Uniting Marshallese
Do you know of a Marshallese community organization in the US? Or perhaps you know a Marshallese person who acts as an advocate for their community? Glenn Alcalay wants to get in touch with them. Go to www.marcomu.org … there’s a message area on the home page.
KAREN EARNSHAW
Connecting Marshallese across the United States is the impressive goal of the newest RMI-related web site Marshallese Communities United. The site is the brainchild of long-time friend of the Marshalls, Glenn Alcalay: “My idea is to hook Marshallese people up with each other so they can network.” This is something Glenn feels will make a big difference to many Marshallese, many of whom live in isolated rural communities.
The home page of the site tells its main story with a bold green button for each of the US states. When you click, for example, on Arkansas, it offers up links to the following: Eldon Alik, the RMI Consul General, Bentick Kabua Maddison and April Brown, who both are members of the Marshallese Educational Initiative, and Dr. Sheldon Riklon.
Glenn first arrived in the Marshall Islands as a Peace Corps volunteer. “I worked on Utrik from 1975 to 1977 as an agricultural advisor and set up a food cooperative. I also taught eighth grade.” He has returned to the Marshalls 15 times. “I have kept my knowledge of the Marshallese language,” adding with pride “I am still completely fluent.”
These trips involved interviewing Marshallese about the country’s nuclear years and their legacy. “I was hired by a bunch of lawyers from a group called Marshall Islands Atomic Testing Litigation Project (MIATLP). They were fighting the Compact in 1986.” He was hired to talk to Marshallese about various aspects of the nuclear topic, and specifically on Section 177, which basically stated that if the planned Compact was signed, the details would never be allowed to be raised in court. “The lawyers were opposed to this.” One of his return trips was in 1985, the year the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior was involved in relocating people from Rongelap Atoll to Mejatto, Kwajalein. At around this time he delivered a speech to the United Nations Trusteeship Council. “Just one hour later Senator Jeton Anjain* contacted me and said: ‘You’ve got to come out here.’” So he went.
He has now interviewed over 1,000 Marshallese on nuclear issues, many of which appear on his first site www.atomicatolls.org, with some of them translated into English.
Both of these sites were created by webmaster Andrew Fuchs. “Andrew is a close friend and a former student.” As they collaborate, Glenn is in charge of updating the site with new information. Features include links to such things as the KMRW 98.9 Marshallese radio station based in Springdale, Arkansas, and links to interesting and useful sites and articles, such as this one: Please subscribe to the legendary Marshall Islands Journal. Go here to subscribe. https://marshallislandsjournal.com. “I’ve had the idea for the site for over a year. The whole thing is to hook people up so they can network on lots of levels. More practically this could be a response tool.” In other words, the site could be used, for example, to create petitions to change relevant legislation that could be signed by Marshallese everywhere. “Psychologically, many of the Marshallese live in rural communities, and this site will hopefully bring them together.” The site is a work in progress but the framework is solid.
Glenn says that his research estimates that there are over 100,000 Marshallese people, with about 50,000 of these living in the US. That’s a lot of people that will enjoy being united with their cousins … Marshallese Communities United.
* Jeton Anjain was the Senator for Rongelap. He received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992 for his efforts to help his people, including carrying out the evacuation of Rongelap in 1985 to the island of Mejatto with the help of Greenpeace. Rongelap was subject to nuclear contamination after the test of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb and other nuclear weapons tests of the 1950s.
Marshallese Communities United’s mission statement:
This website is dedicated to the Marshall Islanders who reside in the United States. With the growing number of Marshallese people who choose to emigrate from the Republic of the Marshall Islands [RMI] and immigrate to the US, this website can serve to help unite and better coordinate all of the many Marshallese communities scattered throughout the U.S. The practical advantage of this site will be to act as a Rapid Response venue when a Congressional bill affecting the Marshallese calls for a quick response, or when a COFA-related issue comes up. Also, with Marshallese scattered in many rural and isolated areas, the website can help to connect the relatively few Marshallese among the other 330 million Americans in order to feel closer to their Marshallese compatriots.
Glenn Alcalay interviewing a Rongelap nuclear exile on Mejjato Island, Kwajalein in 1991. Photo: Hiromitsu Toyosaki.
NOTE: This article was first published in The Marshall Islands Journal on August 19, 2022. www.marshallislandsjournal.com
