By Joyce Hatton, POCZP Midwest Coordinator
Back in February of 2013, Joyce independently led a pocket zine workshop with Girl Scout Troop 30280, an all Native Girl Scout Troop in Fargo, North Dakota. Here is her recap:
On Wednesday February 20th I taught Girl Scout Troop 30280 how to make pocket zines. It was especially meaningful to me because Troop 30280 is an all Native Girl Scout Troop. I was grateful for an opportunity to pass on zine making skills to youth of color. (I wrote more about the troop here).
I met with them at the Native American Center, where the troop holds their meetings. The girls in the troop range from about 5 to 11 years old. One of the first questions I asked was how many of the girls were artists or writers, and all of them said they were!
I told them a little bit about the history of zines, which they weren’t very impressed with. They were, however, very impressed when I got out a stack of an unfolded pocket zines I’d written and told them “On this one sheet of paper, I wrote a book. And I published this book myself. I made twenty copies of my book for two dollars.”
I told them how cool zines were because they can be about anything you want. I asked some of the girls what they were interested in, and what they would want to make theirs about—overall the group was pretty interested in animals.
So I told them “You can make a zine about your favorite animal, and then you can copy it, publish it, and give it to your friends. Zines are a really cool way to teach your friends about things that you’re interested in.”
The girls seemed to be really excited about that. I felt like a broken record reiterating that “you can write about anything at all, anything that is important to you,” and “there’s no wrong way to make a zine,” but I really wanted to dissolve the fear of doing it perfectly so the girls could just dive in. Dive in they did!
Here are some pictures of the zines they made that evening:
Photo #1: A. doesn’t like to draw, so she wrote about animals in the zoo.
Photo #2: I was really impressed with the art in D.’s zine. She told me all about her technique for finger-painting with markers.
Photo #3: S. loves to read, so she wrote her zine about books. The book on the cover is called “Book of Doom.
Photo #4: The picture of this zine is cropped to keep identifying information out. M. had a huge blond streak in her hair, and talked about her mom’s salon quite a bit.
Photo #5: N. started out drawing animals, but decided to draw animals pooping.
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MAKE YOUR OWN POCKET AKA MINI-ZINE
Video by pinkyshow
DO YOU WANT TO BE A POCZP COORDINATOR LIKE JOYCE?
If you are in the Midwest and want to support POCZP with Joyce, let us know! We are also looking for representatives in every state, as well as regional support, as we build toward the National POC Zinester & Ally Conference/Convergence. Ideally you have some experience with organizing events and building community, but experience is not required. All are welcome. Priority will be given to people of color who apply but allies are definitely welcome.
Contact poczineproject@gmail.com for more details with “regional coordinator” as the subject line.
If you are outside the U.S. and want to be a part of our emerging POCZP Global Ambassadors program, email poczineproject@gmail.com as well to stay informed as opportunities arise.
SUPPORT POC ZINE PROJECT
If everyone in our community gave $1, we would more than meet our fundraising goal for 2013. If you have it to spare, we appreciate your support. All funds go to our 2013 tour, the Legacy Series and the poverty zine series.
DONATE link via PayPal: http://bit.ly/SHdmyh
On April 13, 2013, POCZP Midwest Coordinator Joyce Hatton attended MidWest Zine Fest for herself and on behalf of POCZP. She created this report back as part of POCZP’s advocacy to help address safer space issues and to encourage more communication/outreach between white zine fest organizers and POC in the community where the event is taking place.
As a result of Joyce’s recap, we have been directly in touch with MidWest Zine Fest organizers. Our advocacy is about building relationships and sharing resources—with the focus always being on the liberation of POC.
We understand the utility of call out culture but we prefer to directly address issues with people one on one. We have found this leads to more tangible positive change than simply reading someone/an entity online (although sometimes it is needed!).
Enjoy the recap and let us know what you think!
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MidWest Zine Fest 2013: The Awesome and the Not-So-Awesome
By Joyce Hatton
Joyce Hatton and POCZP member Mimi Thi Nguyen at MidWest Zine Fest 2013 (photo by Joyce Hatton)
On April 13th, 2013, I attended MidWest Zine Fest in Urbana, IL.
