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Shamakami
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| Publisher | Shamakami Collective |
|---|---|
| First issue | June 1990 |
| Final issue | February 1997 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | San Francisco |
| Language | English |
| ISSN | 1084-2446 |
| OCLC | 24646926 |
Shamakami was an early organization of South Asian lesbians and bisexual women based in the United States.[1][2] They published a newsletter of the same name between June 1990 and February 1997.[3][4][5]
Founding
[edit]According to co-founder Sharmeen Islam, shamakami is a Bengali term meaning "love for your equal or same."[3] Willy Wilkinson describes it as a reclaimed word describing a woman who desires other women,[6] and Monisha Das Gupta describes it as an "excavated indigenous term" meaning "those who desire their equals."[7]
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
[edit]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:
Events and actions
[edit]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
[edit]- Anamika newsletter, 1985-1987
- Trikone magazine
- SamiYoni magazine
- Timeline of South Asian and diasporic LGBT history
References
[edit]- ^ "Magazines and Journals". Orinam.
- ^ Roy, Sandip (2006). "Desi Queer Datebook". Berkeley South Asian History Archive. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Islam, Sharmeen (1993). "Toward a global network of Asian lesbians". In Ratti, Rakesh (ed.). A lotus of another color: an unfolding of the South Asian gay and lesbian experience. Boston: Alyson Publications, Inc. pp. 41–46. ISBN 1-55583-171-0. OCLC 26855093.
- ^ Shamakami. OCLC 24646926 – via WorldCat.
- ^ a b c d e Ordona, Trinity Ann (2000). Coming Out Together: An Ethnohistory of the Asian and Pacific Islander Queer Women's and Transgendered People's Movement of San Francisco (Thesis). University of California, Santa Cruz. 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.
- ^ Gupta, Monisha Das (October 10, 2006). "Subverting Seductions: Queer Organizations". Unruly Immigrants: Rights, Activism, and Transnational South Asian Politics in the United States. Duke University Press. p. 169. 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 (January 12, 1992). "Fighting Asian Stereotypes". Gay Community News. 19: 5.
- ^ "Samachar" (PDF). Rungh. 3 (3): 38. 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
- ^ "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Periodicals". Northwestern Libraries. Northwestern University. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
- ^ Kole, Subir K (July 11, 2007). "Globalizing queer? AIDS, homophobia and the politics of sexual identity in India". Globalization and Health. 3: 8. doi:10.1186/1744-8603-3-8. ISSN 1744-8603. PMC 2018684. 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 August 8, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
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.
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).
