The new issue is almost here, and with it comes some pretty big news for Shameless. First, the bittersweet: I’m stepping down as your fearless Shameless editor, and this issue is the last with me at the helm. It’s been a wild, wonderful, really rewarding ride. Shameless has been such a light to me, but it’s time to pass the torch to the next team of smart and talented editors, and for me to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

I am thrilled to announce that Sheila Sampath will be stepping into the role of Editorial Director. Sheila joined Shameless as Art Director in 2006. She has worked as a counselor, organizer, educator and advocate in the anti-violence movement and has chaired the Board of Directors at the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multi-cultural Women Against Rape. She was an editorial collective member of big boots, the first zine for and by women and trans people of colour. Currently, she combines her background in grassroots, anti-oppression activism with her passion for creative idea-making as a Principal and Creative Director at The Public, a Toronto-based studio specializing in creative communications for unions, not-for-profits, public health and social justice organizations. Sheila has a diploma in graphic design and an Honours B.Sc. in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Toronto.

We will be making an announcement in the next few days about bringing new folks onto the Shameless team.

Thanks to all the readers, writers, teachers and generally kick ass Shameless women who I’ve had the good fortune to work with over the past three years. I’ve been so proud to work with you and to work for you.

Yours ever Shamelessly, MGG

Canice Leung, fantastic feminist columnist for The Metro, wrote a terrific piece about our exciting new project, the Shameless Wire.

Help us make this project happen. Donate today.

Full text of Canice’s column:

As many women do in university, I took a few women’s studies classes. I remember in one mostly female class of 40, the teacher asked who was feminist; my hand was among a sparse few that went up. But in class discussions, my classmates’ thoughts on gender roles or reproductive rights made clear that’s exactly what they were.

It’s an apt example of how necessary gender studies are; that young adults can dismiss feminism as radical yet recognize the cornerstones of the movement is evidence of this.

Fortunately, two initiatives are underway to change that.

(more inside…)

We here at Shameless are big fans of the Parkdale Street Writers, a fantastic forum for youth writers (some of which we’ve been very lucky to reprint in the magazine). And a new set of workshops are about to begin. In addition to workshops with some amazing Toronto artists, participants get to try their hand at a wide range of creative writing, including comics, lyrics, poetry, video narratives and storytelling.

Full deets from PSW co-ordinator Emily Pohl-Weary:

Are you 16-25 years old? Do you keep a blog or journal? Constantly update your Facebook page? Write super-long e-mails? Make up stories, films, rants, video game ideas, lyrics and/or poems in your head? Love to read and talk about books?

Why not join the…

Parkdale Street Writers

Free writing workshops led by kick-ass local authors, comics creators, hip hop poets and street artists in Toronto’s west-end.(more inside…)

Our long-anticipated issue #13 is finally here!

Now hitting newsstands and mailboxes near you!

Inside:
* Cut your own hair! Our love letter to DIY, plus some great projects to get you started
* Unpack before you pack! What you need to know before volunteering abroad
* The history and politics of hoodies
* The skinny on the word “skinny”
* Why campus radio is an important feminist space
* Why boys need a Shameless of their own
plus comics, reviews and more!
(more inside…)

There’s a great new project from the amazing women behind the Medina Collective (which we’ve written about here and here) and the Art Gallery of York University: Ladies First. The participants are all girls from Brookview Middle School, and they have been working together to make their own magazine, using writing and visual arts to explore issues of social justice and representation. The magazine launches this Thursday, and it looks like it’s going to be a fantastic event! I hope you’ll join me to help them celebrate. Congratulations, Ladies First!

Here are the full details:

MAGAZINE LAUNCH: YOUNG INSPIRATIONS
Bold, Smart, and Putting Ladies First!
Thursday June 18, 2009, 5-8 pm
Art Gallery of York University

On Thursday June 18, 2009 the Art Gallery of York University and the Medina Collective present the launch of Young Inspirations, an urban arts magazine featuring articles and art work by Ladies First, a group of young women from Brookview Middle School who took part in a collaborative after-school urban arts mentorship program. The magazine launch will also feature an exhibition of recent artwork and a commissioned mural by Ladies First, music by DJ L’Oqenz, and spoken word performances by Rita Nketiah and Keisha Monique Simpson.
(more inside…)

There’s still space left in this incredible event happening in Toronto this weekend. And leading one workshop is our very own art director (and genius) Sheila Sampath. Full (exciting) details below from Michelle Cho from the Urban Alliance on Race Relations:

Ever wonder why we see the same kinds of images of women in the media all the time? Wanna see women in the media as being something more than just a video ho? Tired of the lack of diversity in the media? Want to see your story? Want to learn how to make your own media (video, podcasts, magazines)?