There were two speakers: Joe Coyle, and Kevin Hamilton. There were 21 tablers listed on the schedule, but a few more attended than were listed- myself included. I met some really interesting people and left with a huge pile of zines. I was really glad I went. Other events that I didn’t attend included a photo scavenger hunt, a stencil workshop, a film screening, and a punk show.
THE AWESOME
Joe said:
“The voices of young people are often neglected in discussions about the justice system and other social issues. This talk showcases some creative work by detained young people that critically addresses these topics and imagines alternatives.”
A view of the crowd during Joe Coyle’s talk at MidWest Zine Fest 2013 (photo by Joyce Hatton)
Coyle commented that sometimes even auxiliary prison workers get flack for being a part of the broken system that is the PIC. As we talked we agreed there is value in the efforts of working through the system to improve the lives of incarcerated people, and value in working for radical change of the system.
Joe Coyle and Becca Sorgert tabling at MidWest Zine Fest 2013 with zines made by incarcerated youth and adults (photo by Joyce Hatton)
Joe and Becca Sorgert tabled zines written by incarcerated youth and adults as a fundraiser for the Beat Within thebeatwithin.org, an nonprofit magazine that publishes works by incarcerated youth.
Kevin Hamilton (on stage) speaking about the zine making process at MidWest Zine Fest 2013 (photo by Joyce Hatton)
Kevin’s talk was a bit hard to hear because there was no microphone and zine fest was very busy at that time. Fortunately I was able to borrow a copy of “A Place in Time,” and I really enjoyed reading it.
Kevin was motivated to make it after seeing a video of the 1967 TV show “Public Broadcasting Lab.” In the zine, images from one of the broadcasts were used to recap a discussion amongst students and faculty talk about racism on campus. Black students are very anxious to talk about it, and the white students and faculty much less so.
[POCZP Editor Annotation]
FROM LAST YEAR: Chicagoian Jonas of “Cheer the Eff Up” zine tabling at MidWest Zine Fest in 2012 (in the black hat and hoodie)
Photo Source: Nicole on WeMakeZines
Update via Jonas on FB:
The final 2 issues of Cheer the Eff Up will be available this year! #5 will be finished in time for The Portland Zine Symposium in August. Issue #6 will be done in early November!
In the meantime, you can get issues #1-3 at a few cool distros on the internets. The most recent issue #4 can be found through Mend My Dress Press or Portland Button Works.
Please support those distros, because they are run by some of my favorite zinesters on the planet. But, hell, I’m not going to lie to you: if you write me a letter asking for a zine or 2, I’ll probably just mail you stuff for free. Meh. I’m a sucker for mail. Message me privately for the P.O. Box addy.
Later gators,
-Jonas
[/POCZP Editor Annotation]
A view of the zine tablers at MidWest Zine Fest 2013 (photo by Joyce Hatton)
Participants during the stencil workshop at MidWest Zine Fest 2013 (photo by Joyce Hatton)
COMMUNITY & ALLIES: Here is where Joyce raises some very important concerns that we hope sparks an ongoing and collaborative conversation between white folks who organize events and POC in the communities where they hold these events. If we don’t address these issues, POC will continue to feel unwelcome, unsafe and shut out from community. We cannot abide this. <3 Let’s change the game.
THE NOT-SO-AWESOME
Joe spoke for incarcerated youth, which due to the institutional racism of the justice system, many were people of color. Kevin’s zine spoke to racism on University of Illinois campus during the 1960’s and in my opinion, serves as a reminder that at any moment any one of us could be an individual that shapes history.
I appreciated Joe’s talk, and Kevin’s zine very much, but I always feel uncomfortable when white people speak about racism to a white audience (there did not appear to be people of color sitting in the audience of either talk.)
I appeared to be one of two people of color tabling zines there. There were some people of color who attended the event, which I was very glad to see. But I think it’s very important for POCs to have an active role in events, to have an active voice in presenting information. It seems like a distraction to talk about issues of race out there when your own space isn’t integrated.
I spoke with event organizer Jeanie about the lack of POCs at the event. Jeanie said that some zinesters of color were planning on coming from Chicago, but were unable to at the last minute. We talked for a bit about the need for more representation of POCs at zine events, and discussed barriers and solutions to making that happen.
