POC ZINE PROJECT

Posts tagged itoro udofia

SCENE REPORT: Oasis for Girls and The POC Zine Workshop

By Liz Mayorga, POCZP West Coast Coordinator 

Photos by Itoro Udofia, POCZP Intern

The Oasis for Girls Program, located on Mission St in San Francisco, serves under-resourced girls and young women ages 11-24. They focus on empowering women by helping them reach their full potential through lifeskills, art, and career planning. They are part of Writer’s Corps, which brings professional writers to teach youth.

These writers are placed in a community setting to encourage youth to explore their talents and dreams. Oasis for girls creates a safe space within that spectrum for African American, Arab, Latina, Native, Ascian-Pacific Islander, low-income, immigrant women, transgender and queer women. And I felt honored to work with them as part of the POC Zine Project on March 27, 2013.

Oasis for Girls and The POC Zine Workshop Students and Roseli Ilano, WritersCorps Teaching Artist, Oasis for Girls, (center) at the POCZP Youth Zine Workshop on March 27, 2013, at the San Francisco Arts Commission

Itoro and I had the pleasure of leading a POCZP Youth Zine Workshop for Oasis for Girls. We met Roseli Ilano, the Writer’s Corps teacher, at the San Francisco Arts Commission. She greeted us with a warm smile, and introduced us to eight students, all young women of color from different High Schools in San Francisco.

Roseli lead us into a conference room, asked the girls to take a seat, and everyone introduced themselves, awkwardly, like the way we do when we’re in conference rooms, but it didn’t take long for this group to open up. Roseli created a level of comfort that not only encouraged the girls to speak, but helped me and Itoro feel at home.

We started by talking about The POC Zine Project, it’s mission, and our involvement in it. We covered how zines allow people to write between different worlds and form communities, and why they’re so important to communities of color. We highlighted these points with examples of work by Tomás Moniz, Mimi Thi Nguyen, and Osa Atoe.

The girls were impressed to hear about a father who writes about his daughters and his own struggle to help them stay strong and true to themselves, were surprised to hear about a Professor who started off as a zinester, and a musician who broke all norms and expectations by following her passion and creating the fanzine she wanted see. Most of all, they were happy to see people writing about people and topics we’re told to ignore.

After a brief history of zines as a radical self-expression and DIY publishing, we showed examples of Youth Zines and moved on to create one-page minis. This part of the workshop started with a circle and ended with a circle. Itoro asked, “If you could write about anything, what would you write?” We went around sharing the topics that were on our minds.

The topics varied from sexuality to social-economic issues, how women were too often blamed for being assaulted, and how their experience of San Francisco was nothing like the San Francisco people expected to see.

Roseli asked the girls to arrange the art supplies. As they did and prepared to create their minis, I asked them to make two or three zines, and proposed for them to write about the most important women in their lives, unless they wanted to write about something else. Most of the girls wrote about the women they admired, their mothers and grandmothers, their friends and role models.

We ended the workshop by going around the circle again, sharing our minis, our stories with each another.

I can safely say that Itoro and I gained a lot from working with this group of women. Making zines is gratifying, but it doesn’t come close to the satisfaction I feel when working with other people, especially youth, on art projects. Roseli and the girls were a wonderful group: curious, intelligent, engaging, and they had a lot to say.

I felt privileged to be there, to be a part of their circle, and to see their zines.

TESTIMONIAL

"The POC Zine Project creates a space for young women of color to explore their stories in a fun and fresh medium- a medium where the only rule is to take risks and let your creativity soar.

Our young women raised their voices, told their truths, and shared their dreams on paper, fully supported by the POC Zine Project workshop facilitators. In the process they not only learned about the radical history of zinemaking, but became a part of it.” - Roseli Ilano, WritersCorps Teaching Artist, Oasis For Girls

For more information on the Oasis for Girls program:

Phone: (415) 701-7991

FAX: (415) 701-0131

MAIL: Oasis For Girls, 1008 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103

OR WALK-IN: Office Hours are Mondays – Fridays from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

EMAIL: sfoasis@sfoasis.org

On the Web: www.sfoasis.org

Blog: sfoasis.blogspot.com

ABOUT LIZ MAYORGA

Liz Mayorga is an MFA Writing candidate at California College of the Arts. She writes and illustrates comics and storybooks, often featuring monsters. Her inspiration comes from her crazy family and Chican@ Pop Culture.

