{"id":9542,"date":"2021-02-01T12:19:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T17:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/?p=9542"},"modified":"2021-06-02T12:33:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T16:33:44","slug":"earlhamites-magazine-celebrates-black-women-the-world-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/news-events\/earlhamites-magazine-celebrates-black-women-the-world-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Earlhamite’s new magazine celebrates black women the world over"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When sophomore Rutendo Magade left Zimbabwe to finish high school in Thailand, she quickly learned that personal hygiene products like soap made promises beyond cleanliness. The majority of soaps she could buy in stores also were advertised to lighten skin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skin whitening and skin bleaching is so common in Thailand that it\u2019s hard to even find normal soap in stores, just skin-whitening kind,\u201d said Magade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magade wasn\u2019t simply experiencing culture shock. She was also discovering an industry projected to be worth $24 billion by 2027, according to a recent World Health Organization report that decried use of the products because of health risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Magade, the experience was revelatory, and personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just remember feeling like Black people like me are not represented or seen at all in Thailand,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a demographic that is unrecognized and ignored. Even back home in Zimbabwe and in the United States there is a clear lack of representation and appreciation for people of color. Skin whitening is more common in other parts of the world than you would think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a sophomore at Earlham, Magade is using her observations as inspiration for a new magazine to change the way people with dark skin are viewed in popular culture. The self-published quarterly magazine is called\u00a0Munaku<\/em> which means beautiful person in Shona, a language in her native country of Zimbabwe. Black women are featured throughout the magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest issue, which was released online in November, is themed \u201cLove thyself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is for Black women everywhere. It\u2019s fitting that the articles are written by women from literally everywhere, including America, Africa and Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis is for Black women everywhere. It\u2019s fitting that the articles are written by women from literally everywhere, including America, Africa and Asia.\u201d \u2014 Rutendo Magade<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Does editing a magazine while being a physics and global management double major seem like it\u2019s too much? Not in the least. Not if you\u2019re asking Magade, who only wishes it were practical to have five majors. Earlham\u2019s art, English and African and African American studies programs were also attractive to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI chose physics because I just love it,\u201d she said. \u201cGlobal management was important to me because I wanted to know more about how to run a successful magazine company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love to draw and I also wanted to pursue art as a major,\u201d she said. \u201cWith coming to America, there\u2019s such a different conversation around Africa and African Americans, and that was intriguing. With English, I just love to write. I just have a lot of interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still, Magade finds that Earlham\u2019s commitment to the liberal arts gives her the academic freedom to explore virtually all of them in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still am taking some art classes,\u201d she said. \u201cAs for English, editing for my magazine is going to have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Media contact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brian Zimmerman<\/strong>
Director of media relations
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Email: zimmebr@earlham.edu
Phone: 765.983.1256<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n