gal-dem
Introduction
gal-dem was an independent digital and print magazine, which ran from 2015 – 2023. It was committed to telling the stories of women from the global majority and marginalised genders. The magazine platformed the creative and editorial work of their community through essays, opinion, news, art, music, politics and lifestyle content.
The imbalance within journalism was also an area gal-dem wanted to address because 94% of the profession is white and 55% is male. gal-dem welcomed contributions from people with lived experiences who could relate to being a part of the Black demographic.
The exhibition celebrates the work of gal-dem and its dedicated team, and reflects on both the legacy of the magazine, as well as what it means to lose publications which platform marginalised groups and give them a voice.
gal-dem, THE UN/REST ISSUE, 2019/20, cover shoot by Nwaka Okparaeke.
Liv Little
Liv Little has Jamaican and Guyanese heritage and she grew up in south London. She has always had a passion for telling stories about the people and places that matter to her. After studying politics and sociology at the University of Bristol, Liv forged a path within journalism, audio, television and curatorial projects. Her work has included working for organisations such as Women for Refugee Women, as well as publishing her writing. Liv’s success includes BBC writer in residence for 2021, LGBTQI+ Broadcaster of The Year, Rising Star at Wow, and appeared in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 media and marketing list.
Liv Little founded gal-dem in 2015. She was also the curator and producer for the magazine. When asked why she founded gal-dem, Liv felt that Black women needed their own feminist space, which is not provided within mainstream feminism. In 2020, Liv stepped down as CEO and left gal-dem.
‘Liv in the Sea’, photograph of Liv Little from the 100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark exhibition. Photographer Valerie Asiimwe Amani.
Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff
Charlie is a writer and editor, specialising in project-based work across disciplines including journalism, literature and the screen. She grew up in Scotland and later moved to London. After studying English Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London and achieving a Masters in Newspaper Journalism from City University, London, Charlie established herself within journalism.
Charlie was one of the founding editors at gal-dem and began working on the creation of the magazine with founder Liv Little and the rest of the large team when they were students. gal-dem was initially a voluntary project that Charlie worked on as an editor in her spare time. When gal-dem developed into a business, she became the Editor-in-Chief. She left gal-dem in 2021 to join the New York Times.
Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff by Issey Gladston.
gal-dem in the Living Archive
When gal-dem was preparing to close in 2023, arrangements were being made to transfer their print magazines and merchandise to the Living Archive. The Living Archive is cared for by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, which is based in Leicester. The development of the Living Archive is a part of the project, Unearthed: Forgotten Histories, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
There was a limited print-run for gal-dem’s magazines, which limits what is now available in the public domain. The Living Archive is ensuring the legacy of gal-dem continues. Visitors to the archive can view the gal-dem collection and still benefit from the platform gal-dem provided for Black women and those of marginalised genders. The Living Archive is not only a repository for physical and digital material. At its centre, the Living Archive’s ethos is to interpret and reinterpret material, in forms such as visual art, creative writing and informing academic research. Archive collections are continually given a new life and will contribute to the present and future, instead of remaining as a piece of the past.
Items that are cared for in the Living Archive.
Magazine
As a media company, gal-dem primarily published both a digital and print magazine that focused on women from the global majority and marginalised genders. While demonstrating a strong sense of humour, gal-dem also created space to talk about issues and subject matter that the mainstream media would usually ignore. As Liv Little, founder of gal-dem put it, ‘I needed a space where I could connect with like-minded people’ and gal-dem helped to create a community of like-minded people through the magazine.
Digital Magazine
The digital magazine began in September 2015, with the first articles introducing the gal-dem team. For the next eight years, the gal-dem team regularly posted articles covering a range of topics for the global majority and marginalised genders. The digital magazine continued to run alongside the print magazine until gal-dem closed in 2023. All the digital articles are still available to read on gal-dem’s website because they made the decision to archive over 3,750 posts for future reference.
