[image via totallyradicalmuslims.com]
A few days after the mass shooting in Orlando, seething islamophobia and homophobia are still clamouring to undermine the collective mourning of the LGBTQ community, our ability to respond through art and resilience, and society’s capacity for nuance and narrative when it comes to human tragedy. When the American electoral news cycle once more leeched onto the phrase “radical Islam” (who said it, who didn’t? Is it a slur or a shibboleth?), I was quickly compelled to turn away from news sites and TV. Instead, I went back to Totally Radical Muslims Zine, a project based out of Oakland, California that reclaims and reimagines that phrasing.
TRM has released three issues so far, all of them looking at a wide range of Muslim identities and experience through the lens of intersectional, anti-colonial feminism. There’s all sorts of poetry, artwork, prose and essays from so many contributors with unique experiences and thoughts about negotiating Muslim identity, particularly in the west. In their last issue, Hubb, the theme is “Queer Muslim Love Stories.” The work ranges from sweet to heartwrenching, from rough and short to profound.
All of the zines are free on their website, totallyradicalmuslims.com. In the wake of a horrifying and confusing couple of days, I think it’s worth checking our assumptions and going to the source of the people who have to face anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim sentiments, those who have found ways to tell their stories louder than the unsubtle din of of prejudice and selfishness. Check them out.
Jonathan Valelly is a writer and editor based in Toronto. He is the assistant editor of Broken Pencil.