Preface: How This Zine Was Made
by John Emerton
The second volume of Badass Womxn and Enbies of the Pacific Northwest is the culmination of Dr Julie Shayne’s Rad Womxn in the Global South class, a Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) course at the University of Washington Bothell (UWB). We couldn’t have created this project without our incredible librarians: UWB Digital Scholarship librarian Denise Hattwig and UWB GWSS librarian Penelope Wood. We also want to extend a special thank you to Kate Schatz, author of the Rad Women and Girls books, who made the time to speak to us about the process of researching and writing biographies. Each of the 20 students (and myself, the peer facilitator) chose a badass womxn, femme or nonbinary person (enby) and wrote an essay capturing their life. Students then divided into groups to complete the rest of the zine. We are very proud to include several trans and nonbinary people in this edition!
During the process of our zine, Dr Shayne has been our biggest cheerleader and our number one critic. I watched her push students past what they were used to – and often farther than they wanted to be – because she knew that they were capable. As students, when we have access to great opportunities, it is vital to present our best work in public projects so that they reflect well on us in the future. Putting in the time and energy now has a return on investment later. Some students clearly took inspiration from our badasses and put a commendable amount of effort into the project. A special thank you to Zachary Peeples and Nico Simmons who went above and beyond in their efforts to create an incredible video that investigated the history of zines and the riot grrrl movement. We also extend gratitude to the students who are fighting to balance college, work, family and other responsibilities for taking their limited time to contribute to this project.
We’d like to give final thank-yous to our amazing librarians, Denise Hattwig and Penelope Wood. Thank you, Kate Schatz, for your inspiration. Thank you, Dr Shayne, for your support and the considerable effort it took to bring this project to life. Thank you to the student authors of the previous volume who ironed out all the details, your work has made our project much smoother. Finally, thank you to the badass womxn and enbies featured here, and around the world who are making a difference. You are our inspiration to fight for our future!
