HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A civil rights attorney who advocates for the civil rights of citizens in American territories will be the featured speaker of the University of Guam’s 42nd Presidential Lecture Series.
Titled “American Has a Colonies Problem: Equal or Independent,” Neil Weare’s lecture will be accessible to the island by webinar from 6 to 7:30 p.m., April 20.
Neil Weare, was raised on the island before becoming the president and founder of the nonprofit organization Equally American.
His lecture, titled “American Has a Colonies Problem: Equal or Independent” will explore the future of the Insular Cases, a series of federal court decisions that still inform how the United States governs over its territories, like Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
“Nearly 125 years after the United States acquired Guam and other overseas territories, America is in denial that it has a colonies problem,” a synopsis of the lecture provided by UOG states. “The Insular Cases remain the foundation of a colonial framework that permits discrimination in federal benefits programs, denies a right to citizenship and political participation, and stymies self-determination and decolonization. Cracks in that foundation are beginning to appear as the Supreme Court, Congress, and the White House all confront the Insular Cases.”
Weare has been working to obtain full constitutional rights, as well as political and economic equality for communities in U.S. territories, while also supporting those communities’ right to self-determination, according to UOG.
His lecture will be able to be viewed online by the public, and begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20. Following the presentation, Weare will have a discussion with Attorney General Leevin Camacho, who has represented Guam in recent historic legal challenges that has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court. Audience members will be able to ask questions to conclude the event.
To register for the online event, visit url.uog.edu/42nd-presidential-lecture. For more information, please contact Norman Analista, interim director of the University Events Office, at 671-797-3333 or analistan@triton.uog.edu
