San Diego resident Marianna Salas Ramos joins a long line of liberation queens, carrying the Sons and Daughters of Guam Club’s liberation crown.  She’s now on the island for this year’s festivities, with plans to meet Guam’s 80th Liberation Day queen, Layla Cabrini Delgado Espinal. 

Far from home, but never disconnected.   “It’s empowering to be CHamoru and to always stand with being CHamoru," said Ramos.

For the thriving, culturally-rich CHamoru diaspora in San Diego, California, Guam’s liberation is just as celebrated thousands of miles away.  And in true tradition, the Sons and Daughters of Guam Club have crowned their liberation queen. who’s on the island just in time for the 80th liberation day festivities. 

“We’ve been celebrating the liberation coronation ball for the last 70 years. We celebrated our 70th anniversary last year, for we’re hitting our milestone; we're here to take this opportunity to take our queen.  We have not had any liberation queen coming to Guam since after COVID," explained SDCGI president Antolin Taijeron.

Ramos hoping her reign will inspire youth to cling tightly to their heritage, with Her Majesty adding, “I just want to show them not to be scared of showing their culture–and being proud of their culture.”

It’s a cultural value her mother, Melissa Salas  Ramirez, instilled in her at a young age. “We are Indigenous people. We aren’t afforded a lot of the same opportunities that other races are afforded. Whatever chance we have to make our platform bigger, we take it," she said.

And a spirit of community fostered by Dee Dee Taijeron, who serves as the group’s queen chair. She said, “We want them to partner with all our initiatives–including our youth programs; we're also partnering with Rady’s Children's Hospital to see what we can do as far as getting grants to help the families that come out here.”

A special congratulations to Queen Marianna as she carries the torch in this significant tradition!