Shamakami
Publisher | Shamakami Collective | |
---|---|---|
First issue | June 1990 | |
Final issue | February 1997 | |
Country | OCLC 24646926 | |
Shamakami was an early organization of
Founding
According to co-founder Sharmeen Islam, shamakami is a
Wrote Islam in A Lotus of Another Color in 1993:
"Shamakami was formed with two visions in mind: the creation of a structured way of networking for South Asian lesbians and the creation of a forum in which we can express our sexuality and feminism in our own cultural context. In 1990, Shamakami had no funds, an initial membership of about 40, and a collective of about nine women. Today the organization provides free circulation of newsletters in South Asia, has a membership of 230, and has an active collective of about twenty women. This year, a woman from Assam, one of the more remote parts of India, connected with two lesbians in different parts of India through Shamakami and thus broke her isolation. In June 1991, a contingent of South Asian lesbians participated in a gay pride parade, marching joyously behind the Shamakami banner during the gay pride festivities at San Francisco."[3]
Newsletter
Shamakami was one of the first South Asian LGBT magazines in the United States, after Anamika and Trikone.
In 1991, Feminist Collections described Shamakami as a "ten-page publication [which] offers news of relevant conferences and resources, poetry, lengthy editorials, and various personal essays."[8] In 1992, Gay Community News described it as a "Forum for South Asian Feminist Lesbians."[5][9]
The newsletter was published initially in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later out of San Francisco, California.[5][8][10][11][12]
Subscriptions cost $10 per year,[13] and were offered for free to subscribers in South Asia.[3]
Issues:
- June 1990: Volume 1[5][14]
- January 1991: Volume 2, #1[14]
- June 1991: Volume 2, #2[14]
- February 1992: #4[14]
- June 1994: special edition[14]
- November 1994: #7[14]
- February 1997: #9, special edition published by Khuli Zaban[14][15]
Events and actions
In addition to the newsletter, Shamakami participated in South Asian American organizing. According to Trinity Ordona, there was an in-person group in San Francisco from 1992–1993, which organized meetings, fundraisers, and social events.[5] It also worked with other South Asian LGBTQ organizations, endorsing a 1991 action by the Emergency Coalition to Stop HIV/AIDS in India,[16] and co-sponsoring the 1995 Pride Utsav conference in San Francisco, organized by Trikone.[17]
See also
- Anamika newsletter, 1985-1987
- Trikone magazine
- SamiYoni magazine
- Timeline of South Asian and diasporic LGBT history
References
- ^ "Magazines and Journals". Orinam.
- ^ Roy, Sandip (2006). "Desi Queer Datebook". Berkeley South Asian History Archive. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ OCLC 26855093.
- OCLC 24646926– via WorldCat.
- ^ ProQuest 304584929.
- ^ Wilkinson, Willy (July 2010). Culturally Competent Approaches for Serving Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations in California (PDF) (Report). LGBT-TRISTAR. p. 2.
- ISBN 0-8223-8817-0.
- ^ a b "New and Newly Discovered Periodicals" (PDF). Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources. University of Wisconsin Women's Studies Librarian: 32. Summer 1991. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
- ^ Chan, June (Jan 12, 1992). "Fighting Asian Stereotypes". Gay Community News. 19: 5.
- ^ "Samachar" (PDF). Rungh. 3 (3): 38. 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
- ^ "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Periodicals". Northwestern Libraries. Northwestern University. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
- PMID 17623106.
- ^ Trikone. "South Asian Gay and Lesbian Resource Listing". Queer Resources Directory.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Shamakami: forum for South Asian feminist lesbians". NUCat. Northwestern University Library. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
- ^ "khuli zaban - legprints". khuli zaban. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
February 1997: khuli zaban publishes a special edition of the Shamakami newsletter, the first internationally distributed publication for South Asian lesbian and bisexual women.
- ^ "Stop AIDS Coalition Plan Demonstrations". India-West. August 2, 1991. p. 50 – via Ethnic Newswatch.
- ^ "Pride Utsav '95". India Currents. 9: C10. June 1995 – via ProQuest.
South Asian lesbian and gay groups from around the country and Canada are co-sponsoring this conference. They include: Atish (Vancouver), Khush (Toronto), Khush (Washington, DC), MASALA (Boston), Sangat (Chicago), Shamakami (nationwide), SALGA (New York), SALGA (Philadelphia), Trikone (Atlanta), and Trikone (Los Angeles).