Guam Launches Latte Peace Festival
January was named ‘Guam Peace Month’. The first annual Latte Peace Festival opened at Guam’s Tamuning Park on Jan. 12 with a celebration promoting cultural exchange with neighboring islands. Located in the western Pacific, the island of Guam has withstood the horrors of war.
More than 1,000 citizens gathered at Tamuning Park to express their unyielding commitment to peace.
During the morning program, attendees participated in a ceremony for the unveiling of three latte stones—monoliths carved from limestone. Chamorros, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, which includes Guam, created lattes for use in the foundations of their ancient homes and to honor ancestors. The monoliths were illuminated during the opening festivities, and emcee Angel Sablan recounted for participants their significance to the island culture.
Following the lighting of the latte stones, a wreath was laid at the park’s Peace Monument, erected in 2010, and a flock of white doves were released.
African American Heritage Association President Jermaine Smith, the event keynote speaker, spoke of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom he referred to as “one of the world’s formidable pioneers of peace, culture and education.”
“Dr. King once said that an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity,” Mr. Smith said.
Cultural performances throughout the afternoon included various dance groups representing Polynesian, Micronesian and Mariana islands. A local band also performed native Chamorro music.
