Radical, January – February 2019
Click something BOLD below for things that make you feel good.... Honorable Mentions: 2018 Women in Politics Art: Clans|Kin by Chief Lady Bird Writing: Hibernation Station by Inisa Fajra New Artist: Lauren Elizabeth Writing: Darkness by Erika Reyes Art: Doing My Best by Wendy Rodriguez Art: Head on Fire by Kendal Fong Writing & Art: Diving Deep & Golden Sunrise by Leah Oviedo D.I.Y. Therapy: Uncover Your Roots New Things & Great Things! List of Healing Resources Free Book: Cultivating Radical Self Love Closing Affirmation
READ previous issues and discover healing resources: ImpowerYou.org/Radical
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Honorable Mention(s) We had a rainbow wave of new political representatives this past November. It warmed my heart and set a needed spark to my activism and volunteering desire. You probably know all or some of our new government, but I see no reason not to keep sharing their historical/herstorical milestones. Alexandria OcasioCortez is the youngest woman to be elected to congress. Age is just a number after all! Ilhan Omar in Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan are the first Muslim women in congress. Religious freedom and diveristy in our leadership roles is a giant leap for a country with a history of such fundamental and often oppressive Christian policies. Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids are the first Native American Congresswomen. I feel like we have all been waiting 400 years for these two miracles. Could we be so hopeful that one of them will someday be our nation's president? Fingers and toes crossed. Janet Mills is the FIRST female governer of Maine and is a democrat. About time! Stacey Abrams may have lost her bid for govener of Georria by a narrow margin, but the dasterdly deeds of the new governer and his racist attempts to disenfranchise voters did not go unnoticed. The fact that a black woman almost became governer of Georgia is amazing to me. I doubt this is the last we see of Abrams. I hope she runs again! Many other women were elected and made history this cycle. Let's here three cheers for the incomng vagina tsunami that will one day overthrow this unhealthy, inbalanced system of government that has been oppressing women, queer and working class people all these centuries!!!! Let's all make sure this wave of diversity and inclusion continues. We cannot stand by and ignore all the oppression, greed, and environmental destruction that continues to plague our planet. We have to be the radical change we want to see.
Are you a female who has an interest in progressive politics? Have you considered being more involved in your local government? Even if you don't want to run for office, you can support other women and womyn who would be great progressive leaders. Please get involved!
Clans | Kin Chief Lady Bird Digital illustration - 2018
“The imagery that we put out there is seen by the general public from all classes, genders, races, and other intersections everyday. We hope that the love we put into our work is palpable. But, mainly, we hope that it helps other Indigenous people feel represented in a culturally accurate way. One way that Aura and I strive to give back or feed/nourish our communities is through positive and culturally accurate representation in public spaces. Something that sounds so simple can make a world of a difference. I also think about it in terms of feeling represented on our own land base- on our own territories. That strengthens community.” Quote from Aura: “I love creating portraits of Indigenous womxn to highlight their strengths and support their empowerment journey. Everything I create and share nourishes me and others who experience it.” -Chief Lady Bird, who is Potawatomi and Chippewa. Find her on Instagram: @chiefladybird
Radical Service Announcement: You deserve to practice self-care daily. Read past issues of Radical for free self-care lessons.
Hibernation Station by Inisa Fajra I'm gonna stop stop the world from moving I'll quiet all the going and concentrate on rooting I'm gonna act like I don't care and it's likely that I wouldn't I'll close my eyes to see what all the taught habits couldn't I'm gonna throw away desires, needs and wishes and exist as non-existent being I'm gonna lock myself in silence and put up a sign outside to say it's freeing.
-----Inisa Fajra is a fire woman, a believer in the transformative powers of fire and everlasting change. She has traveled and worked in countries across the world, igniting her passion for the new and unknown. Recently abandoning her biggest passion and dreams of a career, Inisa decided to pursue a life, where careers are of no importance, but spiritual exploration, uplifting and love give life a meaning. We often seem to have it the other way around. She currently resides in Vietnam. As her priority in life, Inisa puts believing & dreaming (both carrying the same meaning) - into making yourself and your world into whatever you’d like it to be and being part of the energies that shift, move & travel through time. She writes by ‘translating poetry in people talk’, silencing external distractions with real food for the soul through her poems and short stories. Follow Inisa at Instagram.com/inisa.fajra.poetry
Radical Self-Care Have you tried living in harmony with the seasons? Consider discovering rebirth in Spring, cultivating adventure in Summer, harvesting lessons in Autumn and hibernating in Winter. Radical Zine lives with the seasons. Each issue reflects different aspects of our lives just like the changing seasons. Winter is a time for hibernation, fire and warmth. If you haven't lived with the seasons before, try it out. Start now, because now is all we have.
