminders that our oral history is the remedy to break free from this tyranny
It is the foundation of strength we have to keep the Chamoru culture living and breathing
for too long, we have watched the past form rain clouds over us
Reigning silence as the new king
but we were never given a chance to sit on that thrown,
which sits on the land that we rightfully own
and once again our voices red, white, and blue away when americans stormed our beaches
we were rich in heritage but treated like peasants
because in a capitalist system, Cash Rules Everything Around Me
CREAM! Get the money, native language killed ya’ll
but with the strength we inherit from our ancestors
We will engage in this war to preserve our past
Using our vocal chords as slings and our vocal tones as stones
they are thrown, not to break bones, but to break the silence of our people
to all of you this is just a poem,
but to us, it’s the chance to bring justice to our home
we carried this message in our hearts
to a nation that still considers us 2nd class citizens
we enlist more soldiers per capita
to fight and die for the freedoms we are not privileged to
the freedom of the speech,
the freedom to speak AND be heard
With these words, we proclaim that though our oppressors may try to arrest our development,
Let it be known, that Guahan has waived its right to remain silent!
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2. |
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For the first time I see in your eyes
All these changes with all that’s left to hide
The truth we seek to find lies far beneath our minds
and as you see us digging, searching for something inside
Feeling the loss we collect ourselves for the day
Burning away the struggles meant to keep our faith
and we are falling into the trap in which we’re left in defeat
So don’t just walk away
Don’t let them say you can never be
Don’t let them show you that they can see
Our unity in their hands comes crumbling down
On a quest to find the knowledge of our time
With the sediments left we try to build what once rose to shine
As the modern way of living makes a push to its prime
We will Stay
And as they breed in violence to engage in our destruction
Feeding the minds corrupt as they instill mental pollution
Coming straight from the mouths of well respected politicians
Struggling to maintain our culture restoration
What do you think they’d say if they saw you walk away
What do you think theyd do if they were inside your shoes
How far would tey let this go, this modern life we live
Stained and altered our perfection, the purity once held
Take not from us, what dem can break
dem have no good words and we take no consideration
Take not from us what dem can break
Shall we put one foot forward and have one last step to take
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3. |
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Ma guiafe kulo’ gi tasi på’go
Ti hu tungo chumochogue håyi
Este na inagang gi senchago
Ha tatago yu’ na alulayi
Finena, taya nai hu ekungok
Magof yu gi bonito maigo-hu
Ti listo yu’ para bai hu tungo
Hafa guaguaha gi tasi
På’go, ma baba I atadok-hu guini
Humahanao yu’ para I chalan
Hu kekeli’e håyi bei tattiyi
Ginen manu inagang sagan
Gi finakpo’ hihot I inagang
Hu li’e todu I mañaina-hu
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4. |
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Colonization
False Liberation
Intoxicating
Native Decimation
This foreign flag
Tries to strip our culture
Dreams of money, dreams of military
Shoved down our throat, so damn holy
Colonization
False Liberation
Intoxication
Native Decimation
Children of Guåhan
Die for foreign cause
When they should stay
Protecting this place
Defending our people
Defending our home
Colonization
False Liberation
Intoxication
Native Decimation
Chamoru, We will stand, We will stand for this land
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5. |
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I was told to call him Uncle.
We were so close I felt like I should have called him brother instead,
but I called him Arctic because he was just so cool
and was just as unpredictable as the sea.
I remember one night
we floated beneath the sky.
He told me of all the lies he used to get by in life
hoping that I wouldn’t need them.
That night
he told me that god was a sniper,
heaven was his vantage point,
stars were empty bullet casings,
and god was shooting beauty at us
hoping we’d all be able to speak angel one day.
My uncle never figured
that poetry wasn’t the language used to get through the Golden Gates,
but I think he did figure
that stars
pinned on a night blue Marine Corp uniform
would allow him to play god.
The day he signed his life away
I decided to uncross the T and un-dot the I.
“Arctic”
I didn’t think it was cool for him to leave me
and I still wish he was a little more predictable.
Now, he’s a full-fledged sniper—
the only sure shot in my family;
hands so steady
he carries the livelihood of platoons on his fingertips,
but when he marches home to his family
no one recognizes him. No one talks to him.
He’s as hollow as a bullet tip;
A 7.62mm American Dream.
His soul is a standard issue M40A1
loaded with top secret missions he’s not allowed to talk to me about.
All he knows is military protocol;
acts like I can’t understand them,
but it’s so simple
to understand silence.
But when he sleeps
that silence
is b r o k e n
and I understand his top secrets
through his screams.
Maybe playing God is every man’s dream?
My uncle
takes forks in the road,
bends them into crosshairs for his sniping scope.
He
fulfills
destinies
Lays men
women
and children
to rest
at bullet speeds
and I still wonder: “when does a man decide
he wants to take lives for a living?”
