What struck me most about GTMO’s history as I browsed images of the camp was the expanse of violence that Guantánamo seemed to represent; specifically, I was struck by images of training exercises that the troops stationed there undergo on how to take down “assailants.” These training exercises depict the assailants as violent prisoners…

September 11 is, in our collective understanding of the past 10 years, inextricably linked to Guantánamo. The confusion and fear we felt after September 11 was co-opted and fostered by local and federal government. It led to that nebulous, transnational war on terror, to suspicion, arrests, and to yet another use of GTMO’s peculiar American-yet-not-American…

Guantánamo. What does this word call to mind?  Until starting the Guantánamo Public Memory Project, my mind conjured up several thoughts upon hearing this word — injustice, torture, the War on Terror — and then went blank, only to be replaced by feelings of confusion and ignorance.  I like to think that I’m a well-informed…

There is certainly no lack of information on the relatively short history of relations between the Cuban and American governments, or of the development and operations at GTMO. While conducting such research I discovered that obtaining more knowledge of GTMO’s past can easily strike up various negative feelings and emotions. What is perhaps the most…

I am not alone when I ask, “What is torture?” In fact, many presidents have asked that same question. In attempting to answer this question, and decide for myself if I agree with the two people in this photo, I have stumbled deeper into confusion. I have become even more confused about the prospect that…

Have the September 11th terrorist attacks changed how you view or treat others? For many, unfortunately, the answer is probably “yes.” The events of 9/11, the United States government’s response to them, and an increasing public misunderstanding of Islam have created a culture of collective suspicion and prejudice towards Muslims (or those perceived to be…

In considering a reflective blog on what strikes me most about the Guantanamo Public Memory Project, my attention immediately focuses on recognizing the emotional connection that many people share regarding the United States government and U.S. presence in Guantánamo Bay.   Before being introduced to this thought-provoking exhibit, I had no previous knowledge of the racial…

Two Guantánamo detainees from China, who were held for more than 10 years without charges, have been resettled in El Salvador. Both were captured in Pakistan along with 20 other Uighurs—a Muslim group who live primarily in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and have had recent troubles with the Chinese government. These men were in…

Present day Guantánamo Bay is a space that exists in obscurity, both in terms of geography and public imagination. Locating it on a map might involve a simple rendering of the Caribbean islands or, specifically, the southeastern region of Cuba; but to identify the space as a land once colonized by Spain where native Cubans…

After reading all of the articles provided at the Guantánamo Public Memory Project website, seeing all the images and hearing all of the testimonies, I feel so entrenched in the site and its situation that I want to take the next personnel flight back stateside. Just like many others who visit, part of me remains…