You've Heard of Manzanar, But Have You Heard of Matansa?
When I heard that George Takei was promoting his musical,
Allegiance
, and discussing the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, I was intrigued. I was even more interested in how the musical was inspired by George Takei's personal experiences, and that he also stars in the production. I honesty had no idea that he was personally part of such a painful episode in US history. At the age of five, Takei and his family were forced from their home in Los Angeles to an internment camp in Rowher, Arkansas and to another location called Tule Lake in California. You can read more about his experience here.
Allegiance follows the story of the Kimura family who are relocated from their farm in California to an internment camp in Wyoming. The musical premiered in San Diego's Old Globe theater in September 2012 and is expected to open on Broadway. While the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II is a shameful chapter of US history, I still recall hearing of internment camps like Manzanar in high school and seeing the film "Snow Falling on Cedars," which is based on the David Guterson novel of the same name that delves into deep anti-Japanese sentiments stemming from World War II and internment camps.
Quixote in RamadiTakei's experience and willingness to speak out about an ugly patch of history with racism and persecution was undoubtedly inspiring. It even inspired me to speak out about the ethnic cleansing my family experienced on the island of Saipan during WWII in my book, "Quixote in Ramadi."
While many may remember Manzanar from high school history, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the world - let alone the US - who's heard of Matansa. In fact, you would be lucky to find anyone who believes there is any Pacific Island not located in the South Pacific. You know, like that musical that apparently ruined Oceania's geography for millions of Americans.
Matansa, which means massacre in the Chamorro language, is a nickname for the village of San Roque in the northern part of the island of Saipan (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands-CNMI) that endured brutal slaughtering by Imperial Japan in WWII, which was part of an ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign that almost completely wiped out the Chamorro population, which is indigenous to the Mariana Islands, from the face of the earth.
Windtalkers: Chamorros Rendered Non-Existent
Imagine watching a dozen WWII films that covered Nazi German and American battles, but completely left out concentration camps and the persecution of Jews. Imagine a film about the Balkan War in the 1990s where NATO forces and Serbs fight, but the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslim civilians is completely deleted from the reels and script. Go ahead. Close your eyes and picture that for a moment. There. Now that you see how absurd it would be to render an entire population, especially one that suffered the most in a particular conflict, as non-existent, let me introduce you into the odd and depressing world of being a Chamorro who's watched the film, Windtalkers.
Windtalkers was handled, quite ignorantly, by Hong Kong film director
Even though Guam is now a territory and the CNMI is part of the US as well, I bid you tons of good luck on finding people who both know that and can point to the island chain on a map without internet assistance. In short, John Woo had a war film party on our island and didn't even bother to send Chamorros an invitation. How rude - or dare I say insanely insensitive? WWII may not have rendered us exterminated as an ethnic group, but John Woo sure made Chamorros feel that way via film.
Bringing War Trauma Full Circle
While George Takei endured persecution and institutional violence for his ethnicity in a seldom-discussed period of US history, I certainly admire his perseverance in bringing trauma and suffering to the forefront, and in a creative, powerful manner. However, as a Chamorro with generational trauma from multiple attempts at ethnic cleansing by Spain from the 1500s to the late 1800s, Imperial Japan during WWII, and having faced racial persecution in Iraq, I can only hope that putting the pieces of lives shattered by trauma back together can result in a stronger American-made fabric. We are all, no matter our color, part of the same Americana quilt - whether we'd like to admit that or not.
As an Iraq war veteran, I've developed a much stronger awareness to others who often go unheard, ignored. Hell, I'm a Chamorro female combat veteran. If that doesn't scare your HR department, I don't know what will. With my family coming from what seems like the opposite end of Takei's experience, I can see that through the telling of his story that no matter where we are in the traumatic pain spectrum, we all have permission to share - and to the betterment of our society. War shatters lives in more ways than the bloodied battlefields tell. Yet through effectively verbalizing and expressing our pain, no matter the source, we can give ourselves and others the room to grieve, process, and eventually heal. I can certainly pledge my allegiance to that.
Allegiance follows the story of the Kimura family who are relocated from their farm in California to an internment camp in Wyoming. The musical premiered in San Diego's Old Globe theater in September 2012 and is expected to open on Broadway. While the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II is a shameful chapter of US history, I still recall hearing of internment camps like Manzanar in high school and seeing the film "Snow Falling on Cedars," which is based on the David Guterson novel of the same name that delves into deep anti-Japanese sentiments stemming from World War II and internment camps.
Quixote in RamadiTakei's experience and willingness to speak out about an ugly patch of history with racism and persecution was undoubtedly inspiring. It even inspired me to speak out about the ethnic cleansing my family experienced on the island of Saipan during WWII in my book, "Quixote in Ramadi."While many may remember Manzanar from high school history, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the world - let alone the US - who's heard of Matansa. In fact, you would be lucky to find anyone who believes there is any Pacific Island not located in the South Pacific. You know, like that musical that apparently ruined Oceania's geography for millions of Americans.
Matansa, which means massacre in the Chamorro language, is a nickname for the village of San Roque in the northern part of the island of Saipan (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands-CNMI) that endured brutal slaughtering by Imperial Japan in WWII, which was part of an ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign that almost completely wiped out the Chamorro population, which is indigenous to the Mariana Islands, from the face of the earth.
Windtalkers: Chamorros Rendered Non-Existent
Imagine watching a dozen WWII films that covered Nazi German and American battles, but completely left out concentration camps and the persecution of Jews. Imagine a film about the Balkan War in the 1990s where NATO forces and Serbs fight, but the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslim civilians is completely deleted from the reels and script. Go ahead. Close your eyes and picture that for a moment. There. Now that you see how absurd it would be to render an entire population, especially one that suffered the most in a particular conflict, as non-existent, let me introduce you into the odd and depressing world of being a Chamorro who's watched the film, Windtalkers.
Windtalkers was handled, quite ignorantly, by Hong Kong film director
Even though Guam is now a territory and the CNMI is part of the US as well, I bid you tons of good luck on finding people who both know that and can point to the island chain on a map without internet assistance. In short, John Woo had a war film party on our island and didn't even bother to send Chamorros an invitation. How rude - or dare I say insanely insensitive? WWII may not have rendered us exterminated as an ethnic group, but John Woo sure made Chamorros feel that way via film.
Bringing War Trauma Full Circle
While George Takei endured persecution and institutional violence for his ethnicity in a seldom-discussed period of US history, I certainly admire his perseverance in bringing trauma and suffering to the forefront, and in a creative, powerful manner. However, as a Chamorro with generational trauma from multiple attempts at ethnic cleansing by Spain from the 1500s to the late 1800s, Imperial Japan during WWII, and having faced racial persecution in Iraq, I can only hope that putting the pieces of lives shattered by trauma back together can result in a stronger American-made fabric. We are all, no matter our color, part of the same Americana quilt - whether we'd like to admit that or not.
As an Iraq war veteran, I've developed a much stronger awareness to others who often go unheard, ignored. Hell, I'm a Chamorro female combat veteran. If that doesn't scare your HR department, I don't know what will. With my family coming from what seems like the opposite end of Takei's experience, I can see that through the telling of his story that no matter where we are in the traumatic pain spectrum, we all have permission to share - and to the betterment of our society. War shatters lives in more ways than the bloodied battlefields tell. Yet through effectively verbalizing and expressing our pain, no matter the source, we can give ourselves and others the room to grieve, process, and eventually heal. I can certainly pledge my allegiance to that.
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