My uncle is drowning in regret
for choosing to become a bringer of death.
He is Arctic.
Flashbacks of headshots make him sweat ice cold.
He sleeps in his own sea.
Eyes like icebergs, 80% open
always just 20% asleep;
too afraid to face ghosts in his dreams.
I wish he could have realized sooner:
bullets
leave holes in more places than in just a victim’s body
and in the target rings of a complete family
he
is the bull’s eye
that we are missing.
We no longer share stories.
I guess his teenage years are at ease in military profile folders.
We are no longer close enough for me to call him my brother,
but he’s taught me well,
told me of all the lies he used to get by in life.
So,
on his last visit
when he asked
“Jay, do you still love me?”
I told him, “Arctic, no matter how cold you get
I will always love the ocean.”
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6. |
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So much trouble in the world i see,
one third mi island gone military bombers in the sky and i'm wondering why they flyy they fly
So much trouble int the world i see
they make pay to learn in these universities or give the youth them bucks to join the armies to fight against their brothers in their own countries
But wha... we don't need no trouble
babylon they want to burst my bubble
then my people have to struggle
so we fightin fightin for...we fightin for freedom. just a another song for freedom we chant whoa!
we fightin for freedom. just a another song for freedom.
So We chant these freedom songs. We spread love all around. Revolution time is here. Babylon we no fear, for the people we no scared.
Cause Jah is on our Side.
So come all my people. Sing, groove and move to the sweet reggae rhythms.
Come all Jah people . Chant the reggae songs and we fi chant down babylon.
Oh! won't you help I sing these songs.
Babylon has held us down for too long.
We have to unite and stand up strong. And spread the lovin' all round.
Roots Man Part.........( he will be sending it shortly to you )
Revolution.
Revolution Time
Revolution
Revolution Time has come. Freedom's what we fight for. The only way to settle the score.
Freedom's what we fightin' for. We don't want to be held down no more.
Revolution.
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7. |
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My culture is alive.
It is a living, breathing being
that walks and talks
dances and chants
carves and cooks
fishes, hunts, and farms
My culture listens.
Listens to the voices of our people chanting
calling on the past of our present
to unwrap what we have yet to know.
It listens to the movement of our women
swaying our hips and clapping our hands
and our men slapping their chests
and stomping their feet
to the beats of our culture’s soul.
My culture listens.
Listens to the pounding hearts of my people
as we continue to engage in battles
which leave many of us baffled:
Who are we?
What are we?
Where are we?
We are left feeling disconnected and isolated.
Yet why
my culture asks
do we disconnect and isolate
when we should mate and proliferate
increase our numbers and spread.
My culture is not dead.
It is very much alive.
It is alive because I am standing.
It is alive because I am breathing.
It is alive because I exist.
And as long as I
and you
and you
and you
As long as WE
exist
Our culture will be kept alive.
Because it is what gives us life.
I hate when people say that
our culture is dead or dying
When they say that,
they either don’t know any better
or they’re not Chamoru.
I’d like to stick with the latter
because Chamorus
can’t say their culture is dead
Because if it’s dead
then so are we.
So the next time
You
You
You
even think or say that our culture
is dead
Remember
We are who and what we remember.
Remember
We come from an over 4,000 year old past
We come from warriors
We come from maga`håga and maga`låhi
We come from a beautiful language
We come from the latte
We come from the roots of trees and the waves of seas
We come from the first people.
So stop saying
our culture
your culture
my culture
is dead.
Because when you say it’s dead,
then you’re saying that I am dead.
When you say it’s dead,
you’re saying that I don’t exist.
And people,
I’m talking to you
and you
and you
I
exist.
Therefore my culture
[Boom boom
Boom boom
Boom boom]
IT’S ALIVE!
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8. |
Warning - Difendi
04:24
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HOOK:
Warning!
A new day is dawning!
Young revolutionaries rising!
Them roots we got to reach,
Them youth we got to teach,
Babylon walls we got to breach!
Oi!
(Warning this is an emergency
An emergency
We need urgency)
Verse 1:
Attention: this is code red
Don’t be hero my brutha you’ll wind up dead
Stand up
Nobody gonna live forever
gotta move together
there’s no time better
speak out
this is what we be dealin with
they wanna kill this shit
make em feel this shit
now fight
cuz brutha this is all we got
man, let em call the cops
but this shit don’t stop
signs up ahead: the roads are filled with dread
and the forecast says skies falling on your head
earthquakes that shake the very foundation, these are reasons why I’m back and forth pacin,
people dragon chasin, lost education, economic low got me crime anticipatin’,
open up your eyes and see what we’re facin
It’s gonna take LOVE to rebuild this nation!
HOOK:
Warning!
A new day is dawning!
Young revolutionaries rising!