She is the Co-Director of San Francisco Zine Fest, and is now happy to be part of the POC Zine Project.

Learn more about her here: lizmayorga.com

COMMUNITY: Learn more about POCZP internship & volunteer opportunities here. We are still accepting applications. 

If you are interested in POCZP leading a workshop or other event in collaboration with your organization - worldwide - email poczineproject@gmail.com. 

Scene Report: Exploring Rock Paper Scissors Collective (RPS)

Words and photos by Itoro Udofia, Legacy Series Intern

Rock Paper Scissors Collective Feb 2013

The Rock Paper Scissors Collective (RPS) is located in the heart of downtown Oakland’s cultural district. RPS holds one of the largest zine libraries on the West Coast and, as its mission statement says, it “fosters creativity and collaboration in order to strengthen local communities and encourage sustainable practices and alternative models.” RPS uses its space to hold many different aspects of creativity - from zines; to visual art; to performances; to art making workshops and (most importantly) forming collaborative relationships with the community.

During my visit I immediately noticed the friendly and open atmosphere. I was able to connect with Kristi, a collective member at RPS.

EDIT: POCZP intern Itoro Udofia & RPS collective member

Kristi does a lot of community work and coordinates the youth intern program. I observed several young women of color at RPC making zines as part of their internship.

Teen zinester of color at RPS, February 2013

RPS Collective 20

Kristi informed me that RPS is in the middle of cataloging all their zines. This made finding zines by POC during my visit challenging - but not impossible, and we understand their constraints as a grassroots, volunteer entity. Kristi was able to help me locate some zines by POC, which are listed at the bottom of this post.

RPS is an example of what a thriving, deeply grassroots alternative space can look like. This alone made the visit worth it, and I will be back again.

Here are five more things that you should know about Rock Paper Scissors Collective’s community space:

It’s a YOUTH SPACE

Part of what makes RPS so vital to the community is that it creates a safe and inclusive space for youth - specifically, I saw youth of color making zines and coming in for the youth intern programing. RPS is known for its youth programming, and thankfully it’s free or low cost. To see youth coming in on a Thursday afternoon and having a free space to hang out was a sight to behold.

POCZP: How does RPS serve the community?

Kristi: Everyone’s welcome here. It doesn’t matter who you are. We’re not a museum/hands off gallery…We only showcase emerging artists, we do open calls, group shows…everything is free and affordable…Anyone can teach classes. Community collaborations are a major component here. We also run programs at high schools and have a zine fest (East Bay Alternative Express and Zine Expo).

RPS focuses on the need for art within the community. Zines are a facet of that as, it is super alternative and accessible.

BAY AREA COMMUNITY: RPS is looking for volunteers to help catalog the zine library on Sunday. Contact them if you’re interested in helping out! <3

It’s an ACCESSIBLE SPACE

The classes offered at RPS’s are free or low cost. Anyone can teach a class, volunteer, and access the zine library. Its store sells clothing, artwork and zines from local artists. It also gives an open call to artists for exhibits. When inquiring further about zines, the staff member on site spoke of zines being “alternative” and “a way for anyone to get their voice out.” I was struck most by its accessibility in making art that responds to the community’s need and fostering dialogue. That was my biggest take away while being there.

It’s a COLLABORATIVE SPACE

RPS thrives most when it can collaborate and form relationships within the community. They do work with schools, offer free workshops to the public, and work with local artists (just to name a few of their collaborations). Also, they can be seen at the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest where they are showcased every year!

It’s a COMMUNITY SPACE

A community space in the sense that it seeks to be a non-hierarchal, inclusive organization, that turns no one who wants to volunteer or become a member away. From speaking with some of the staff, the energy of wanting to build and form a sustaining community was present. A volunteer came in to paint the steps and there was an overall sense of camaraderie and joy for the work.

