Issue 25 - Summer 2023

What is Radical Zine?

Radical Zine started as a way to spread a message of sustainable self-care and unconditional love as a healing tool. Choosing to love myself unconditionally and heal is the reason I am still alive. This zine project is an extension of my own journey. Art, poetry, & choosing to support others gives me a greater purpose than just my own needs.

Radical strives to support independent artists, writers, and healers with a main focus on both woc and queer creatives.

XOXO, Leah Oviedo

A new affirmation / Una nueva afirmación

I am loved and supported every day of my life.

Todos los días soy amado y apoyado.

Self-Love: Nourishing the Heart, Mind, and Body

• What and how am I nourishing my inner and outer life?

Its so easy to get lost in the grind of productivity and put our nourishment on hold. So I've compiled a list of rituals and practices that are vital to my healthcare routine. These are all actions I have taken on my self-love journey that have been impactful in my healing. These range from very simple, like 10 minutes a day to more intensive practices to hep you nourish all parts of you!

Start a 5-10 minute ritual.

Set aside time before bed (or in between gigs) to drink a cup of herbal tea such as chamomile, ginger or lemon balm. Sip slowly either in silence or with calming music. Allow your whole self to relax and be in the moment. You deserve this!

Practice slowing your breath while sitting still (or laying or standing). Focus on your breath. You can count breaths, hold your hands on you belly and feel the rise and fall to help stay focused. Stillness and breath work make a powerful combo of rejuvenating our whole body.

Meditate or practice mindfulness 5-10 minutes a day. I use the Insight Timer app which is free and has a variety of options to choose from. But use whatever you are drawn to. It's good to experiment.

Replace that cup of caffeine with a 10 minute nap to recharge between shifts. Even if you can't fall asleep, pretend that the nap is doctor prescribed and necessary. Moving nonstop is not nourishing.

...add one of these to your schedule for the next 30 days and stick with it. See how you feel after 30 days.

Ready for more?

Indulge in a favorite hobby that makes you feel good like making art, reading graphic novels, building, crafting, dancing, crocheting, coding..... Let yourself enjoy a guilt-free escape because you need to have fun. We cannot work all the time and feel nourished. Some of us have multiple jobs to survive, but we still need to enjoy life. If all you can schedule is 30 minutes a week than do it and make that time matter!

Schedule a check in with supportive friends or family twice a month. Even if it's virtual or a phone call. I have to connect virtually most of the time. But whether it is in-person, on video, or over the phone, I feel so rejuvenated after connecting with the people who nourish me. Social connection is an important part of our health. As too many of us learned during the pandemic, isolation and loneliness can cause severe mental stress that takes a toll on our whole health.

Practice or study a new self-love skill that you have not been making time for. Maybe it's learning to cook healthy, care for your body, practicing a new self-care ritual, or increasing your meditation time. Look in previous issues for self-love practices and ideas to inspire sustainable whole-life nourishing habits and actions that will improve your life.

I hope this helps.

Protest Song Spotlight

The

Resistance

by Thana Alexa featuring Staceyann Chin

“Can’t take my freedom Away

Using my fear and pain Won’t sway My mind from my integrity

Won’t agree when only some Are free ...”

Full lyrics: https://genius.com/Thana-alexa-the-resistance-lyrics

BAND CAMP: https://thanaalexa.bandcamp.com/track/the-resistance-featstaceyann-chin

May 5th is a day of remembrance and action to rise up and stop violence against Indigenous Women and Girls across Canada and the USA.

“The National Partners Work Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and the MMIW Family Advisors are organizing a National Week of Action (May 1 - May 7, 2023) to call the nation and the world to action in honor of missing and murdered Indigenous women.”

Get involved and learn at niwrc.org/mmiwnatlweek23

Or visit nativehope.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-mmiw

MMIWG – the G stands for Girls. You might also see MMIWR the R stands for Relatives.

Pine Wilder (he/ze) is an autistic trans artist, poet, and healer whose work focuses on the interconnectedness of transness and queerness with nature. He makes art and offers energy work centering trans, neurodivergent, and disabled folks. All elements of nature used in Pine’s work are from fallen branches, and pieces otherwise headed to compost/trash.