Them roots we got to reach,
Them youth we got to teach,
Babylon walls we got to breach!
Oi!
(Warning this is an emergency
An emergency
We need urgency)
Verse 2:
Tell me, do you see the warning signs? (the warning signs)
These are warring times!
Tell me, do you really know the truth? (you know I know the truth)
They wanna fool the youth
But they don’t wanna feel our pain
We never gonna be the same till we break these chains /
But we don’t wanna play these games
gonna rock this shit till they know our names /
You can hate the life that you’re livin
But, fight for the people, and your sins are forgiven /
Or you can be a sheep in the system
And maybe you’ll be free if you keep on wishin
We don’t want a flag half-mast
We just wanna get fam back /
We just want peace that lasts
But you got no future if you got no past
HOOK:
Warning!
A new day is dawning!
Young revolutionaries rising!
Them roots we got to reach,
Them youth we got to teach,
Babylon walls we got to breach!
Oi!
(Warning this is an emergency
An emergency
We need urgency)
Verse 3:
Rise and shine is my state of mind in this current struggle in this place and time
I’m never wasting rhymes, so I’m speaking mines,
While I’m heeding all the warnings and reading signs
Take a look around, you can hear the sounds
A message from the saina, our blood is in the ground
That my people walk on, my people crop on
Where I lay my head and now my enemies stalk on
If you want peace, get ready for war
There will come a day when they’re knockin at your door
But we will be ready as learned from our elders
The ones who were brave and were never selfish
fight for your honor, you are not forgotten
Fight for the future that is not an option
put us all in prison so we speak with conviction
Oddz, mILL bILL, spittin straight non fiction
HOOK:
Warning!
A new day is dawning!
Young revolutionaries rising!
Them roots we got to reach,
Them youth we got to teach,
Babylon walls we got to breach!
Oi!
(Warning this is an emergency
An emergency
We need urgency)
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9. |
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I had a dream last night. I was walking through the jungle, and as I passed each tree, it collapsed right beside me. The ground was dug up, the naked raw earth exposed.
How could this happen— to our tåno‘
to our mañaina1 to our familia2 to us?
The big strong tronkon nunu3 the taotaomo‘na hid in4 were no more.
I screamed, tears numbing my blood red face.
As I walked through the naked earth, my body weakened.
I fell to the ground, my palms touching
the unfamiliar earth, my eyes searching
for the old tronkon nunu, my ears open
to the calling of our mañaina.
I didn’t know this earth. I couldn’t see the trees. But in the distance,
I could hear:
“Munga ma‘åñao, hagå-hu. Munga ma‘åñao. Ti bai in dingu hao.”
“It’s okay, our daughter.
[132]Borja-Kicho‘cho‘
It’s okay. We will never leave you.”
Tomhom (also known as Tumon) is Guåhån’s tourism hub.
1. ancestors 2. family 3. banyan tree 4. ancestral spirits of the Chamorus
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10. |
Isla Guahan - J & A Bro.
04:00
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Este i hinassoso-ku, annai mås hoben yu'
gof ha'ån i klemåta, todu maolek i linalå-ta
guaha gupot kada mes ya bula guihan gi tasi
Korus:
i tano gi este na lugåt
gaige guini i guinifi-hu
ya metgot i familia ya mesngon i manaotao-ta
gi isla... gi islan Guåhan
Antes guaha, pa'go tåya
mappot i linalå-ta
mañatsaga hit, sa' tåya salåpe'
sa' guaguan i trustes siha
Korus
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11. |
Nursing - Steven Kasala
04:01
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On Guahan, family orientation comes naturally. We're born in households that hold extensions farther than mother and father, they extend to grandparents, uncles, cousins, and aunties.
I wouldn't be surprised to walk into a home filled with 10 people, all who share bonds as tight as fire, how fumes never separate, how embers dance as a whole, and how they die... Together.
That's why when my grandmother had been sent to the hospital it was tough handing family to the care of strangers, chained to a bed shared by many other souls who have come and gone, see sending off sick family to hospitals was something I feared as a child.
What with all the bad reputation GMH holds. Get Murdered Here is one name I've heard it been called. I've heard nurses not knowing the difference between heart beats and breath sounds, mismatching medications like dyslexics would with words, bruises caused by mistargeted veins, and worst of all the absence of care are things that I've heard from mouths and media alike.
Unfortunately my grandma had to be pulled farther away from us. Her condition was inoperable at GMH, another fault people pointed. She had to be escorted by a nurse to another hospital in the Philippines. Despite all my fears, despite all that I've heard, she was pleasant. Dressed in all purple scrubs, held a smile that could've cured my grandma on the spot, I didn’t know why she had to leave. But to think this nurse would drop everything, and leave her own family at home while she escorted mine. This was something I admired.
Five years later...