It’s a STRUGGLING AND OPEN SPACE

I am always aware of the need for a space where there can be love and struggle. And I would be remiss if I acted like everything is always “a walk in the park” within the movement. Or more importantly, that our spaces of struggle and those deep places where we need to decolonize cannot be openly talked about.

So here it is: RPS is a grassroots collective trying to do a lot with a little. Its zine library needs a lot of love and cataloguing. It also needs to have a space where zines by POC can be easily accessed, located and shared. Within our movement, this is a struggle, and I was happy at the level of openness and receptiveness to having support in that.

If you’re on the West Coast and in the Bay area, walking around in Oakland, check out the Rock Paper Scissors Collective. They are open on Wednesday-Sunday, from 12-7 and located at 2278 Telegraph Avenue. See for yourself and make your own assessment. Also, they are looking for Sunday volunteers to help catalogue with the zine library. If you’re looking for a place to support that is doing much needed community work, consider going to RPS.

In the meantime, here are five zines by or about POC that I would recommend. If you are ever at RPS please check them out.

1. The Combination by Ashley Nelson in collaboration with the Neighborhood Story Project

A moving personal-political soul trip of  one of the oldest housing complexes in New Orleans.

RPS zine library item: The Combination by Ashley Nelson

2. Polarity by Ras Terms

A metaphysical mind trip that explores the duality of spirituality and its metaphysical roots.

Polarity by Ras Terms

Ras Terms was born and raised in Miami. As part of the BSK and FS crews, he was a pivotal figure in the Miami graffiti scene. Terms is a gifted illustrator and painter who has provided many images for the Rastafarian community. Since his arrival in the Bay Area he has established himself as a character graffiti artist and has lent his talents to serve the community.

3. EZLN Communiques: Memory from Below

A zine about the Zapatista movement in Chiapas Mexico. Zapatista thought and knowledge on the struggle against neoliberalism and predatory financial institutions.  Published by Agit Press (formerly known as Porcupine Press)

EZLN Comminques: Memory from Below

4. ML

A zine featuring the distinctive artwork and design from West Coast based visual artist Marcus La Farga. http://marcoslafarga.com

RPS 44

5. Murder Dollhouse by Teppei Ando

Based in the 1920s, a beautifully illustrated comic book thriller about a man who lives in an attic. Published by Volcano Productions. http://murderdollhouse.com

Murder Dollhouse by Teppei Ando

———————————————————

Rock Paper Scissors Collective

rock paper scissors collective is a volunteer-run organization that fosters creativity and collaboration in order to strengthen local communities and encourage sustainable practices and alternative models. We promote the sharing of ideas, skills, and resources through the celebration of art, craft, education, and performance.”

questions -[at]- rpscollective -[dot]- org
510.238.9171
2278 Telegraph ave., Oakland, CA 94612
Hours: 12 - 7pm, Wednesday - Sunday.
Closed Monday and Tuesday.

ABOUT ITORO UDOFIA

Itoro is the first dedicated intern for the POC Zine Project’s Legacy SeriesItoro’s excited to support POCZP because ”it is a collective that uplifts and cares about what people of color have to say and acknowledges what they have always said.” Learn more about her here.

ABOUT ‘SCENE REPORTS’

Would you like to help us create Scene Reports for every state? Contact us: poczineproject@gmail.com.

If you would like to invite POC Zine Project to your upcoming event, or collaborate on a joint event, let us know!

Editor’s Note: Itoro will be creating weekly Scene Report round ups. Make sure to send us your zine event details so we can share! If it’s not zine-related but possibly of interest to zinesters of color, we will share that as well.

What I learned from … ‘reading all six issues of Shotgun Seamstress’

EDIT: Shotgun Seamstress (all six issues)

By Itoro Udofia, Legacy Series Intern

Itoro recently read all six issues of Shotgun Seamstress in a row. Here is what she learned from them:

It’s hard to speak to everything the Shotgun Seamstress zine collection taught me. It really does give you everything: interviews, stories, being queer, black, punk, female, broke, weird, loving music, knowing your history, loving yourself…it draws from a lot of sources and that right there sums up this history of the punk scene and the Black experience: We pull from everywhere and we survive and thrive too.

