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No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies
No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay | Julian Aguon
3 posts | 1 read | 3 to read
"Aguons book is for everyone, but he challenges history by placing indigenous consciousness at the center of his project . . . The result is the most tender polemic Ive ever read." Lenika Cruz, The Atlantic A collection of essays on resistance, resilience, and collective power in the age of climate disaster from Chamorro human rights lawyer and organizer Julian Aguon. Part memoir, part manifesto, Chamorro climate activist Julian Aguons No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a coming-of-age story and a call for justicefor everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples. In bracing poetry and compelling prose, Aguon weaves together stories from his childhood in the villages of Guam with searing political commentary about matters ranging from nuclear weapons to global warming. Undertaking the work of bearing witness, wrestling with the most pressing questions of the modern day, and reckoning with the challenge of truth-telling in an era of rampant obfuscation, he culls from his own life experiencesfrom losing his father to pancreatic cancer to working for Mother Teresa to an edifying chance encounter with Sherman Alexieto illuminate a collective path out of the darkness. A powerful, bold, new voice writing at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice, Julian Aguon is entrenched in the struggles of the people of the Pacific to liberate themselves from colonial rule, defend their sacred sites, and obtain justice for generations of harm. In No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies, Aguon shares his wisdom and reflections on love, grief, joy, and triumph and extends an offer to join him in a hard-earned hope for a better world.
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steph_phanie
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"Despite what we've been told, the world is not ours for the taking. Indeed, the world we have inherited comes to us bruised, a tender shard of its former self, having passed clumsily through the well-intentioned hands of our mothers and fathers, seeking a generation it can trust enough, and long enough, to drop its shoulders."
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This is one of the passages that sat with me for a long time, and one that still stops me in my tracks. What an image.

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steph_phanie
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I put off reviewing this collection of essays because I don't know how to adequately describe it or the way it made me feel. Aguon writes about the destruction of nature, about collective action and memory, about societal injustice, and about grief, growth, and joy. At times, I was so overwhelmed I had to set it aside for several days. But there were also passages that made me feel empowered and hopeful for the future. Highly recommend.

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traa
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