It was late December 2011
The date I had been blessed
With the news of acceptance into the nursing program
Fireworks crowded the sky soon afterwards in celebration of New Year’s –
To everyone else, it was 2012, to me,
I saw it as a gift disguised in a colorful explosion of
Ribbons, leis, and sashes hanging on stars made to be constellations of medals fit to hang around my neck
Because that day I knew these hands moved up from dropping dimes in donation boxes,
To actually making change.
When my first semester began, I was left on my own to carve the future of my career.
I struggled frequently, slaving to the moonlight with a textbook and highlighters hoping that exploding colors page after page would bring the same successful feeling as the fireworks.
But success was as common as shooting stars, and red marks arched all over my tests because in theory the patient bled to death.
I realized, that if the weight of learning the literature of a life was already too heavy, what more when I held the hands of AM, 59 year old male, 8x4 wound on left leg due to infection; AC, 79 year old male, kidneys failed, replaced by a machine; LG, 60 year old female, fluid build-up within her chest, tube punctured through chest to drain fluid; IK 30 year old female, ovarian cancer spread to her kidneys, bags attached to her back bilaterally; EB, 80 year old female end-stage Parkinson’s disease unable to recognize; and JM 58 year old female, hypertension, congestive heart failure, end-stage renal disease, double pneumonia, and even a heart attack while I was there.
Being human, mistakes unfortunately may happen.
So I wish all my apologies could help cure our mistakes, but why aren't the things we do right brought to light? Our names are held hostage by headlines but when did they ever narrate the whole story? The story of being pushed by constant pressure on the floor, juggling double-digit drugs on half-dozen patients to fight death daily, working half-the-clock-shifts so those sick with cancer can have a little
more time than them, taking time away from their own family, so that yours remain whole.
I can understand lives are at stake and the future of families in danger, but it is the strength to shoulder these responsibilities, and the good things that we do for the community that gave me trust to extend my family to a stranger’s hands in the hospital.
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12. |
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13. |
Chant - Jay Pascua
02:16
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14. |
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15. |
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16. |
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17. |
Rise Up - iyanI
02:57
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this one here's the island's tribulation. the bottom of the pit is where i man stand. but a one step at a time we will climb... nothin's gonna stop me till we see the sunshine. and i been waitin for that day for far too long... and i tell you when we get there, you know we comin on STRONG! the time is now... RISE UP AND WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN!!
Rise up! for there's no time too waist. Rise Up! it's the right time, right place. Rise Up! for it's all in the mind. Rise Up! if one shall seek then he shall find. Rise up, up, up. you know we can rise up. Rise Up, up, up. it's time to rise up.
so along the way, i give thanks and praise to the Most High, JAH! RasTafari is here to bring one love. and though the path is unclear, you will find your way... to the place there will be peace for the rest of your days. you know The Father, has given each of us the key. you must tap into Your potential to conquer destiny. it'll be so nice... to finally Rise...
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18. |
Isle Tone - David Lopez
04:21
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19. |
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Evening trips I'm leaving this
Mental mortal bliss clogged with shit
Evryday day life sludge
A blind judge
Needing a kind nudge
To see again
The speed of ten slowed down and repeat again
To another land I'll flow
On the grains of sand I'll go
It's the only home I know
Oh please can time move slow|
Oh please can time move slow
I have no where else I want to be
But here right beside the sea
Now with new sight, I am able to notice
The beauty of my surroundings instead of giving focus
to the stress of modern living, on the rock people giving
blame to the land feeling hopeless
I am not ashamed
ForI have felt this way
I realize now what is on display
She is our land, she only gives
Doesn't take away so appreciate what she gives today
To another land I'll flow
On the grains of sand I'll go
It's the only home I know
Oh please can time move slow|
Oh please can time move slow
I have no where else I want to be
But here right beside the sea
We take for granted
The planet that we live on
While I survive and try to live strong
On Guam, appreciation drawn out
By taking trips, her water strips me of all doubt as it drips
I'm feeling this
kissed by her gentle breeze
For a moment securing me with this mental ease
My eyes open to view what I couldn't see
With my decree I allow the growth of giving trees
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20. |
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I’m standing in a pool
Of my family’s tears
Cause they mistake us for a fool
They steer us out of there
And I ask where the compensation
That you promised we
Another misleading illusion
Will you answer me
CHORUS
We are the ones with the rolling problem
Rightful owners with no debate
We are the victims of the land they took from we
We are the victims of the wildlife refugee (x2)
VERSE II
For it was taken for defense
But no ships came in
And with the last bird that’s flown
What do you protect within?
So put yourself in our position
And see why we protest
And hear the chants of our people
It always ending up in arrest
CHORUS
BRIDGE
A brighter day will come
When this quarrel has deceased
Cause no man should be oppressed
Whether their awake or asleep
CHORUS
OUTRO
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