In this essay, I provide an ethnographic study of militarization and social movements in the aftermath of 9/11. Drawing on activist, government, media, and military sources, I examine the roles of social movements in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the U.S. unincorporated territory of Guam. As colonies of America’s most westernmost “border,” the CNMI and Guam constitute the Mariana Islands. I argue that this archipelago has become another site wherein the United States has increasingly militarized its borders, and in ways that have garnered the critical attention of indigenous activists and labor activists. By focusing on their respective calls for freedom, I analyze how indigenous and labor activisms challenge, support, or transform narratives of U.S. military legitimacy since 9/11.

The Pacific Islander (PI) community suffers disproportionately from illnesses and diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. While there are tremendous health needs within the PI community, there are few health care providers from the community that exist to help address these particular needs. Many efforts have focused on health care workforce diversity to reduce and eliminate health disparities, but few have examined the issues faced in the health care work force pipeline. Understanding educational attainment among PI young adults is pivotal in speaking to a diverse health care workforce where health disparities among Pacific Islanders (PIs) may be addressed. This paper provides an in-depth, qualitative assessment of the various environmental, structural, socio-economic, and social challenges that prevent PIs from attaining higher education; it also discusses the various needs of PI young adults as they relate to psychosocial support, retention and recruitment, and health career knowledge and access. This paper represents a local, Southern California, assessment of PI young adults regarding educational access barriers. We examine how these barriers impact efforts to address health disparities and look at opportunities for health and health-related professionals to reduce and care for the high burden of illnesses and diseases in PI communities.

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