New Artist! Lauren Elizabeth
Lauren Elizabeth is a 32 year old artist who still finds it odd to call herself an artist and even stranger to write about herself but really enjoys trying new things so let’s party on. She grew up in Las Vegas, NV and moved to San Diego, CA just shy of graduating Basic High School. No really, that’s the name of the school. Look it up. She secured a job in corporate retail and after 10 years, landed work at the San Diego Museum of Art as security. Lurking in galleries surrounded by artists such as Goya, Dali, Warhol, and Kahlo really sparked a creative flame under her cute cheap leggings, and she started drawing on scratch paper with whatever she found lying around. She was eventually promoted to part time event planner for the same museum and upgraded the cheap leggings to cheap dresses. Today, she lives with her black cat in a tiny studio apartment in Normal Heights, holds down 2 jobs (3 in October) and produces as much art as she can in her spare time, primarily working with gouache, acrylic, marker and ink. She hopes to raise enough funds from her crafts to eventually make prints and sell them in shops around the neighborhood for money to maybe go back to college. She thinks a higher degree will make these bios more interesting. The focus of her works comes from heartache, financial struggle, and being half blind. She wrote this description under the California Tower in beautiful Balboa Park while pretending to work at her 2nd job. Find her on Instagram.com/oneeyedlauren & buy her work on Etsy.com/shop/SymmetryIsSilly
Darkness by Erika Reyes I don't have to show new light. Repetitive are these days When I seek only To grow in silence Be tender to myself Give only when given. Repetiive, but conflating with A womb warm and nurturing It will grow even without light, or because of it's absence ----Erika Reyes is a word-enthusiast based in Los Angeles, California. Background is Mesoamerican, Mexican, and Angelin@. With Spanish and English writing, she focuses on short stories. But you can also get a copy of her plays, poetry, and prose, or zines about travel and erotica +++ if you direct-message or email. She also does freelance translations between English and Latin American Spanish. Please contact her for comments or questions at IG: Iinstagram.com/artificialaltar or email erikaisreyes@gmail.com
Radical Fact “Twenty-eight years ago, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” in a paper as a way to help explain the oppression of African-American women. Crenshaw’s then somewhat academic term is now at the forefront of national conversations about racial justice, identity politics, and policing- and over the years has helped shape legal discussions. A leading thinker and scholar in the field of critical race theory, Crenshaw, a professor at Columbia Law School, directs the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies and is a co-founder of the African American Policy Forum, a think tank...” https://www.law.columbia.edu/pt-br/news/2017/06/kimberle-crenshaw-intersectionality
Doing My Best by Wendy Rodriguez
Wendy is an animator and illustrator following her love of cartoons and storytelling. Wendy’s work focuses on her personal experience with mental illness, while also making work focused on themes of childhood and friendship. Her love of all things Halloween and creepy has heavily influenced the development of her animation style. Wendy holds a Bachelor's in Visual Arts Media from UC San Diego and is currently working on a collection of zines about her hometown. Website: Wendyandthevoid.com Tumblr: Wendyandthevoid
Instagram: Wendyandthevoid
Head on Fire by Kendal Fong
“I am an artist currently based in San Diego. I graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art with a focus in printmaking in 2013. Since, I have been working at the San Diego Museum of Art. My current works have predominately been portraiture, using acrylic paint, water color, embroidery, and various other media.” – Kendal Fong Instagram: Instagram.com/kendalistrash Website: Kendalfong.weebly.com
Radical Pondering If you want to get mad and speak your mnd why not do it? Why is expressing our negatives so difficult for some of us? If you tend to only express your anger, how about expressing your positive feelings with as much passion? Why do some of us stay in our anger and rage?