Contact: ffluidtree@gmail.com

Instagram: @pinewilder_ and @ffluidtree

OUR PEOPLE

Iris Orpi

Isn’t it cool how we know what kind of people our people are before we find them, that somehow we just know that we would recognize them when we’re in the same room just by what they look like on the days they refuse to give up on their dreams, just by the language of their softness when the thing they love the most is in front of them, when they’re watching their sacrifices fall into place, just by the way the air around them feels when their inner wolves are at war and they’re trying to contain it, holding the conversation while surveying the landscape for a weapon, a parachute, a path to forgetting, a sharp turn of silence, a compass, a direction the compass points to.

Facing the frightening and disheartening and exhausting and relentless with everything they are, their survival linked to yours. What light speaks to them, what injustices break them, how many times they can break, what brave, unflinching art they make with the pieces. What griefs they consider worthy of the dignity of surrender.

How cool that the people we know are our people are mirrors of the best parts of ourselves, voices from a world we still believe in the poetry of the future we want to create.

Isn’t it cool how we can gather, in some place, send out invitations, and ourselves show up to the moment like a beacon to the people we want to be our people, and our people meet us and recognize us, speak to the heart that we’ve arrived wearing on our sleeves, speak to our souls spattered on the walls arranged in serendipitous sigils like affirmations, like hey, my people, here I am.

How cool is this. How alive we are.

Follow Iris on https://twitter.com/irisorpi & https://www.instagram.com/irisorpi/ & https://www.facebook.com/irisorpi

Acceptance Part 4

Jasmine Farrell

I didn’t just wake up one day and chose it. After years of brainwashing, self-loathing, praying for deliverance, slipping, falling stiving to be fixed, gritting my teeth, holding hands that make me think of everything else but the moment: I surrendered to it. Gave true acceptance a chance. Peace overtook me.

I didn’t just wake up one day and chose it. It was always there. I just finally decided to unpack and rediscovered another missing piece of me.

Jasmine Farrell, from Brooklyn, NY is a freelance writer and author. With poetry being her first love, she has published three full-length poetry collections: My Quintessence (2014), Phoenixes Groomed as Genesis Doves (2016), Long Live Phoenixes (2018). She released a poetry series that included three micro collections titled, The Release Series (2020). She recently published her debut novel, Sloppy (2022).

Website: www.jasminefarrell.com

Instagram: @justbreathejasmine

Twitter: @authorjfarrell

Nia is a queer, black, self-taught visual artist living in Baltimore City. For over 25 years Nia has created both large and small-scale projects, from murals and sign making to creating greeting cards and painting pet portraits. Their artwork focuses on the different living beings that make up this planet, including flora and fauna. As a co-owner of Red Emma’s Bookstore and Coffee House and with the work they do with BRED, they hope to break the cycle of silenced emotions and create moments where feelings are present, raw, transformative and valid. Follow on Instagram.com/little.tree.art

Blisters on the Brain

Inisa Fajra

Blisters on the brain and thoughts that only run in circles And though my feet cannot complain I struggle yet with overcoming hurdles

And if I should trip and fall into a whirlpool of distrust I must remember it from all the times I’ve sunk this low I must remember it was imagined firstas above, and so below

There’s nothing new here and nothing’s unexpected I’m just running track of thoughts projected and reflected

And if I should ever question whether there is a point that marks arrival I must remember it’s the movement in each moment that equates survival.

Inisa Fajra is a writer & poet whose work explores our unconscious and our ego in equal measures, venturing into themes of alchemy & psychology. Symbolism is weaved throughout her poems and short stories to enable connection with the readers who might have experienced its influence in their own lives. Her book of poetry “New Skin (Rubedo Edition)” is available on Amazon. You can follow Inisa at instagram.com/inisa.fajra

My name is Ashton and my artwork is created with the intention of expressing myself freely and celebrating individuality. I create art with a focus on queer and bipoc culture and subjects. My goal is to celebrate these individuals who are often underrepresented and not given fair opportunities. I hope my art can inspire others in marginalized communities and uplift them. I want my art to spark conversations about modern society and reflect my personal experiences as a black queer woman. I explore topics from race, gender, beauty standards, sexuality, current social issues, and so much more. I want other people to relate and connect with my work, no matter how different they might seem. I believe we are all connected and art can help bring us closer together. @trinyti.co

To: those who create battlefields out of rose gardens

You grew up throwing knives and playing darts, aiming higher for the red with your father, lower for the bullseye with your mother, and still missing when you made a mark on either side of the board.

