A Letter to Mr. Governor Joseph Borja Dearest Mr. Governor, Hear my voice now For when the soldiers arrive and make us their slaves my fears will be felt by all and by then there will be nothing you can do to stop them From taking our blood mind land sea women and children. Dearest Mr. Governor, America is not the answer to our problem. America is our sickness. Our people weep for no reason because they feel like they are not themselves I feel like I'm going crazy because my skin is white yet my family is brown and all the white people hate me because I'm white yet still Chamoru Grandma is ashamed of us grandkids because we can't speak the language Uncle Chu has thoughts of suicide because he can no longer live off the land and sea Cousin Ton stays home all day banging his feet on the ground because his addiction to petroleum has sucked the gas in his soul dry and now he can't remember how to walk Sister has 10 children from ten different fathers. Seven of them are white Chamoru, one is African American Chamoru, one is half Filipino half Chamoru, and the other is half Chamoru half Filipino. We don't know what to call the kids. My best friend Chris couldn't find a job because he couldn't finish school because his parents were addicted to heroin then ice so he got sick like them and he had two kids with Maria who was raped by her stepfather but Chris loved her anyways so he sold ice so he could make his Maria and his kids Pedro after his father and Rosario after his favorite auntie Charo happy and then he got caught dealing for a white businessman by his cousin who was a cop but didn't care that Chris was his first cousin so he ended up arresting him and not the businessman so Chris got sent to some prison in Florida and now he wants to kill the mother of his children Maria because his children will not carry his last name because she thinks he's dirt and left him for a lieutenant in the Navy that she met on base who cheats on her and beats her and the kids and she's alright with it and thinks she's lucky because all the other ones like you said this life with America would better our people. The white man will never fix us Mr. Governor. Because we cannot fix ourselves Because we cannot remember ourselves Because we cannot think of ourselves as we were when Taga and Gadao and Hurao and Matapang were themselves and not like us Because we cannot just be Chamoru or Chamorro or Guamanian or whatever it is we were before the fathers of your foreign friends came to our island and changed us We are lost Because of America. Whose father killed our gods Whose brother raped our mother stole our land And took us from his brother Who left us to the Japanese Who bombed us Then came back like they were heroes And destroyed our blood language culture Leaving us mindless soulless addicted to the dollar the car the house with a white fence and the white woman and the comfort the American Dream. You are the Maga'lahi Mr. Governor Like Taga and Gadao before you. Won't you stand for us? Won't you fight us? Do you no longer feel it inside you? Like Matapang did when the priest tried to take everything away from him? Like Hurao did he rallied the warriors? Like Pale Duenas did when he refused to speak? Like Agueda did when she sacrificed her life for that lying selfish cowardly soldier? Like Ricky did when he hung himself at Quipuha's feet? Like Angel did when he spat in their face? You must listen and hear their spirits now Mr. Governor, or else we will learn the lesson that was so brutally taught to them: Colonization is not the answer.