Women in REDzine
Giving a voice to the voiceless
Giving a voice to the voiceless
“I never created a publication before, so it became necessary get together a staff, find funding, and support from other student groups on campus,” Govreau
added, “Getting a staff that supported the mission wasn’t hard, the Women in REDzine staff is very supportive, but finding money was very difficult.”
Finding someone that would sponsor the newly created publication, took hours of grant writing, multiple meetings with student groups, and collaborations, until
finally the African American Studies Department, the Art Department and several other student groups took a chance on Women in REDzine.
“I initially worried at first about the response, until the word spread about our work and we finally got sponsors. Since 2007, the zine has really expanded
and now we have organizations like University Housing coming to us,” Govreau said.
Aside from the publication itself, Women in REDzine has expanded now to include a website and Women in REDzine records, both of which allow artists to
display their works in more creative ways than just publishing alone. Artists who submit to the zine get their own webpage to display their work, while Women in
REDzine records allow artists to record their poetry pieces or music. According to both Govreau and co-founder Sasha Hay, the idea was to allow works of the
artists to be taken to another level.
“The CD is just an extension of the zine itself, music is an important form of expression, and it’s something that must be heard rather than read. This is a
great way to get the work distributed to a larger audience,” said Hay.
Hay believes artists benefit from the CD and zine itself, “The CD references back to the zine which validates the CD, it’s not just a sampling of random music,
but those who hear it know where it’s coming from.”
Despite the progress Women in REDzine have made, Govreau makes it clear that the commitment of the staff is a big factor in the publication’s success.
“The staff is devoted to Women in REDzine; we have interns who work in grant writing, outreach, web development, and editing. We encourage people who
believe in multicultural women’s activism to join,” Govreau said.
Events and planning intern, UW- freshman, Swati Bhargava, sees Women in REDzine as a way to expose the campus community about important issues
concerning women of color.
“I facilitated a workshop on women trafficking and that encouraged me to learn more about the social problems women of diverse backgrounds face in
societies around the world,” Bhargava said, “This publication is a great way to combine my activism passion with my artistic passion.”
Govreau has a list of goals that she wants to meet to help the publication become more accessible for all students and the community. One such goal is to
update the website to have past publications available for all who wish to read them.
Although Govreau has met many of her goals, she still has bigger dreams but her departure from the publications position in the fall of 2009 worries her.
“Right now I am trying to find someone who will be the best for the job, I want to make sure Women in REDzine is around long after I am gone,” Govreau said.
One thing is certain, Women in REDzine, while still new compared to other publications on campus, has made a profound positive impact in giving
multicultural women a space to express themselves in all artistic forms.
For more information about Women in REDzine, please contact- women.in.red.zine@gmail.com
added, “Getting a staff that supported the mission wasn’t hard, the Women in REDzine staff is very supportive, but finding money was very difficult.”
Finding someone that would sponsor the newly created publication, took hours of grant writing, multiple meetings with student groups, and collaborations, until
finally the African American Studies Department, the Art Department and several other student groups took a chance on Women in REDzine.
“I initially worried at first about the response, until the word spread about our work and we finally got sponsors. Since 2007, the zine has really expanded
and now we have organizations like University Housing coming to us,” Govreau said.
Aside from the publication itself, Women in REDzine has expanded now to include a website and Women in REDzine records, both of which allow artists to
display their works in more creative ways than just publishing alone. Artists who submit to the zine get their own webpage to display their work, while Women in
REDzine records allow artists to record their poetry pieces or music. According to both Govreau and co-founder Sasha Hay, the idea was to allow works of the
artists to be taken to another level.
“The CD is just an extension of the zine itself, music is an important form of expression, and it’s something that must be heard rather than read. This is a
great way to get the work distributed to a larger audience,” said Hay.
Hay believes artists benefit from the CD and zine itself, “The CD references back to the zine which validates the CD, it’s not just a sampling of random music,
but those who hear it know where it’s coming from.”
