Web 'zine gives teen girls their say, connects voices from around the world

Anyone who says teens are lazy hasn't met the young women of Girlspeak. Each staff member of the literary Web 'zine, produced every summer at Young Chicago Authors in Wicker Park, has something to say to girls all over the world and has spent her summer getting ideas down on paper.

These nine young women, ages 14 to 19, from various neighborhoods in Chicago and different walks of life, are expressing their opinions on issues that affect them personally, including the HPV vaccine, female incarceration, plastic surgery, mass rapes in Africa, body image and sex education. The girls also contribute poems, short stories and artwork, and sift through literary and art submissions from young women all over the world, giving them a chance to consider lives and circumstances unlike their own.

Many of the submissions came from girls who had no connection to the program, and others came from alumnae, "Women in other areas who are doing what we want to do -- which is empowering other women," said Erika Dickerson,16, a senior at Chicago Academy for the Arts. At the same time, the girls are improving their writing. "We're all here to work on our craft," said Diamond Sharp, the oldest of the group at 19, and a sophomore at Wellesley College.

"Our voice is power/Our art is activism," declares the 'zine's Web site. Girlspeak's mission is to provide a safe, diverse, tolerant space where young women can create community. It is meant to enlighten young women about self-love, healthy lifestyles, activism through art and awareness of the world around them. The six-week summer program just came to an end and the 'zine will go live in mid-September.

Through informal creative writing workshops, the girls develop their own voices and confidence. The program started in 2002 when a few teachers noticed young women weren't speaking up in the writing workshops at Young Chicago Authors.

The girls write to discuss things they feel aren't being discussed or can't be discussed in their schools and communities. Tahonee Washington, 18, who recently graduated from Greater West Town Academy, wrote about female incarceration. "It's something that's not spoken about a lot. It's hidden. People care, but they don't care," she said. She wrote:

"Being a woman of color, it saddens me that African American women account for so much of the prison population ... Prisons don't make problems disappear, they make people disappear ... "

In the future, her goal is to talk with young women who are incarcerated. "I want to hear what they have to say," Washington said.

When Washington talks about female incarceration, the other young women at the table chime in with comments about the sub-standard conditions in jails and how the prison system lacks common human decency. "It gets everyone kinda worked up," Sharp said.

Sharp wrote about mass rapes that have been occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo for many years, an issue she feels isn't getting enough coverage in mainstream media. At the same time, she brought the issue home for readers everywhere: "Gender based discrimination and misogyny are not exclusive to the Congo; their manifestations exist everywhere," she wrote.

At the end of Sharp's article, she wrote that "awareness and action" are two of the most powerful tools anyone can have. She then listed numerous organizations where people can get involved.

Sharp said she wants her writing to be a catalyst for change, hoping that her words will encourage people to take action. A small group of teachers and students at her high school held a two-day rally and raised $3,000 for schools in Darfur. "It didn't take much," she said. "It only takes one person to know something."

The girls' opinion pieces are rooted in their personal experiences. Janiza Melendez, the youngest of the group at age 14, wrote about teen pregnancy. "I know people who are my age and younger who are getting pregnant," she said. "My mom doesn't like talking about things like that ... I wanted people to know that they should be talking about [it]."

In her essay about female incarceration, Washington also put her own experience to work:

"I come from a working class neighborhood, and I know all too well the results of going to jail. Children lose mothers and fathers, and a lot of times they grow up without any real guidance."

Asia Calcagno, a junior at Oak Park-River Forest High School, wrote about her own experience with the controversial HPV vaccine. The vaccine consists of three shots administered over six months. But Calcagno said her doctor never informed her after her first shot that she had to come back for two more. Calcagno said she wrote her article so girls won't believe the hype surrounding the vaccine. She blended her own story with research in a snappy, colloquial writing style:

"Yea, yea, yea. Gardasil ads seem all positive on TV, and hooray for those who want to become 'one less.' (There's no shame in your game, ladies). But we should not allow advertisement to suck us in like a load of fools!"

Several articles end by questioning readers, urging them to consider these issues for themselves and start a discussion. At the end of her article on the HPV vaccine, Calcagno wrote:

"Not everyone is being vaccinated, and I am not the Queen of the World pointing you in the direction to go. Be vaccinated if you choose, but be aware of what it is that you are getting into."

In addition to writing their own pieces, the girls read and debated the merits of over 150 pieces of writing and artwork from the Czech Republic, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Australia, as well as from all regions of the U.S. Kamerin Chambers said reading the submissions opened her eyes to how different some girls' lives are.

The girls said deciding what pieces to put in the Web 'zine was a process of balancing personal preferences with thinking about what others might want to read. "You're not reading only for you -- this could speak to someone else," Dickerson said, adding that she felt "honored" to read the submissions.

After reading, the girls discuss the submissions together and vote them into "yes" or "no" piles. After much debate, almost all of them agreed to not take a packet of poems about suicide and self-mutiliation from one author.

"They spoke to me," said Washington. "It just scared me," said Morgan Thomas, an 18-year-old journalism major at Bradley University.

"It's okay to scare people, but then educate them," said Melissa Jordan, a senior at North Side College Prep, adding that the poems were too teen-angsty and popularized self-mutilation. Jordan is planning to study international business in college because she speaks French, Chinese and Spanish.

When asked why they write, the girls confidently differ in their opinions. While most want to use their writing for activism, Chambers sees writing as purely personal: "I'm not going to say I want to change the world. To tell you the truth, I write 'cuz it's therapeutic. My goal is to reach out to those who may not be as strong to talk about their feelings ... to write about it."

All the girls have big dreams for what they -- and their writing -- can do. Most want to study English, creative writing or journalism in college, and some are already doing so. While not all of them want to pursue writing as a career -- Washington plans to become a nurse -- all of them see writing being a part of their lives for years to come.

Girlspeak instructor Krista Franklin used to teach writing workshops at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. She said the young women of Girlspeak -- who already had strong writing skills and personalities before they came -- give her hope for the future of society. "It keeps my spirit from being completely decimated," she said of the program.

Amanda Klonsky, director of the girls program of Free Write Jail Arts, said it's powerful for girls at age 15 and 16, when their identities are just forming, to have something positive and productive to identify with -- and cites Girlspeak as an example. Her program runs creative writing workshops in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.

Girlspeak is a part Young Chicago Authors, a non-profit with the mission of encouraging self-expression and literacy through creative writing, performance and publication. Many Girlspeak staffers met in other YCA classes, which they said can be addictive.

Kiara Lanier, a senior at Lane Technical High School, said of YCA, "I've never seen anything like this, not just peers who have the same love of writing, but also adults that help spur us to get to a higher level ... I just wanted to do anything to stay in this environment."

It looks like the 14-year-old Melendez and her young colleagues will be keeping writing and the arts alive for many decades to come, be it by making art themselves or through activism. She said her goal is "to inspire people to use art as a go-to. I just think people in general should enjoy art ... It's helped me a lot, to do better things with myself, for myself, and for anybody else that I know."