That’s my biggest lesson, but here are five more just for good measure:

1. WE need our people

Reading Shotgun Seamstress opened my eyes to our need for each other’s affirmation, community and understanding while trying to do the impossible: live in the margins. It’s important that when we find each other, we do what we can to build community and lift each other up, usually we’re the only black face in the white crowd. Many of the punk rockers, artists, drag queens, musicians, made that clear in Shotgun Seamstress. From how white the punk scene is, specifically, and how black folks are constantly pushed to the margins, it’s important for us, as Audre Lorde so eloquently puts it, “to practice how to be tender with one another.” I was shocked and awed to see the type of love and gentleness Shotgun Seamstress had to the multiplicity of voices it brought in.

2. Our struggles affirm one another

THE WOMEN OF COLOR IN PUNK CONFERENCE organized by Osa Atoe was talked about in the zine series as an affirming experience for women of color and a place of knowledge on a personal, political and historical level. It gave a space to share and think about how women of color could carry the torch forward and make life easier for young punksters participating in zine culture.

3. Don’t you yuck my yum

Stop commodifying my shit and learn your gotdamn herstory mofo!—Who are you to tell me what punk is? What a black punk is? What I should look like or sound like? Who are you to buy my shit, sell my shit, exploit my shit, silence my shit and then tell ME what to do!

One of the points that Shotgun Seamstress addresses is the African roots of punk and the importance of knowing that we stand in a long line of black peoples who made most of the music that we hear what it is. Let’s remember where things come from:

“Yes, rock and roll and almost the entire American pop pantheon comes from the blood sweat, and tears of sharecroppers, slaves and disenfranchised people.” — Chris Sutton

4. DO NOT leave any of yourself out of the equation

It all counts and all parts of ourselves need to be in our analysis and knowledge of our conditions. The fearlessness that the many voices had in Shotgun Seamstress in reclaiming the weird, the awkward, the queer, the difference in ourselves has to be a part of our liberation processes. Especially when looking at how to address our experiences, the personal is political and we should always question a scene-movement that expects us to leave an aspect of ourselves (that they don’t want to swallow) at the door. 

5. Be an Ally not a Disappointment

Not gonna spend too much energy on this point, but a recurring issue that was highlighted throughout Shotgun Seamstress was the need for more allies, specifically white allies to “not talk that talk, if you ain’t gonna walk that.” Disappointment when we fail each other in this way does not even begin to cover it.

Some more key truths that I took away can be found below.

Life calls for resourcefulness, especially when you are on the margins…  

Black punksters might be “obscure” but they have always been here…

Be courageous enough to break the silence…

If you don’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love someone else?…

Rock on, stay strong… 

What were your take aways? What resonated most with you?

Join the conversation and if you haven’t read the Shotgun Seamstress zine collection, please do and add your thoughts.

____________________________

ABOUT SHOTGUN SEAMSTRESS

Created by POCZP member Osa Atoe well before POCZP existed, Shotgun Seamstress was a black punk fanzine that also focuses on black queer & feminist artists and musicians.

The final issue of Shotgun Seamstress zine was completed in the fall of 2011.  Now, all six issues are compiled in a book that was published by Mend My Dress Press.

The first issue of Shotgun Seamstress came out in August of 2006. Read issue #1 for free here:

ABOUT ITORO UDOFIA

Itoro is the first dedicated intern for the POC Zine Project’s Legacy SeriesItoro’s excited to support POCZP because ”it is a collective that uplifts and cares about what people of color have to say and acknowledges what they have always said.” Learn more about her here.

Editor’s Note: 

'What I learned from …' is a new feature that you will find on POCZP’s digital platforms. POCZP will share zine analysis by and for POC to affirm our experiences and interpretation of independently created POC publications. We are starting a dialog.

POCZP Interns can contribute (learn about our internship program here) to this ongoing feature, as well as ANYONE who is interested in reading POC zines and reflecting on them. The only requirement is that you must identify as a person of color.