Despite the progress Women in REDzine have made, Govreau makes it clear that the commitment of the staff is a big factor in the publication’s success.
“The staff is devoted to Women in REDzine; we have interns who work in grant writing, outreach, web development, and editing. We encourage people who
believe in multicultural women’s activism to join,” Govreau said.
Events and planning intern, UW- freshman, Swati Bhargava, sees Women in REDzine as a way to expose the campus community about important issues
concerning women of color.
“I facilitated a workshop on women trafficking and that encouraged me to learn more about the social problems women of diverse backgrounds face in
societies around the world,” Bhargava said, “This publication is a great way to combine my activism passion with my artistic passion.”
Govreau has a list of goals that she wants to meet to help the publication become more accessible for all students and the community. One such goal is to
update the website to have past publications available for all who wish to read them.
Although Govreau has met many of her goals, she still has bigger dreams but her departure from the publications position in the fall of 2009 worries her.
“Right now I am trying to find someone who will be the best for the job, I want to make sure Women in REDzine is around long after I am gone,” Govreau said.
One thing is certain, Women in REDzine, while still new compared to other publications on campus, has made a profound positive impact in giving
multicultural women a space to express themselves in all artistic forms.
For more information about Women in REDzine, please contact- women.in.red.zine@gmail.com
By Jessica Pharm
March is women’s month, a time to celebrate the accomplishments of a
historically marginalized group. Although, women come from diverse
backgrounds, all working for equal rights, to get their concerns heard, many find
themselves overshadowed by the dominant male patriarchal system of oppression,
which devalues their voices. Here on the University of Madison campus, this
silencing of multicultural women’s voices is no different, and for a long time the
space for diverse women was virtually non-existence, until Women in REDzine
came along.
Women in REDzine publication was started by UW-Madison student, Chanel
Matsunami Govreau, the publications coordinator for the Campus Women’s
Center. The zine publishes poetry, short stories, photography, and artwork of
multicultural women. This newest publication gives women a platform to use their
gifts to encourage dialogue and action of social issues affecting women of all
backgrounds on the predominantly-White campus.
“My dream was to create an international publication,” Govreau stated. “While
living on the Multicultural Learning Community floor in Witte Resident Hall, I
realized I was more comfortable living in a multicultural environment and
decided to combine this with my passion for women’s issues to create a
multicultural women’s zine.”
However, starting a new publication on campus, especially one that was
multicultural focus, amid other more established publications like The Badger
Herald, proved to be a daunting task.
March is women’s month, a time to celebrate the accomplishments of a
historically marginalized group. Although, women come from diverse
backgrounds, all working for equal rights, to get their concerns heard, many find
themselves overshadowed by the dominant male patriarchal system of oppression,
which devalues their voices. Here on the University of Madison campus, this
silencing of multicultural women’s voices is no different, and for a long time the
space for diverse women was virtually non-existence, until Women in REDzine
came along.
Women in REDzine publication was started by UW-Madison student, Chanel
Matsunami Govreau, the publications coordinator for the Campus Women’s
Center. The zine publishes poetry, short stories, photography, and artwork of
multicultural women. This newest publication gives women a platform to use their
gifts to encourage dialogue and action of social issues affecting women of all
backgrounds on the predominantly-White campus.
“My dream was to create an international publication,” Govreau stated. “While
living on the Multicultural Learning Community floor in Witte Resident Hall, I
realized I was more comfortable living in a multicultural environment and
decided to combine this with my passion for women’s issues to create a
multicultural women’s zine.”
However, starting a new publication on campus, especially one that was
multicultural focus, amid other more established publications like The Badger
Herald, proved to be a daunting task.
The current staff of Women in REDzine. Chanel the woman I interviewed is
wearing a white shirt with a red scarf on the left side of the picture (second
row from the front). Sasha Hay is the man in the front row wearing a white
head band
wearing a white shirt with a red scarf on the left side of the picture (second
row from the front). Sasha Hay is the man in the front row wearing a white
head band