POC Zine Project Tumblr

Monday, July 2, 2012

POC Zine Project Tumblr

MISSION

POC Zine Project’s mission is to makes ALL zines by POC (People of Color) easy to find, share and distribute. Community and activism through materiality.

GOALS

POC Zine Project will curate a traveling POC zine exhibition, establish an archive, produce a website that shares POC zines and provide grants, tools and events for zinesters.

We are a new organization and appreciate your support. Share this site with your friends and keep an eye out for updates!

BACKGROUND

POC Zine Project was founded by Daniela Capistrano in 2010.

We want to make it easier for POC zine fans and their supporters to find a diverse selection of zines made by POC.

Zines are a vital component in the long tradition of self-publication. They share knowledge and experiences that supplement (and often contradict) the information that other sources distribute, encouraging free thought.

There are several valuable zine collections in the United States (many accessible online) but none that are devoted to curating POC zines while partnering with educators, universities, activist networks and DIY/punk networks of all stripes. We aim to change that.

BUT WHY IS IT CALLED ‘POC ZINE PROJECT’?

Daniela founded the POC (People of Color) Zine Project in 2010 after realizing how difficult it was to find old and new zines by people of color, both IRL and online. The same ones seemed to be in every zine distro and there was very little representation from POC at zine conferences and other zine events.

Books written about zines rarely included zinesters of color and Daniela was confused about why and how zinesters of color somehow seemed invisible within DIY and punk communities. It didn’t make sense, because she was a person of color who made zines and she knew there were more POC out there doing the same thing.

After complaining about this lack of visibility since 2002, Daniela finally decided to do something about it in 2010. She created a Facebook page and Twitter to promote zines by people of color and organized some events.

Through social media and IRL connections, Daniela found many friends and new allies such as the Barnard Zine Library, For the Birds Feminist Collective and Distro and more.

Word started to spread and it became clear that POC Zine Project was more than just a Facebook page, a Twitter account, some events and emails: Zinesters of color started supporting the project and our community continues to grow, slowly but surely.

Our mission is guiding us but we’re still not sure what the end result will be of POC Zine Project - but we’re excited to find out.