Email poczineproject@gmail.com if you would like to write the next 'What I learned from …' edition. Put “What I learned from …’ ” in the subject line and include the following in the email body:

1) The zine, or series of zines, you want to read and review

2) Indicate if you already have access to the zine/s or need assistance accessing them

3) Include links to three writing samples, or submit three new writing samples (zine reviews or book reviews)

That’s it! <3

Scene Report: Spring 2013 Zine Events on the West Coast

POCZP Scene Report graphic: Spring 2013 West Coast Edition

By Itoro Udofia, Legacy Series Intern

The West Coast is bringing you some awesome zine events coming to L.A, Oakland, San Francisco, Portland and Oregon. If you find yourself on a search for zines that speak truth to power and written by ordinary people who create their own alternative press, then don’t miss out! Come out, get tips, make your own zine and learn more about creating these much needed spaces to have our voices heard.

Don’t miss out, bring a friend and get involved. We’ll see you there!

These events are just a sampling of what’s going on and represent zine events open to everyone. When information is provided, we will include accessibility details.

LOS ANGELES

Use Your Words!: A Reading with Tomas Moniz, Artnoose, Ariel Gore, Jillian Lauren & Jerry Stahl
Friday, February 15

Stories Books and Cafe
1716 West Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

7:30-9pm PST - FREE

Tomas will be part of POCZP’s panel at L.A. Zine Fest as well.

LA Zine Fest at the Ukranian Cultural Center
Sunday, February 17

The Ukrainian Cultural Center
4315 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
11am - 5pm
PST - FREE

All workshops and discussions are FREE, however there is limited seating at the Moth, so if you really want to see something, be sure to get there early to snag a seat in time.

Multiple panels and other events are going down, including the following:

Anthologizing Your Zine with Mend My Dress Press
Mend My Dress Press’ workshop offering up some strategies to help you begin the process of anthologizing your zine, touching on everything from choosing content to suggestions for publishing. Get advice from the Press’ founders and authors in the flesh!

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
@ The Moth Theatre

POC Zine Project presents: Beyond ‘Race Riot’: People of Color in Zines from 1990s-Today

Join POC Zine Project members Cristy C. Road, Osa Atoe, Mariam Bastani, Suzy X, Tomas Moniz and POCZP founder Daniela Capistrano as they reunite after the 2012 Race Riot! Tour at L.A. Zine Fest. POCZP members will present a multimedia reading and discussion, as well as answer questions about their experience traveling to 14 cities and six universities on the Race Riot! tour, strategies for building community, and more.

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
@ The Moth Theatre

Check the schedule for specifics on other panels.

BAY AREA
 
Zine Reading with Mend My Dress Press at Needle & Pens
http://mendmydress.com/2013/01/09/were-goin-on-tour/
Wednesday, February 13
Needle & Pens,  7 PM

Zine Reading with Mend My Dress Press at The Holdout http://mendmydress.com/2013/01/09/were-goin-on-tour/
Thursday, February 14
The Holdout, 7:30 PM

MakeArt Workshop with DIY Rubber Band Books at Bayview Branch Library
Saturday, February 23
12:30 - 2:00PM
Drop-in, no registration required
Free and open to the public

Bayview Branch Library
5075 Third Street 
San Francisco, CA 94124

Learn this simple book-making technique using only two materials: paper and colorful rubber bands. Use your book as a journal, photo album, sticker book or planner!

DIY Zine Making Workshop at Rock Paper Scissors Collective
Thursday, February 28 Every 4th Thursday from 6-8pm Sliding scale cost $1-$10 questions -[at]- rpscollective -[dot]- org
2278 Telegraph ave., Oakland, CA 94612510.238.9171

Led by Price Cobbs who says “I am an office worker by trade, with an interest in the arts.  Like many, I have at times made unauthorized fliers and booklets on my employer’s copy machines. I am excited by the thought of using my office photocopy skills to produce a multi-page magazine.”

Zine Making Workshop at Makeshift Society
Wednesday, March 6
Makeshift Society 235 Gough St., San Francisco, CA 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM This event is $25-20 dollars, depending on your membership status.

Bookish Beasts at the Center for Sex and Culture Library and Archive
Sunday, April 14

8AM - 6PM PST

1349 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103

[Between 9th and 10th Streets, on the corner of Grace Street]

Zine & Comic Book Festival —details to come.

