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Zines: An Introduction to Fighting the Power with a Piece of Paper

Tuesday, July 28, 1:00pm to 2:30pm Participants will explore zines about race, ethnicity, and responding to violence from the Barnard Zine Library and other zine collections.

Agreements

front and back of Bystander Intervention & De-escalation zine by Eleanor WhitneyMove up, move back

Read and Discuss

photo of a cat reading a zineWhat Zines Are Like

Skim a zine for two minutes and then switch, for four rounds. You will not be able to read these zines in their entirety.

[Content: curse words, sexuality, nudity, violence]

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

  1. Spring - Ungrateful Black-White Girl (please be patient if the zine takes a minute to load)
  2. Summer - Black Woman & a Few Things (notice the page order/layout)
  3. Fall - Asian American Feminist Antibodies
  4. Winter - Our Stories Matter: Life in the Time of Covid-19 (some pages take longer than others to load. You can always go back to the table of contents on the 2/3 page and click on a page number to jump around)

Round 4

  1. Spring - Black Woman & a Few Things (notice the page order/layout)
  2. Summer - Asian American Feminist Antibodies
  3. Fall - Our Stories Matter: Life in the Time of Covid-19 (some pages take longer than others to load. You can always go back to the table of contents on the 2/3 page and click on a page number to jump around)
  4. Winter - Ungrateful Black-White Girl (please be patient if the zine takes a minute to load)

In breakout rooms discuss for 5 minutes:

  • Did one or more of the zines have an impact on you? On the creator?
  • How do the zines fight the power?
  • How do the zine images go with or contradict the text?

Group share.

Zines Are

zine cover: Delcolonizing Library Science. Indigenous person at mic, arm raised, hand fisted. A zine, short for fanzine or magazine, is a DIY* subculture self-publication, usually made on paper and reproduced with a photocopier or printer. Zine creators are often motivated by a desire to share knowledge or experience with people in marginalized or otherwise less-empowered communities.