POC ZINE PROJECT

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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

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

An important trend I’ve seen is that zines have become increasingly visual. Illustration, comics, photography—these were always present in the zine world, but in LA, it seems like they are sort of enjoying a uptick in attention. Zines used to be these super-personal, super-political publications. My favorites were ‘perzines’ that made you feel like you were reading somebody’s diary or a note you got passed in class. I don’t see a whole lot of these anymore, but maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places! In LA at least, there’s of course a rich history of punk zines like Flipside and Slash, but there was a big-time explosion and appreciation for zines and their potential for illustrators and comics in the Asian-American community, something that Giant Robot famously encapsulated. My best friend is Filipina and growing up, to see stuff like that—it was awesome, like looking into a secret world. That’s what zines were always about, and something that continues to this day.

Bianca Barragan on the historical arc of the LA zine scene

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Note from POC Zine Project:

Zine culture is not monolithic (well, it shouldn’t be). It’s important for those documenting the history of zines to factor in how geography, gender, race, class and various communities inform zine culture from one region to the next.

lost-bros: Daniel A. Flores, “ENNUI” Zine Issue #2, published by SL Press, Los Angeles, Calfornia, 2012. ZINE SPOTLIGHT: Ennui Issue Zine #2 (2012) (is now available in full color and B&W) CREATORS: featuring Mario Ayala (Lost Bros/Uprise) and Daniel A. Flores (SL Collective/Lost Bros).  LOCATION OF ORIGIN: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  WHERE TO BUY: ETSY RELATED LINKS: stilllifepress.tumblr.com/, lost-bros.tumblr.com/ Still Life Press will be at the first annual Inland Empires Zine Fest on November 17, 2012!

lost-bros:

Daniel A. Flores, “ENNUI” Zine Issue #2, published by SL Press, Los Angeles, Calfornia, 2012.

ZINE SPOTLIGHT: Ennui Issue Zine #2 (2012) (is now available in full color and B&W)

CREATORS: featuring Mario Ayala (Lost Bros/Uprise) and Daniel A. Flores (SL Collective/Lost Bros). 

LOCATION OF ORIGIN: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 

WHERE TO BUY: ETSY

RELATED LINKS: stilllifepress.tumblr.com/, lost-bros.tumblr.com/

Still Life Press will be at the first annual Inland Empires Zine Fest on November 17, 2012!