A poem on nuclear colonialism

Curator’s note:

Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner’s poem is searing reminder of the painful legacy of the nuclear colonialism in the Pacific.

Retelling the story behind one of her school research project from her teens, Jetnil-Kijiner speaks with real authority on the bodily and emotional harms inflicted by detonating nuclear devices on the Marshall Islands.

One of the critical moments in the poem is where Jetnil-Kijiner speaks to the way in which America’s nuclear colonial practices evoked a response from animal rights activists.

Here’s the relevant excerpt from History Project (2011):

At one point in my research I stumble
along a photograph
of goats
tied to American ships
bored and munching on tubs of grass
At the bottom a caption read
Goats and pigs were left on naval ships as test subjects. Thousands of letters flew in from America protesting animal abuse