POCZP stopped by Urbana-Champaign last year and put on an event at the Independent Media Center where Midwest Zine Fest was held. A few people commented to me that they had attended. While it was exciting to hear that, it was a little discouraging hear at an event with so few POCs tabling zines at MidWest Zine Fest.
The zine said that ghosts followed Natives around, and encouraged ghost hunters to follow Natives around in order to hunt ghosts. I asked the tablers of the zine about it in and they said “it’s just a joke” and offered to give me my money back.
I told them I hadn’t bought the zine, I had just noticed it while flipping through it. They repeated “it’s just a joke,” a few times, and eventually one person said “oh, you know, our friend made that joke. She’s a member of United Tribes.”
This is even more troubling when put in the context of the still-active controversy surrounding University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s recently retired mascot Chief Illiniwek.
I approached him and had a brief conversation with him about the fact that “sissy” is a very loaded word that might make some people feel unwanted at the event, particularly given that he was tabling, which gives him the appearance of a person with power over the event. Dan was extremely polite, and offered to put on his sweatshirt to cover the shirt up.
We traded a couple of emails about our discussion a week or so later, and I think our interactions were very positive and educational for both of us.
I was very impressed with Dan’s immediate willingness to accept a new perspective, and complete lack of defensiveness.
I appreciate all the hard work the organizers did to host MidWest Zine Fest. I do not want to detract from the awesomeness of the event. What I wanted to do is give my honest perspective so that MidWest Zine Fest can grow to the be inclusive event that we all want it to be.
[/END]
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THOUGHTS FROM POCZP
POCZP founder Daniela Capistrano reached out to MidWest Zine Fest organizer Jeanie Austin this week after Joyce requested support.
Jeanie has been one of the organizers for the three MidWest Zine Fests, is a zine librarian with the UC-IMC Radical Librarians, goes to school for library science, and works with youth through Mix IT UP!
Here is the thread from our convo with Jeanie:
JOYCE’S EMAIL
Hi Jeanie and Daniela,Jeanie, Thanks for your email. I apologize for my lack of response. I appreciate that you shared your concerns and experiences with me, but I was really unsure how to respond to information that I was supposed to keep secret- not just off the POCZP tumblr, but from Daniela and others. I think that growth and accountability can only happen in an open, transparent environment.
If you do have any comments or notes that you want to go with the blog post, please let us know.
Thanks,
Joyce
To her credit, Jeanie responded in a very honest way that frankly we rarely see from white zine fest organizers after this kind of interaction:
JEANIE’S RESPONSE
joyce -i totally understand. i felt yucky as soon as i sent that e-mail. sorry to put you in that position.
i think that i would add this as an addendum to the notes “if i were to offer a word of advice to organizers who want to maintain safer spaces (which we do), there needs to be a lot of talk about what that looks like in action, including a patrol team that looks around and is ready to ENFORCE safer spaces (even if it means kicking folks out).”
PART OF POCZP’S RESPONSE
Hi Jeanie,
Thanks so much for weighing in. POCZP does not use call out culture tactics because (although we understand when it is needed), we find it more productive to focus on solutions directly with folks we’re addressing. So we really appreciate your response and will include your note in the write up later today.I would also like to suggest the possibility of us all brainstorming by google hangout later this week or next week ways to collaborate in the midwest moving forward, with Joyce being a part of that in ways that make sense for her/work with her schedule. <3 Let me know what you think.Warmly,Daniela
POCZP founder Daniela and Jeanie are in touch about ongoing collaborations. Daniela, Jeanie and Joyce will be speaking about issues that came up at MidWest Zine Fest in more detail in the coming weeks so that resulting solutions can be shared publicly.
Jeanie is like many zine fest organizers—a person with a lot of other stuff going on who is passionate about building community. She reached out to us earlier in 2013, in fact, to present at MidWest Zine Fest. She also approached POCZP about a possible collaboration with a juvenile detention center in Urbana, IL and made an introduction on our behalf with Joe Coyle, who oversees the writing project.
This post isn’t about “calling out” Jeanie or anyone else at MidWest Zine Fest. We are about building community and making safer spaces for POC.
