SIGNAL BOOST: Some zines from the Women of Color Zine Symposium, 2012

Excerpt (written by Jenna Freedman):

Last month I attended the Women of Color Zine Symposium in Portland, Oregon. As you may know, our collection development policy states our emphasis on zines by women of color, which is why it was important for me to zoom across the country for a two-day visit to the whitest city in America. It was great to connect with many email correspondents and Facebook friends like Cathy Camper, Emi Koyama, LaMesha Melton and Sugene Yang-Kelly and to meet a few new-to-me WOC zinesters.

These are the zines I bought:

All This Is Mine #17, by Sugene Yang-Kelly
Zines Y36a no. 17 2012
This is a crafty zine by a pregnant Korean-American librarian. Issue 17 focuses on craft projects, social networking, a trip to New York, and participating in The Sketchbook Project. Bonus: Sugene is responsible for this sticker:

Beloved Ones : Terms of Affection in the Arabic Language, by Cathy Khampoor and Timothy Batiuk
Zines F378h 2009
Also known as “Habibi Zine.”

Cocoa Puss #5 : Bigger, Blacker, Harder, Faster, Deeper, by LaMesha Melton
Zines M458c no. 5
LaMesha is a graduate student and mother who discusses dieting, sex, dating, fashion, hair, sluttiness and the sacred whore.

Cutting : a Diary, by Mika Kousaka
Zines K693c 2010
Mika frames the act of self-injury in terms of self-esteem and harm-reduction. She identifies herself as fat, Asian and as a sex worker.

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Click the link for the full list of titles now available at the Barnard Zine Library. Thanks again to Jenna and her team for being such awesome allies.

The WOC Zine group published two issues of their zine collective “Women of Color: How to Live in the City of Roses and Avoid the Pricks.“ Issue one is about navigating racism/gentrification in Portland; issue two focused on fashion and art of WOC in Portland.

Both issues are available for $3 from the group, Powell’s Bookstore and In Other Words. The zines can also be checked out from the Multnomah County Library.

The symposium was funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council. The event was also co-sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center at Portland State University (PSU).

The Women of Color Zine Workshops group meets monthly (except during the summer). The workshops will resume October 2012.

To contact the organizers from the Women of Color Zine group in Portland, visit their blog, send snail mail to PO Box 40082 Portland, OR 97240 or email wocpdx AT gmail DOT com. You can also contact Tonya L. Jones, the founder, via Facebook.