Diving Deep by Leah Oviedo Diving deep into my pain to heal my scars Gnashes from thorns and knives run so deep with years of not healing Staying blind, ignoring the bleeding that covers my body Nerves frayed to the edges. It is time to seek the brujas wisdom Gather herbs under the full moon Create rituals in labyrinths Walk in crystal circles Burn candles to see my wound Applying salve with soothing words Forgiving them Forgive myself. Enter into the heart of the sun Feel power burning away the lingering scars Love sweet and strong Compassion firm and soft Bring intent to the surface each day Gently with passionate grace I am grateful for my life (From her book of poetry and illustrations Start From The Root) Leah Oviedo was raised in a mashup of cultures between her mothers Midwestern GermanAmerican and Miscellaneous roots and her fathers Californian Mexican-American immigration. This pushed her to have an intersectional interest in art, writing and activism. After suffering from depression for 17 years, she was inspired to heal her trauma with art therapy. Through research and reaching out to family and friends she formed a healthcare plan based on self-love. A lifetime writer she records all her new tools and experiences with healing on her blog and has published books about healing from grief and depression. Her current focus is smashing the patriarchy and eradicating colonialism through self-care and radical ideas with the help of a diverse group of creators sharing their stories and their magic.
Website: ImpowerYou.org Twitter: Twitter.com/mpwru
Instagram: Instagram.com/impoweryou Patreon: Patreon.com/Loviedo
Golden Sunrise Leah Oviedo Natural materials, 2018
(image: leaves, bark, flowers and rocks of diffeent colors create a circlular mandala shape) Receive 8x10� matted nature art prints or 4x6� postcards in the mail each month when you become a patron of my work on Patreon.com/Loviedo
D.I.Y. Therapy: Uncover Your Roots The root of depression is different for everyone. Our pain and reaction to that pain is unique. For me the root of my depression was in the trauma of grief and violence. By not allowing myself to acknowledge this I caused my depression to grow. Instead of seeking help I convinced myself that what I had been through wasn’t anything special and I needed to toughen up. How sad that we are so convinced that to seek help we need to go through something extra traumatic. It is vital that we change this perspective. Violence and loss is not something unique, we all experience these two issues on some level which is exactly why we need to seek help and guidance. By acting like what we’ve been through isn’t bad we continuously live with pain. We thereby ignore an opportunity to heal. Why stay stuck in pain when we could be living a healthy life? I’m learning to examine my fears, judgement, loneliness and anger. Ask yourself, “What are the underlying reasons I feel this way?” Explore each train of thought as deeply as you want. This is a tool I found in the book “A Path With Heart” by Jack Kornfield(1). It’s a good book for deepening your meditation practice and has plenty of stories from him and others experiences with meditation and mindfulness. Through this process I’m able to understand the root which gives me a feeling of control. By examining when I feel fearful, but I’m not in actual danger, I find that it’s always triggered by something like violent media or stories I’ve bought into. By examining when I feel anger, it is usually because I feel entitled to an outcome as opposed to accepting what I can’t change. By examining my loneliness, I can see that it is rooted in grief and the fear of losing more loved ones. I’m still working on examining when I feel lonely. This process takes time. For some emotions, it may be easy to find the root and others not so much. Be patient with your progress. Journal Prompt: What are the roots of your depression?
For more self-care check out the free online Healing Journey course or sign up for my 3 month selfcare course, Diving Deeper.
NEW THINGS & GREAT THINGS! Everytime you purchase from independent artists, you are supporting local & small businesses as opposed to large corporations who often think they should have the same rights as people. Shopping small is a powerful act.
Miniaturist, self builder and serial creative Angie, never did things quite the way anyone thought she should. This is the story of how challenging and also how rewarding life can be if you take an unconventional path and stick with it in spite of all indications that disaster is looming.This rags to rags autobiography is both a cautionary and joyful tale for anyone thinking of living a nontraditional creative life, or anyonecontemplating making the big leap to another country in the belief that it will all work out. Learn more: AngieScarr.co.uk
__________________________________________________________________________________ Poetry and illustrations that meet you in your lonely places and inspire you to find your own, unique healing path. This is a collection focused on the journey of a woman who discovered a way to heal after seventeen years of depression. Her words are full of despair and pain, heroes and hope, losing loved ones, and learning that healing is not about happiness, but finding balance while navigating a world in turmoil. Recieve the e-book version when you become a patron for $3 per month at Patreoncom/Loviedo. Recieve the e-book free when you by the print version on Amazon.com
Phoenix Law #7 No one has the power to determine your worth, to make you curtsy at mediocracy, to determine how high you can soarunless you give it to them. Buy it on Amazon.com.