Don’t fret, challenger. You’ve taken the hardest step in realizing the choice is between sage and stardust, how long you’re willing to burn, and who for.

Taya Boyles is a Richmond-based writer, a woman of color, and an undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her inspiration comes from finding the light in 'the dark night' and writing as an attempt to answer the call of 'infinite immensity.' To go where instead of ceilings to break, she finds more space.

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tayabtheauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tayatheauthor/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tayaboylespoetry

Grief is most bluntly defined by your name

Grief is a broken bone that never sets quite right A battle scar that never fades but only I can see This war; it haunts my dreams at night This pain; how it consumes me

Your name is just another synonym for grief And just like grief, you are most profound in absence

I mourn for the love we could have had A life that I've only seen in dreams One that will always never be

Nathalia (as she is more mononymously known for her poetry) is a 20 year old poet living in Guyana. She has dreams of publishing her own book of sapphic poetry celebrating different forms of love between women, but faces the challenge of living in a society where same sex intimacy is still criminalised and there are little to no rights and protections for members of the LGBT+ community. Her work also ranges between mental health, mythology, friendship, social issues and nature. You can check out more of her work or reach out to discuss collaborations at instagram.com/nathalia_thepoet

Hola mis amores. My art is meant to inspire a love of self and healthy self-growth, of inner and outer peace, and the possibilities that we can all take action to be the change we want to see. I'm not on social media, you can enjoy my work at ImpowerYou.org. Gracias y abrazos - Leah

Oviedo

Zine Spotlight

Muchacha Fanzine – Topics covered include art, writing, and political education on indigenous resistance, intersectional feminism, youth liberation, black lives matter, environmental justice, coalition building, body positivity, LGBTQ rights, migration, decolonizing travel, & more.

https://www.muchachafanzine.com/

That Gray Zine is a space to discuss all things mental health in order to reduce stigma, foster a sense of community, advocacy, validation, and empowerment.

https://www.thatgrayzine.com/

Diary of a Sista Grrl delves into being a Black person with the alternative scene.

https://sistagrrrlzine.bigcartel.com/

Cyclista Zine Feminist response to the cycling industry. A biannual zine focused on sharing knowledge, art, and stories of BIPOC + WTF folks in cycling.

https://www.cyclistazine.com/

Add your zine here! There is no cost to promote zines from folk who share messages of self-care and radical acts of defiance tha will encourage a better world.

National Latina Institute of Reproductive Justice https://www.latinainstitute.org/

The Center for Reproductive Rights; https://reproductiverights.org/

Planned Parenthood: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/other/keep-marching-what-you-can-do-protectreproductive-freedom

The Abortion Diary – Break the silence about abortion with your story.

https://www.theabortiondiary.com/about-the-abortion-diary

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.

Black Line – A crisis line that gives priority for BIPOC folk. Callblackline.com

1-800-604-5841. You can also report incidents of vigilantes and police.

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

Affordable healthcare is available through various local clinics and through Planned Parenthood.

Social/Environmental Justice Resources

The official #BlackLivesMatter Global Network builds power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe.

https://blacklivesmatter.com/

This launch of A People’s Orientation to a Regenerative Economy: Protect, Repair, Invest and Transform guides us collectively into a sustainable future, wherein Indigenous sovereignty and values are front and center.

https://www.ienearth.org/regenerativeeconomy/

Mama Black uplifts the voices of Black women across the African Diaspora, continuing the powerful legacy of Black feminist traditions, womanist inclinations, and radical leanings. This platform offers cutting-edge perspectives and radical thought on Black women's issues, centering the lives of Black women survivors of rape and sexual violence across the spectrum of assault. https://www.mamablack.org/

March for Our Lives mission: To harness the power of young people across the country to fight for sensible gun violence prevention policies that save lives.

https://marchforourlives.com/