Come to the Making Noise Media Camp for Young Women!

For women 14-25
Saturday May 30
rsvp: michelle cho, 416-703-6607 x 3
michelle@urbanalliance.ca

Challenge stereotypes about women; bring your own t-shirt to silkscreen; meet other young women from around the city! Free breakfast and dinner, free TTC tokens, free childcare.

This year, we’ve started a program called Making Noise which is a media literacy initiative for young women in this city to connect the negative portrayals of women in the media with the gender violence women face on our bodies, in our neighbourhoods in our homes. We want to talk about the politics of media ownership but also give spaces for young women to create their own media, with the sole goal of launching a summer campaign against street harassment.

Summer is almost here, and rates of violence always go up in the summer…we’re tired of being hollered at the in the streets and feeling unsafe, but want more creative ways of challenging gender violence.

We’ve organized a media camp FOR THIS SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009 to start to bring young women together to plan a summer campaign to challenge street harassment in Toronto using media they’ve created themselves. We want to talk about how violence is experienced differently by women of colour and how it is made invisible by the media or sensationalized to be soley about being because they do not fit into the “mainstream”.

i.e. Jane Creba - Her story flooded the media and was seen as this ‘bright light’ that was taken away from our city…

vs. Chantel Dunn - her murderers who are still not found…a case which got way less coverage and funding…

vs. Reena Virk, 14 year old South Asian woman that was killed by a group of seven girls and one boy. The media coverage that followed became all about girl on girl violence and not about racism.

vs. Aqsa Parvez, strangled by her father, grew up in a home with abuse issues, but the media framed it as an “honour killing” and became an attack on “fundamentalist Islam”.

We want to use popular education, pop culture and media creation to talk about how we can support each others work and build a movement together where an analysis of violence includes a critique of gender violence, including one that is critical of violence against queer folks…but in a fierce, media savvy way.

I know in some way, all of us have built spaces for young women, but we also need to make spaces for young men to talk about masculinities, gender roles, homophobia etc and how this is tied into how we experience violence different in our communities.

We’re gearing up for the She’s Shameless launch party, but we need your help!

As part of the event, five teen writers will spend the afternoon in a focused workshop with acclaimed author and teacher Ibi Kaslik, working together on short creative pieces. That evening, they’ll take the stage and read their work, alongside some of the book’s contributors including Dianah Smith, Zoe Whittall and Shannon Gerrard.

We strongly encourage youth from all communities to apply, including women of colour, First Nations women, women with disabilities, and transgendered and queer-identified youth.

The event will take place on Tuesday, June 23 at the Gladstone.

If you’re a teen writer and you’d like to participate (or know someone who you’d like to recommend), I’d love to hear from you! Send me an e-mail at megan@shamelessmag.com.

Congratulations to our fantastic publisher, Stacey May Fowles! Her second book, Fear of Fighting, (illustrated by the wonderful Marlena Zuber) is a finalist for the Expozine Alternative Press Awards!

(more inside…)

The Colouring Book invite

There’s a terrific event this Thursday at the National Film Board in Toronto: a screening of The Colouring Book: Short Digital Videos by Artists of Colour. This will be the Toronto premiere of the films, which debuted in Vancouver last November.

One of the filmmakers is Indira Dutt, a Vancouver-based writer and student, and an old friend of mine. I was thrilled to catch up with her recently and hear all about the film.

MGG: How did the project get started?

ID: This Colouring Book began as a Vancouver-based youth-driven project that started as a conversation over e-mail. Gabriel Martin wanted to build a community where people of colour could come together to reflect, express, and explore issues of race and experiences that shaped who we are. The writing was all focused around specific questions and themes: we explored our own experiences with sexuality, class, race and media.

(more inside…)