To all the families everywhere setting up your own rules, learning, loving and leading the way to a better life. Forgive yourself as your forgive others. Love yourself as you love others. Dare to create your own values and live them every day. Families consist of both our biological connections and our chosen families–people with whom we share common values, resources, and vision. Families look all sorts of ways, but what I have found is that the most important ingredient to a family is love and acceptance. When we are loved within our family structure, we are each allowed to expand over time. When we are accepted, we can be our true and authentic selves free from performance, guilt, and shame. Featuring original artwork by my sons, Meditations for Radical Families is my family’s way of offering grace, kindness, humor and truth to the world. We hope you find gems, laugh, share, and connect with your inner values. Join us as we detox from the modern world, stripping down our egos to reach a place of purpose, joy, and peace. Want a copy? Send book payment of $10 to paypal.me/afrofuturesociety. Gia M. Hamilton is an applied anthropologist who employs Social MagicTM methodology to investigate land, labor and cultural production while examining social connectivity within institutions and community. Fnd her at www.giahamiltonstudio.com.
Find all of Iris's books on Amazon.com
“Things I Didn’t Know How To Say” is a collection of poems from 20132018 written by Wendy Rodriguez. Buy it on Amazon.com.
“Queerotica and Other Delicacies� by Erika Reyes delves into the ecstasy within love, sex, and also through mysterious encounters. You can send payment of $5.00+shipping & handling to paypal.me/erikaisreyes for a copy. Please include your address, or email erikaisreyes@gmail.com when you've made a payment. Thank you.
WEL-being is an empowerment and support group for women, currently residing in Hanoi and worldwide. Its main focus is on promoting self-love and self-care. Facebook: Facebook.com/welbeing369/ Instagram: Instagram.com/wel.being
PLEASE SHARE: Healing Resources Nationwide Suicide Prevention crisis line: 1-800-273-8255. Don’t want to call? Use a text help line. Text 741741 anywhere in the USA for a live trained counselor. The Trevor Project – Suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth, 1-866-488-7386 or TheTrevorHelpline.org There are apps that support mental health. The My3App connects someone who is feeling suicidal with their three main support contacts. My3app.org Mental Health America offers free mental health first aid training, Mentalhealthamerica.net NAMI – Alliance of mental illness has a program called Peer to Peer, similar to Big Brother/Big Sister, which is a way to socialize and give support for those who are feeling isolated. Nami.org DBSA– Depression, Bipolar, Anxiety. Dbsalliance.org Survivors of Suicide Loss. SOSLSD.org The Love Warrior Community focuses on helping people work on self-love and body acceptance. Lovewarriorcommunity.com Try the free Healing Journey e-course on Impoweryou.org/healing-depression.
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FREE BOOK: Cultivating Radical Self-Love: A Collaboration of Healers, Artists & Writers By cultivating radical self-love, you are choosing to believe in the radical idea that you are whole and valuable as you are. Loving your imperfections is one of the bravest things you can do. Featuring work by Michelle Minero, Kiyoshi Shelton, Jaz Gray, Corry Lang, Natalie Small, Rae Lawrence, Jason Freeman, Jasmine Farrell, Anaid Garcia, Donovan Cheney, Vidya, Katrina Mendoza and Leah Oviedo. These amazing people are different genders, skin tones, sexual orientations, abilities, and hold various spiritual beliefs. What they all share is knowing that selflove is an important aspect of everyone’s journey. Choose your complimentary e-book format or PDF on Patreon.com/Loviedo.
Like this zine? Become a supporter with $1 each month and receive advanced access of Radical. Patreon.com/LOviedo A New Affirmation
Soy equilibrado I am balanced Escucho mi intuicion I listen to my intuition Sigo mi corazon I follow my heart Soy compasivo a otros I am compassionate to others Respeto la naturaleza I respect nature
What is Radical zine? Radical is a healing through creative arts zine supporting the idea that we should live our journeys on our own terms. It is moving beyond expectations and limits to see what we are made of. Choosing to be radical is a way for us to forge our own paths and create an accepting, compassionate community along our way. I created this e-zine to spread a message of sustainable self-care and to promote independent artists, writers, and healers, especially those who face oppression and exclusion. I was depressed for seventeen years and now am thriving! Healing my trauma has been an epic journey. I’m still learning, still healing the little things. Along my journey I became interested in smashing the patriarchy and ending the oppresion of women of color and our queer communities. Choosing to love myself unconditionally and heal is the reason I am still alive. Choosing to support others gives me a greater purpose than just my own needs. Peace and hugs, Leah