Profile: gal-dem’s Liv Little Has Achieved A Lot
gal-dem founder Liv Little. Image: Instagram @livslittle
By Anam Alam
When Olivia Little was studying Politics and Sociology at the University of Bristol, she saw the lack of diversity within her campus and was angered by it. Born to a Jamaican-born father and mother of Guyanese descent, Little wanted to connect with women of colour in Bristol and beyond. In 2015, Little decided to launch an online platform called gal-dem - written by women, for women.
Initially, Little had no plans to turn the platform into a business but gal-dem has now extended its connection to including non-binary people of colour and the publication is produced by over 70 women and non-binary people of colour in and outside the UK. With its workforce, gal-dem strives to confront the current journalistic landscape of 94% white and 55% male.
gal-dem is devoted to telling the stories of women and non-binary people of colour and encourages people of their demographic to share them. Its stories not only address inequality and misrepresentation, but topics like sex, music and mental health are also regularly addressed by gal-dem.
The publication also covers news, music, life, culture, politics, and astrology from in-depth essays to features, recounting personal stories and sharing opinions. Little explains in her interview with Campaign that gal-dem tries to cultivate an online and in-real-life community by building a connection between the community and the content.
It’s not just representation; through their stories, gal-dem hopes to pave the way for debates, new discussions and contribute to tackling issues surrounding society. The platform also has several events like talks, workshops, exhibitions and Instagram Lives which avid readers can attend to interact with gal-dem and gain inspiration.
In 2016, gal-dem ‘took over’ the Victoria & Albert Museum as a part of its Friday Lates series, where all aspects of contemporary visual culture and design in society are celebrated. The takedown featured work by contemporary young artists of colour, giving them a spotlight that is only now being recognised.
To help spread the message, gal-dem readers can contribute by becoming a member, with fans having the option to choose from six different paid memberships, and there is also a store for fans to buy gal-dem merchandise like hoodies and accessories.
In its first year, gal-dem gave a platform for the underrepresented online. But to celebrate gal-dem’s first birthday, the first-ever print edition of the magazine was produced in 2016. The magazine is published every year in September, with each issue covering a specific theme relevant for that time. In 2019, the magazine published its first-ever book, “I Will Not be Erased”: Our Stories about Growing Up as People of Colour, a series of fourteen “joyous, funny and life-affirming” essays written by the magazine’s writers.
In the last five years, gal-dem has circulated over 2,000 articles and worked with several authors, artists, filmmakers and editors, giving women and non-binary people of colour a voice. The magazine also guest-edited an issue of The Guardian’s Weekend magazine to expand these voices in 2018. gal-dem has also been able to put almost a quarter of a million pounds straight into the community.
From all this, it’s clear that there’s little stopping Little. In an open letter to gal-dem’s readers, Little writes that she is not only proud of gal-dem’s success but thankful to all supporters and readers, and has announced an internship programme to give young people the tools to join the media and creative industry in 2019.
With project after project and story after story, there’s no doubt Little has and will achieve a lot.