In 1668 silence sailed from Spain and invaded the shores of Guahan.

The Spanish hushed the Chamorro culture with rifles and the sound of extinction was deafening. They justified genocide with bibles, burned down huts, destroyed villages and called it Catholicism. They forced used to our knees to pray the 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 had us clinging to our culture They stripped us of our true identity and banned our language , snatching our native tongues from our mouths and forcing Spanish down our throats until we choked on the clumsy syllables. Our language was unrecognizable, converting hutsa, huva, toolu to uno, dos, tres. Colonizing us was carried out in three simple steps: One destroy the native language so the savages couldnt communicate Two confiscate land in the name of God while resistors were executed Three- inter-marry, rape and procreate until indigenous blood lines were diluted But what they did not realize was that we were warriors. Standing six feet tall strapped with natural body armor, and with a chest so wide one Chamarro chief exhaled a breath of his entire village. Chiseled abs cut so deep they reached their spines, make no mistake our bloodlines have backbone weaved into a double helix Machinery and technology were irrelevant because with hands like the sea, simultaneously gentle and deadly, we fed our people by harvesting the ocean sustainably. What was once a beach and providing all the necessities became a port for the Spanish military. We called unnecessary courage with tactics that were as unpredictable as an undertow. Because we were able to see genocide glide with the tide with a high and low and it just goes to show that our people stay true to themselves.

With hearts like the coral reef we set a barrier around our way of life we were and still are one of the only civilizations in the pacific I Taotao Tan the people of the land the indigineous are being swept out to sea like the in a bottle From our shores to yours we carry this message across 5,803 mile of deep blue because although we speak true this attempt to teach you might get lost in migration Not by choice but by force and of course we have won many battles but mortal wounds left immortal scars on our true identity Reminders that our oral history is a record of breaking free from this tyranny it is the foundation of strengths we have to keep the Chamarro culture living and breathing For too long we have watched the past form storm clouds over us reigning silence as the new king but we were never given the chance to sit on that throne. Which sits on the land that we rightfully own. And once again our voices Red white and blue away when America stormed our beaches We were rich in heritage but treated like peasants and in a capitalist system Cash rules everything around me cream get the money native language killed yall But with the strength we inherit form our ancestors we will engage in this war to preserve our past using our vocal cords as slings and our vocal tones as stones they are thrown not meant to break bones but to break the silence of our people To all of you this is just poem but to us it is a chance to bring justice to our home So we carry this message in our hearts to a nation that still considers us second class citizens Even though we enlist more soldiers per capita to fight and die for the freedoms we are not privileged to the freedom of speech, the freedom to speak and be heard with these words we proclaim that though our may try to arrest our development Guahan has waived its right to remain silent.

What do you think is the message or purpose of this poem?