PORTLAND, OREGON

Annual Stumptown Comics at the Oregon Convention Center
Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28 Sat. 10-6, Sun. 12-6 

777 NE ML King Blvd.
Portland, OR 97232

Entering its tenth year as an organization, the annual Stumptown Comics Festival has been a staple of Portland, Oregon’s vibrant comics community that’s home to artist collective like Periscope Studios and Tranquility Base, along with publishers such as Dark Horse Comics, Top Shelf Productions, and Oni Press. Overseen by a board of professionals in the industry, Stumptown Comics, Inc. has progressed thanks to the valuable time of efforts of its volunteers.

WEST COAST CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

This isn’t technically a zine event but we wanted to share this anyway:

Humboldt State University (HSU) Asian Pacific Islander American Student Alliance’s (A.P.A.S.A) zine call for submissions!! APASA’s goal is to create a space for people who identify within pan-Asian Pacific Islander ethnicity at HSU to gather and find camaraderie. They also seek to form alliances with other groups and the local community in an effort to increase awareness and appreciation of the diversity that exists within their group and how we identify as Asian, Asian American, South Asian, and Pacific Islanders, & to work in solidarity to engage their differences.

Get your creative work or your local resource/business published in the A.P.A.S.A Pan-Asian Pacific Islander ZINE. A paper printed version will be published & distributed as part of the March Pan-API Perspectives festival.

February 20, 2013: Deadline to submit pieces for the paper version of the zine, to apasa@humboldt.edu

What is the “Pan-API Zine?

It is an online resource open to HSU students and the Humboldt County community at large to share stories, reflections, art, and poetry, which focus on experiences & perspectives of pan-Asian Pacific Islander ethnicity. The Pan-API Zine is a place to list and find different community resources, including local non-profits & businesses that offer services in relation to the pan-API perspective.

While this online Zine was created as part of the Pan-API Perspectives festival that will take place from March 25-30, 2013, it is also an ongoing and living resource for the community to share learnings and resources before the festival and after as well.

COMMUNITY: Did we miss any Spring 2013 West Coast zine events? Submit here and we’ll update this post.

Would you like to help us create Scene Reports for every state? Contact us: poczineproject@gmail.com.

If you would like to invite POC Zine Project to your upcoming event, or collaborate on a joint event, let us know!

Editor’s Note: Itoro will be creating weekly Scene Report roundups. Make sure to send us your zine event details so we can share! If it’s not zine-related but possibly of interest to zinesters of color, we will share that as well.

Meet POCZP’s first Legacy Series intern: Itoro Udofia!

EDIT: Itoro Udofia: First dedicated intern for POCZP's Legacy Series (Spring 2013)

NAME: Itoro Udofia

ROLE: First dedicated intern for the POC Zine Project’s Legacy Series

REGION: West Coast, USA

COMMUNITY: Join us in welcoming Itoro! You’ll be seeing her contributions manifest on this Tumblr and in other digital and physical spaces very soon …. <3

Bio: Itoro is a first generation writer, artist, and educator of Nigerian origin living in the Bay Area. She develops programs for youth of color (Youth Programs Associate at the Museum of the African Diasporawhere they have a space to honor their histories and thrive. You can find her writings on Your World News, People of Color Organize, Rain and Thunder: A Radical Feminist Journal, Womanist Musings, and her own blog Thoughts of my Mind. Her writings focus on the intersections and dynamics of race, class, gender, power, survival/healing and education.

She also teaches an African History course and when she is not doing that, she works closely with a community organization dear to her heart, working to abolish the school to prison pipeline and hearing the youth speak their truth to move to action. She is happy to be a Bay Area resident and feels like here, she has found a bit of peace and a bit of home!

Itoro’s excited to be an intern with the POC Zine Project because it is a collective that uplifts and cares about what people of color have to say and acknowledges what they have always said.

