Nationwide Protests

[King Wenclas]

I was at the big "Occupy Philly" gathering and march in center city Philadelphia Saturday. The size of the event had to rival what's been happening on Wall Street in New York. Are the days of apathy over?

I was disappointed not to see any zine tables among the tables at the Philly City Hall gathering site.

Once, underground writers-- who were once all zinesters-- were at the forefront of activism and cultural change.

If people are fighting plutocracy in the economy, they should also be fighting plutocracy in the culture.

In recent years the hobbyists have dominated underground publishing. The activist wing of the movement has all but vanished. Is it time for this to change?

Anyway, to see how big the Philly protest was, check out the photos I've posted at my blog,

www.kingwenclas.blogspot.com

Thanks.

[Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go]

Maybe they were out gathering material to document the event?

[NicoleIntrovert]

As someone who runs a distro I would not think it would be of good taste to go around trying to sell shit during an occupation. 

 

If Occupy Richmond starts to collect books/zines for a library I will be donating to that from stock. 

[Cleo]

I was just wondering if any zinesters were playing a part in their local 'occupy' protests. I'll be making the 2hr treck to Occupy Melbourne, but rather than sell anything, I'm going to gather materials for a zine and donate however many copies I can afford to.

[King Wenclas]

I've been hanging out at the Philly one. I'm tempted to get a tent and join the thing.

Re zine tables: I sat at a zine table once with Jeff Potter in Detroit where we were surrounded on all sides by activists devoted to hard-core politics-- socialist, anarchist, LGBT, animal rights: the gamut. I doubt if we sold a single zine, but we did hand out a ton of flyers and spoke with a lot of folks about zine lit in general, and our radical zine group, the Underground Literary Alliance, in particular.

But then, my intro to zines was being handed a copy of the original factsheet 5 about 20 years ago. The thing blew me away. Its essence was anarchist, activist, political, revolutionary-- what the zine scene was at the time. The zines reviewed represented every possible strand of underground activity. Its message was vital-- here was genuine American thought and culture. The very existence of such an unscreened, unmediated publication was a protest against the monopolistic mainstream. Against culture imposed from on high.

That attitude today is even more necessary.

[Cleo]

I'm back home fromt the start of Occupy Melbourne and it was amazing. My first protest. I was a little put off by people selling stuff, but not too badly. Paper and ink costs, after all. I think if I do a "Live From" zine about it, though, that I'll be able to trade rather than have to sell it.

Cleo said:

I was just wondering if any zinesters were playing a part in their local 'occupy' protests. I'll be making the 2hr treck to Occupy Melbourne, but rather than sell anything, I'm going to gather materials for a zine and donate however many copies I can afford to.

[Erica S.]

Yes, this. Occupy is not an avenue to make (or even recoup) money. I would think it pretty crass if someone set up a table in the middle of it trying to hawk zines. And if I want timely reportage on Occupy or any other radical movement, I'll read a blog. Zine culture has shifted to being more apolitical not because zinesters don't care, but because blogs can report on things FASTER.

NicoleIntrovert said:

As someone who runs a distro I would not think it would be of good taste to go around trying to sell shit during an occupation. 

 

If Occupy Richmond starts to collect books/zines for a library I will be donating to that from stock. 

[Dan 10things]

I went to the big Occupy Seattle protest Saturday (3,000+ people). I guess I don't see the connection with zines and agree with the sentiment that selling zines at the protests, unless they are specifically about the OWS movement, seems in poor taste. It would seem like someone trying to take advantage of the crowd and protest to sell their own shit.

[NicoleIntrovert]

I've been visiting Occupy Richmond and am taking various zines from my stock down there this weekend for the little library that they've started.   Things that are both political in nature and also just entertainment.  People really need some stuff to relax with out there so they can avoid burnout.    We should not be selling things.  Just donating our time or any resources we can if we support the movement.

Even just standing out on the street with a sign for about 2 hours then attending the GA meeting on Tuesday was tiring.  I cannot imagine the exhaustion right now that the people who are occupying permanently are facing.

[Cleo]

I'd love to donate copies of the Occupy Melbourne zine I'm nearly finished with. I started it when things were peaceful and was working on it while things unfolded and became confrontational, and the zine takes you through that. Send me a message if you're interested. I also have some other zines I can include as well for the library.

NicoleIntrovert said:

I've been visiting Occupy Richmond and am taking various zines from my stock down there this weekend for the little library that they've started.   Things that are both political in nature and also just entertainment.  People really need some stuff to relax with out there so they can avoid burnout.    We should not be selling things.  Just donating our time or any resources we can if we support the movement.

Even just standing out on the street with a sign for about 2 hours then attending the GA meeting on Tuesday was tiring.  I cannot imagine the exhaustion right now that the people who are occupying permanently are facing.

[Will]

Occupy London has a huge library for anyone interested. It's about three tents' worth of books but also has zines, newsletters, etc, lots of interesting stuff I hadn't come across before. All of the zines are political.

[Cleo]

Interested in sending? I definitely am. :) Please send details.

[Will]

Aah, I meant more interested in reading and attending, I'm not sure how you'd send zines apart from just walking up to the library and handing them in. If you fancy a bit of a gamble, though, we know that post address to "Occupy London, St Paul's" has been delivered to the information tent!

 

So maybe try something like: "Starbooks Tent Library, c/o Occupy London, St Paul's Church Yard, London, EC4M 8AD".