This past year, the world bore witness as teenage girls across Iran transformed their classrooms into sites of protest. Fuelled by collective anger, Iranian and Kurdish schoolgirls spilled out onto the streets and risked their lives to mourn the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini. Together, they expressed so clearly their fear, desperation and hopes for a better future, but the movement was frequently accused - by adults - of being aimless and futile. 

The stories we are told often ridicule, diminish or overlook the contributions of women and girls to social justice movements. This zine aims to tell a different story.

For almost a century, zines have been created and circulated to tell countercultural stories and give voice to the underrepresented. Zines played an important role in feminist and LGBTQ movements throughout the twentieth century, and were used to document experiences of oppression and communicate messages of resistance. It feels fitting, then, that the work created by the young people who participated in this project should culminate in a zine. 

The words shared in these pages were written by Year 7 and Year 8 girls and non-binary young people from 20 schools across the country. Their stories scream of pain and rage, sing of hope and healing, and speak to the beauty, strength and wisdom of a generation committed to creating change in their communities. 

We hope you will treasure these stories and join us in refusing to forget what young people are capable of.

We would like to express our appreciation to Venus Gillette for their support in bringing this project to life. 

See Unapologetically Us Zine here.

‍

Harriet Farnham

Programme Design Manager

‍

‍