Print Magazine
After originally starting as a digital magazine, gal-dem soon transitioned into print magazines. The first issue was published in 2016. With their vibrant colours, the magazine covers featured people such as Raveena and Nao. gal-dem was published once a year and had a theme that encompassed all the relevant events, topics and issues from its year of publication. There was a brief pause in publishing the print magazine due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, from March 2020 to March 2021. The print-run for the first issue of gal-dem was 1,000 and this was soon increased to 3,000 for subsequent issues.
Growing Up with gal-dem
Growing up with gal-dem was gal-dem’s first podcast series. The inspiration for the podcast came from the book I will not be erased: our stories growing up as people of colour, written by the gal-dem writers in 2019. At first, the podcast was hosted by Liv Little and Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and later transitioned to Natty Kasambala and Niellah Arboine hosting. For each episode they invited a guest to respond to old diary entries, text messages or letters from their younger selves, which invoked conversations about growing up. Guests included Clara Amfo, Diane Abbott, Raveena, Lady Phyll, Michaela Coel and Malorie Blackman.
Leaflet to promote the Growing Up with gal-dem podcast episode with Sharmaine Lovegrove.
I will not be erased: our stories growing up as people of colour
Published in 2019, I will not be erased: our stories growing up as people of colour was written by gal-dem writers. The book consists of fourteen essays where the gal-dem writers used material from their teenage years – diaries, poems and chat histories – to give advice to their younger selves and to those who are growing up today.
I will not be erased: Our stories about growing up as people of colour book cover. Written by gal-dem and published by Walker Books, 2019.
Takeovers
gal-dem shared their brand and promoted their work in different ways. Different artists would produce designs for the gal-dem logo and the designs were used for pin badges and stickers. Some of the content gal-dem produced was simply to share positive affirmations with their audience on postcards.
gal-dem also took their writing to different platforms and showcased their work. In 2018, gal-dem did a takeover of The Guardian Weekend magazine. Their takeover was unapologetically gal-dem and included articles written by global majority women and people from marginalised genders. The Guardian Weekend magazine takeover was a celebration of the breadth and diversity of their lives and experiences. Micha Frazer-Carroll, Arts and Culture Editor, wrote on behalf of the gal-dem team how it was incredible to bring their ideas to a bigger platform and they hoped that this could be the start of a new era, where women from the global majority and marginalised genders take the media by storm.
52 Weeks of Weekly Reflections
In 2020, the gal-dem team produced the book 52 Weeks of Weekly Reflections. The weekly reflections originally began as an email sent to gal-dem members each week. The gal-dem team reflected on life and events, which at the time included coming out of the national lockdown in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The weekly reflections cover the period October 2020 – October 2021.
Legacy
gal-dem was proud of everything it achieved during their eight years. The team at gal-dem had the foresight to safeguard their legacy by archiving their website and all the content they produced. Even though gal-dem no longer publish, they have ensured that their content can still benefit marginalised groups and help them to feel seen.
The gal-dem website is no longer monitored and it is currently accessible through the Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine. The intention is for the archived website to be cared for by The British Library, however, the cyber attack in October 2023 has delayed when the gal-dem website can join The British Library’s digital archive.
When it was announced that gal-dem had made the difficult decision to close in 2023, there was a large media response to their closure and what it would mean for marginalised groups. The Guardian and BBC, among other media outlets, published articles about the closure of gal-dem and much of the content wrote about how it was a big loss to marginalised groups.
Vasta, A. and Wolstenholme, L. (2023) ‘Gal-dem closure: Magazine ‘was different to everything else we’d seen’’, BBC News, 13 April 2023.
Raza-Sheikh, Z. (2023) ‘Farewell gal-dem. You were disruptive, joyful and you gave us a voice’, The Guardian, 9 August 2023.
In the early day motions of the House of Commons on 17 April 2023, they paid tribute to the work of gal-dem and mourned its ending and also stated that they recognised “…the need for a greater diversity of voices and perspectives in UK media.”
Statement by MPs on edm.parliament.uk
There were numerous statements made about the loss of gal-dem; however, it does invoke questions about what support do diverse publications in the media actually receive and if more could have been done for gal-dem.
Goodbye from gal-dem image from the archived gal-dem website.
