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Tag: VGZL

‘We Must Act & Care For Each Other’: An Interview With Mutual Aid Disaster Relief

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

Inspired by Common Ground in New Orleans and Occupy Sandy and numerous other community-led relief efforts, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief cultivate “autonomous, decentralized, and liberatory disaster relief.”

I’ve featured multiple Mutual Aid Disaster Relief publications in my Virtual Gonzo Zine Library. Most recently, I put “Lessons Learned” in the “Winter 2020” edition of the VGZL. I reached out to MADR by email, and they answered collectively. I found their answers so eloquent, I wanted to present them here in Q&A format rather than editing them into a formal interview-style article. I’ve only lightly edited the responses for clarity and brevity.

Kit O’Connell: Any advice for handling armed fascists or right wingers that show up in disaster areas trying to “patrol” “prevent looting” guard against “antifa” etc?

Virtual Gonzo Zine Library, Winter 2020: Surviving Dark Times

Posted in Creative Commons, and Zines

This is the Winter 2020 edition of the Virtual Gonzo Zine Library.

The VGZL is a zine reading list and miniature zine distro. From time to time, I curate some of my favorite zines — zines that I think everyone should be reading, including myself.

These are the main selections from this edition of my reading list. I’ve selected a few bonus zines as well as some other resources to consider, too.

Virtual Gonzo Zine Library, Spring 2020: Resistance Under A Pandemic

Posted in Creative Commons, and Zines

Welcome to the Virtual Gonzo Zine Library. The VGZL is a quarterly zine reading list and miniature zine distro. A few times per year, I curate some of my favorite zines — zines that I think everyone should be reading, including myself.

This is the very first edition. I tried to pick zines which felt topical to this moment of pandemic, and could help inspire, comfort, and give us new perspectives. I selected a mixture of the very practical and the theoretical, but I tried to focus on zines written in an accessible way that wasn’t overly academic.

I’m dividing this edition of the Zine Library into a main selection and bonus content. The main selection is my reading list for the quarter, while the rest are other zines I think you might find interesting.

Life in Isolation (& Gonzo Zine Library Update)

Posted in Journalism, Life, and Zines

It’s time again for me to say THANK YOU to everyone that supports my work on Patreon. Thanks to your help, I’ve been able to continue work on the Virtual Gonzo Zine Library. Read on for a little bit more about that below.

I want to be transparent about my mental health, because I think it’s helpful for others to know they’re not alone in this.

I’ve struggled my whole life with depression. After watching “The Babadook,” I think of depression like the monster in my personal basement. Always there, in my life, but hopefully part of the background most of the time as long as I take care of myself… but occasionally, escaping it’s home in the basement to spend a few days in the foreground of my consciousness. For the most part, I try to love myself and let it pass.

Announcing: The Virtual Gonzo Zine Library

Posted in Zines

As part of my goal to create more zines, I want to read more zines.

I really believe some of the most useful radical political thinking, and activist strategy, appears in the pages of these self-published pamphlets.

I’ve decided to curate a regular list of new, interesting, or notable zines. I’m aiming to share this list twice a year (or more often if I get really ambitious). It will be similar to the zine list I curated for the Antifascist Month of Unity in October.