COMMUNITY: Think about Jeanie’s comment:
to maintain safer spaces (which we do), there needs to be a lot of talk about what that looks like in action
This hits close to home for POCZP. We made our own mistakes during our first tour last year that we will not make again this year. We discussed these mistakes at Chicago Zine Fest and you can find all details within our prezi.
Despite POCZP being founded by a person of color, and being made up of POC and allies, we still made mistakes during last year’s tour that negatively affected some attendees. Some of our partner venues wouldn’t let people under 18 in, some of the venues were not wheelchair accessible and and we never created a Safer Space Policy for our volunteer event coordinators.
Even as POC, we need to examine our various privileges and how that informs the way we produce events.
So even as we ask the MidWest Zine Fest organizers to examine what went wrong and how to produce more inclusive events in the future, we continue to identify our own mistakes so that we can learn from them and then share that knowledge.
MidWest Zine Fest DID create a safer space policy. The challenge is (one that many event organizers face) how to make sure that everyone is adhering to that policy and whether or not everyone is one the same page about what the policy means.
These conversations about accessibility, inclusivity and white privilege can be awkward, yes. But we need to keep having them. All the time. That is the only way positive change can occur. We need to all be a part of the solution.
Another factor to consider when assessing how the same mistakes keep happening over and over is volunteer organizer turnover rates. If there isn’t a handoff of information and a training component to onboarding new volunteers, critical information doesn’t get transferred.
In the case of MidWest Zine Fest, there is talk that the festival may not event continue after this year (not confirmed). Jeanie herself will no longer be involved with planning the fest after this year, due to moving out of state.
Check out Joyce’s roundup of zine fest posters that includes a note about MidWest Zine Fest’s problematic poster choice.
Again, we aren’t interested in simply calling out issues and walking away. We appreciate the time and energy it takes to organize zine fests and would like to partner with MidWest Zine Fest (if it’s still around) in the future.
For additional context, here is a very positive review of MidWest Zine Fest written by a white male attendee. Here is another very positive review published by The Daily Illini.
Zine fest attendees can have very different experiences, even while being at the same event together. This is something to keep in mind when discussing what true inclusivity looks like.
COMMUNITY: How can we create a praxis - a constantly evolving framework - for zine fest organizers to reference as they build toward a goal of producing an event that is truly inclusive? We should all be sharing resources. Send us your ideas: poczineproject@gmail.com.
Also, feel free to reblog this recap and include your own thoughts and links to resources. We’ll be sure to find them and share <3
- POC Zine Project
I thought I noticed a trend regarding images of people on zine fest posters, so I googled “zine fest poster” and here is what I feel is an accurate sampling of what I saw:
Midwest Zine Fest
Appears to be a white woman.One of the LA Zine Fest posters.
Appears to be a white woman.Paper City in Melbourne.
Appears to be a white young woman.One of the Brooklyn Zine Fest posters.
Appears to be a white woman.Birmingham Zine Fest
Appears to be a large community of exclusively white people.Belgium Feminism Fest?
Appears to be women of color represented equally with white women.I’m not a fan of putting people on posters, for many reasons. It sends unintentional messages that often alienate people.
When a decision is made to use images of people on posters, I appreciate when there are alternate, person-free posters used as well. If I want to support the project by taking a couple of flyers or posters to give to friends, I want to be able to give them one I don’t have to apologize for.
And if images of people are used on posters, I do like it when it’s cartoony, rather than representational. The picture here, from Chicago Zine Fest 2011, is adorable. It shows people somewhere with many skin tones, even purple! And all the people in this fanciful place are the same. Whether they are young or old, purple or orange, they have the same love for reading zines!
Excellent analysis by POCZP Midwest Coordinator Joyce Hatton <3
We’d love to see more white folks who organize events factor in how representations of people at their events on materiality (physical and in digital form) both welcome and alienate POC.
