U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands still affects Marshallese lives in the pandemic

We are excited to share Lovely Umayam’s latest article about Marshallese youth from the Marshallese Educational Initiative, which is located in Springdale, Arkansas! Lovely is one of our coordinators and spearheads our docuseries. She is also the founder and creative producer of Bombshelltoe.

U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands still affects Marshallese lives in the pandemic

By Lovely Umayam

Benetick Kabua Maddison has not returned to his native home in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands since he was six years old, but one memory stays vivid in his mind. He remembers reclining on a table with his grandfather outside their home, the perfect spot to stargaze when the town lights switch off at night. 

“I would rest on his arm and he would sing me Marshallese lullabies,” Maddison said.  

Springdale, a land-locked town in the Ozark Mountain region of northwest Arkansas, is a far cry from the oceanside and clear-skies of Majuro, but this is where Maddison, now 26, moved to in 2001 and has come to call home. Maddison is among 12,000 Marshallese in Springdale today, making it the largest enclave of Marshallese in the United States. Once a sundown townduring the Jim Crow era, it is now home to Latinx, Marshallese, and Asian people drawn to the agriculture and poultry industries. While Springdale is still predominantly white, it defies the archetype of rugged, old-timey America: It boasts taco spots and specialty Marshallese stores. One prominent building downtown is a gold-tipped Buddhist temple (Continued).