Some texts that furthered her political consciousness and commitment to uplifting the voices of POC and their struggles are The Revolution Starts at Home, This Bridge Called My Back and Steve Biko’s I Write What I Like: Selected Writings. All these zines and texts named what it means to speak out from the margins and hold to ones principle in building a world that includes us all, and calls for a life of love and continued struggle in ALL our spaces, seen and unseen. Moreover, with many people coming out from the margins, she did not feel alone.

Ultimately, Itoro hopes to be a part of a larger community committed to making our written word available, accessible and visible. Other perks to the internship are gaining more knowledge and organizing with radical zinesters. As an intern, she hopes to further her knowledge about zine culture and help get our Voices out. She is excited and ready to begin this journey and is happy to call the POC Zine Project her media home.

COMMUNITY: Learn more about POCZP internship & volunteer opportunities here. We are still accepting applications for the Summer and Fall sessions. 

IN ITORO’S OWN WORDS

Here are some excerpt from her application that are important to share:

Zine culture, specifically the material production of our knowledge is important to me because our voices are often co-opted, misused or completely erased in the literary canon. I have experienced this dangerous and painful trend most profoundly as an educator within the context of radical and progressive education. Save for bell hooks, Sonia nieto, Michele Foster and a few other people of color directly explaining the intricacies of power and privilege as a teacher of color, outlining a liberatory pedagogy through navigating a hostile terrain and offering something invaluable to the field through articulating underlying race, class and gender dynamics, it was difficult to fully relate to radical literature. I found that much of its thought and analysis was filtered through a white liberal/radical context. Even the class analysis was lacking because the white elephant in the room, white supremacy, was not directly dealt with. These power dynamics alone, the dynamics of who gets listened to, who controls the written word, who controls the publishing house, the way information gets told is what fuels my commitment to writing and working with people of color to have complete autonomy over their material.

… The POC Zine project is necessary at this particular time where knowledge and overall experiences are actively ignored.  Centering people of color’s material contributions as a source of  is important, and is a part of honoring a larger history of people who kept going in spite of these hurdles.  

SOME OF ITORO’S WRITING

In a Quiet Place, A Radical Profeminist (Fall 2012)  

In a Quiet Place, The Black Feminist Manifesto (Fall 2012)

In a Quiet Place, Your World News (Fall 2012)  

Missy Anne’s on the lookout for me, Your World News (Summer 2012)  

And When You Leave, Take your Pictures with you, Your World News (Spring 2012) 

Black Power, Leadership and Privilege, Your World News (Winter 2012)

Shedding the Tears, Looking Back, Moving Forward, People of Color Organize (Winter 2012) 

Conversations with a Student Teacher of Color, Womanist Musings (Fall 2010) 

ABOUT THE LEGACY SERIES

Kicking off with FIRE!!, POC Zine Project will make zines by people of color created from the 1700s-1990s available to read and share.

Every Friday (Editor’s note: date pushed to February), you will find a legacy zine by a person of color on poczineproject.tumblr.com. We will share more details in 2013.

WHY WE ARE FOCUSING ON LEGACY ZINES

People of color in the U.S. have produced independent publications (zines) for decades. Many of these zines were political in nature, creating cracks in the lens of white supremacy that shaped (and continues to inform) popular culture and legislation.

These zines were new maps to our liberation, countering the negative propaganda of what people of color looked like, thought and were capable of achieving.

We want the world to know about these legacy zines, so we are going to archive and share them to the best of our ability.

We look forward to partnering with distros, academic spaces, libraries, anti-authoritarian collectives, literary journals, bloggers and more to share the Legacy Series.

"NEW" ZINESTERS: We will still share information about new and upcoming zines by people of color :) Please continue to submit your zines to the archive.

ABOUT THE RACE RIOT! TOUR

POC Zine Project held its first Race Riot! Tour in 2012, producing 20 events in 14 cities, which included speaking engagements at six universities. Click here to view photos from the POC Zine Project: 2012 Race Riot! Tour tour finale at Death By Audio in Brooklyn and access all the tour stop recaps.

We will be taking the Race Riot! Tour through 14 more cities in 2013. Stay tuned!

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

You can also send well-concealed cash or a check! Email daniela@dcapmedia.com for details or if you have questions.

Info about the poverty zine series: http://bit.ly/RLVTVt
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