A facet of white privilege is just assuming everyone is OK with an entire event being represented by a white person on a poster. That is no bueno. If you want more POC to attend your events, make your promotional materials more inclusive.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: August 1, 2013
RELEASE DATE: September 2013
CONTACT: ninjournal@gmail.com
From nin’s Tumblr:
welcome to nin, a journal of erotic poetics devoted to exploring sex and the body through language.
nin is currently accepting submissions for its inaugural issue in september 2013. please click on the SUBMIT tab for instructions on how to send us your work. submissions close august 1.
nin will appear in both print and digital formats. for more information about the journal and the motivations behind it, please click on the ABOUT tab.
check back here often for inspiration of the erotic (and nsfw) kind. nin’s primary goal is not to titillate, but if it is provocative and well written/produced, this is a common side effect. this does not mean that we overlook the raunchy. in fact, it might be our favorite.
finally, nin is run by queers, and is devoted to representing all sexualities, gender expressions and ethnicities in our publication. you are encouraged to submit if you are non-native, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, genderqueer, transgender and/or a person of color.
we look forward to receiving your work.
COMMUNITY: We encourage people of color of all backgrounds to submit to nin and other publications, as we need more records of more expressions of sexuality and gender from POC around the world—in OUR voices. xo
ZINE NAME: Women Who Rock: Making Scenes, Building Communities
AUTHOR: NA (compilation of POC and ally voices)
RELEASE: February 2013
ORIGIN: Los Angeles, California, USA
DESCRIPTION: Women Who Rock ‘Zine #1 is based on material created for, during, and inspired by the Women Who Rock Conference, which highlights both contemporary and past movements in and outside of Seattle by bringing together musicians, activists, writers, advocates, and scholars to talk about questions of female representation and access for women with music scenes. The first conference was held Feb. 17-18, 2011 in Seattle, Washington.
The ‘zine makes conference material accessible beyond typical academic journals.
READ NOW
As part of our advocacy, POCZP has made this publication available as an embed and free download so you can share as you like <3 Our dear ally Kate Wadkins has an essay you should check out on page 3 under Essays!
MORE INFO ABOUT WOMEN WHO ROCK http://womenwhorockcommunity.org/
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Editor’s Note: A Community Submission post results from POC folk submitting their own zine or zine call to be featured on the POC Zine Project Tumblr and other digital platforms. If you would like to share your zine with the POC Zine Project community, here’s how to do it.
When you submit, feel free to add some background, a description of your work and art and your mission statement. If you just send us the name of your zine, we’ll simply link back to a source for purchasing it and use the language you already have on your site.
As long as the zine was created/co-created by a person of color, we will always share Community Submissions. Enjoy!
POCZP accepts anonymous submissions and zine donations from POC. Click here for submission guidelines.
TITLE: QUARREL The Zine
AUTHOR: Bay Area survivor led group QUARREL
REGION: Bay Area, California, USA
DATE: 2013
DESCRIPTION: Stories of survivor self determination, direct action, strategies for safer spaces and ripping patriarchy to shreds.
QUARREL was a Bay Area affinity group that formed to take names and kick ass with an anti-colonial, queer, feminist, boot. We support the Self-Determination of survivors and use harm reduction inspired techniques in survivor led actions to transform our communities into safer spaces.
We worked towards developing alternatives for addressing harm outside of the misogyny, racism, and classism of the police state. We support and value accountability processes, see them as critical to the practice of transformative justice, and believe they can take many forms. In this work we have found the tools of harm reduction useful for addressing people with patterns of abuse who are unwilling to be accountable. we have confronted perpetrators of assault, set boundaries, presented community demands and shared information as an act of self defense.
READ NOW
QUARREL has made it possible to read the entire zine online and download it from their blog. A highlight for us was “insurrecto-eggers-esque” by Ralowe trinitrotoluene ampu (page 77).
POCZP founder Daniela Capistrano met Ralowe at the Anarchist People of Color Convergence in New Orleans in the summer of 2012, where we also met our first zine partner Xeryle of SlushPilePress!
DOWNLOAD
Booklet print layout:
http://quarrelthezine.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/quarrel_zine_booklet_final1.pdf
POCZP will be making a read-only/web friendly layout available soon as an embed and download. Bookmark this page, as we’ll add the link here.
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Editor’s Note: A Community Submission post results from POC folk submitting their own zine or zine call to be featured on the POC Zine Project Tumblr and other digital platforms. If you would like to share your zine with the POC Zine Project community, here’s how to do it.
When you submit, feel free to add some background, a description of your work and art and your mission statement. If you just send us the name of your zine, we’ll simply link back to a source for purchasing it and use the language you already have on your site.
As long as the zine was created/co-created by a person of color, we will always share Community Submissions. Enjoy!
POCZP accepts anonymous submissions and zine donations from POC. Click here for submission guidelines.
We LOVE OOMK! <3 We were happy to support their fundraiser in December of 2012 and have added their first issue to the archive.
[video]
“
There were heretics, but thousands of us were thrown on the fire. Most of all our memories were burned. The voice was replaced with paper, and a greater silence came to reign. Any stories that were not in their one Book were banished. Memories of magic, of healing, of speaking with the forest, of our origins, memories of the time when we shared everything and nothing was owned, were suppressed.
This is how they destroyed our roots. And this is why, on May Day, we tell stories. Stories of our lives, of our struggles, of the future we want, of a past we invent because we no longer remember it.
” —The Witch’s Child
i honestly wish that anarchists put more effort into writing weird stuff like myths. theory gets really boring as the only way that people wanna communicate ideas and i think that storytelling is a really important form of communication which is still present in some ways in what we do but not enough. (via hystericalqueen)
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Great comment via POCZP touring member Suzy X <3
POCZP founder Daniela Capistrano would like to add that storytelling - as a conduit for affirming and deconstructing our realities as POC - is a critical component of our past and upcoming Race Riot! tour.
(via brujacore)
Meet POCZP’s West Coast Coordinator Liz Mayorga!
Part of POC Zine Project’s advocacy is empowering new and seasoned zinesters of color in the U.S. (and soon worldwide) to share their stories while supporting other POC. Liz is the second official regional coordinator for POCZP (meet Joyce, our Midwest Coordinator, here). We are excited to share developments as this part of our experiment in activism and community through materiality unfolds.
LIZ, IN HER OWN WORDS
Liz was born in Los Angeles, California, but moved back and forth between Mexico and LA throughout her childhood. She is the youngest of three and the only female in a traditional, Catholic, Mexican-American family.
Though her brothers taught her how to throw a good punch, she was often confused by the strict gender roles in rural Mexican society, which told her to be passive and meek. Luckily, Los Angeles was a place where contradiction could exist, a place where you could an aggressive girl, and a Mexican Punk. LA and the influence of popular culture gave Liz an identity she could be proud of.
She moved to the Bay Area for school, but ended up falling in love with SF Zine Fest, and community of artists. They pushed her to pursue her passion for Art and Literature.
Liz now writes fiction and non-fiction, makes comics (check out Inked), and is a working illustrator. Her inspiration comes from her crazy family and Chican@ Pop Culture. She is the Co-Director of San Francisco Zine Fest (SFZF) and is now happy to be a part of the POC Zine Project.
See Liz in action at a recent POCZP Youth Zine workshop in San Francisco, where she led activities with assistance from POCZP intern Itoro Udofia.
Liz hopes to expand and connect the DIY West Coast community and serve as a resource. She wants DIY projects (and zines) by people of color to be especially accessible to youth, because she needed community this open and empowering as a teenager.
It is also a goal of hers to promote multi-media as a part of zine/DIY culture and expand the limits of what a zine could be, because artists, especially artists with a story to tell, need to be more visible.
Learn more about Liz here: lizmayorga.com
COMMUNITY: Join us in welcoming Liz. We are excited to support zine culture and POC storytelling on the West Coast! We will have several events in this region during the 2013 Race Riot! tour. Stay tuned for details …
DO YOU WANT TO BE A COORDINATOR LIKE LIZ?
If you want to support POCZP with Liz, other coordinators, interns and our touring members, let us know!
We are also looking for representatives in every state, as well as regional support, as we build toward the National POC Zinester & Ally Conference/Convergence. Ideally you have some experience with organizing events and building community, but experience is not required. All are welcome. Priority will be given to people of color who apply but allies are definitely welcome.
Contact poczineproject@gmail.com for more details with “regional coordinator” as the subject line.
If you are outside the U.S. and want to be a part of our emerging POCZP Global Ambassadors program, email poczineproject@gmail.com as well to stay informed as opportunities arise.
SUPPORT POC ZINE PROJECT
If everyone in our community gave $1, we would more than meet our fundraising goal for 2013. If you have it to spare, we appreciate your support. All funds go to our 2013 tour, the Legacy Series and the poverty zine series.
DONATE link via PayPal: http://bit.ly/SHdmyh