neta

it also dawned on me that we have been making zines together for 8 years! we’ve come so far and there’s so much to be proud of.

Was just reflecting with @netabomani.com about the fact that Sojourners for Justice Press is 5 years old. It feels both longer and shorter. I'm very proud of the work we've done and looking forward to the work ahead.

propaganda queen!!!

Something I want to do more in 2026 is to actively encourage more people to organize grassroots public history projects where they live. Instead of wringing our hands re the Fed attacks on Black studies, women's studies, LGBTQ studies etc we can just teach at the community level intergenerationally.

mk this image… 😭😭😭

Social Media Replaced Zines. Now Zines Are Taking the Power Back At a time of fleeting memes and cultural platforms operated by multibillion-dollar companies, an old mode of creativity and community-building gets a second life.

I worked with @cbo.bsky.social on a piece about the return of zines. (Huge thank you to @prisonculture.bsky.social for insight on this one.)

www.wired.com/story/zines-...

tuesday’s life in the sunshine 💛☀️💛

Blue poster with dark blue text and graphics. It advertises "Black Reading Room," highlighting radical Black publishing. There’s an illustration of a family reading together and text honoring Black freedom and traditions.

The Black Reading Room is launching on June 12. It's a partnership between Black Zine Fair (SJP) and Secret Riso Club. Details here: blackzinefair.org/readingroom/ - runs through 7/14. Includes lots of activations/events.

Cindy & MK do it again! such a beautiful zine

A [short] History of U.S. Police & Tear Gas This is the 6th issue in Mariame Kaba's archival activations series. It was designed by Cindy Lau (October 2024).

If interested, I have a zine about the use(s) of tear gas by police against protesters in the U.S. issuu.com/projectnia/d...

wait this is such a brilliant idea

[CLICK here if you would like your name added to this letter] النسخة العربية من هذه الرسالة متاحة أدناه. Open Letter to the Bluesky Team About Their Treatment of Palestinians in Gaza The signatories of this letter are all members of the Bluesky community, many of us have actively participated on the platform since its inception. We came to Bluesky because it was a breath of fresh air, a place that felt different from many of the other social media platforms. The lack of a central algorithm, the ability to build and use custom feeds, and the lack of penalty for link promotion contributed to an environment that allowed diverse and interesting voices to find their footing and community on Bluesky. While some of the signatories of this letter have had no issues with speaking their mind publicly on Bluesky, unfortunately that is not true for all the signatories because many are Palestinians currently living in Gaza. These Palestinians are journalists, artists, engineers, teachers, grandmas, entrepreneurs, a man who owned an ice cream shop, a pediatrician who has been featured on CBS Morning News, aid workers, architects, waiters, pharmacists, students–and perhaps most essential to the backbone of Bluesky, posters. All of these people provide unique and interesting voices to the Bluesky community. However, unlike the other signatories of this letter, these Bluesky community members have struggled to keep their accounts on the platform. Most of them have lost multiple accounts and/or have had their accounts labeled as spam. Some cannot even make an account without it immediately being removed from the platform. Gazans undertake immense efforts to simply be on Bluesky. Sometimes, they walk for miles just to have access to the internet. They scale rooftops where they are exposed to potential military attacks just for the opportunity to get better cell signals–one signatory of this letter tragically lost her brother this way. They use what little money they have to pay …

Gazans have also been aggressively targeted and unfairly reported by bad actors. Many accounts openly encourage the reporting and targeting of any Palestinian. Several groups exist for the express purpose of looking for Palestinian accounts to report. We believe Bluesky owes Gazans, and the entire community who benefits from their voices, a greater duty of care especially in the context of the horrors they are enduring. We ask Bluesky to implement the following changes: Provide information on all Bluesky-affiliated websites in Arabic that explains the rules and expectations of the site in clear language. Investigate the accounts that are mass-reporting Palestinians on Bluesky. The mass reporting of Palestinians on Bluesky is a group effort to render the platform a hostile place for a community based on their ethnicity. As such, it is racism, and should be understood as such. Reports against Palestinians who have broken no community guidelines must be understood as racism, and the accounts that submit those reports should be disregarded in the future. Many Bluesky users encourage Gazans to tag or reply to them, and this is not always understood as unwelcome behavior. If an account is reported as Spam for tagging or replying to others, treat only reports from the tagged/mentioned account as legitimate, seeing as they were the only ones who received a notification. Send emails regarding disciplinary action every time it is taken. Gazans do not always get an email explaining what they did wrong, and those that do are required to parse a language they do not speak in order to understand their violation. Have these emails contain an easily visible link to information about their violations in Arabic. Respond to appeals in a timely fashion, many Gazans simply never hear back from Bluesky after they appeal a decision. In addition to removing Gazans for alleged spam behavior, Bluesky has also sometimes indicated that they are deleting an account for being a scam or …

End IP bans on any account from Gaza and allow them to make new accounts where they can comply with Bluesky rules and continue to be valued members of the community. We understand that even if all these changes are made, many Gazans may still violate Bluesky rules in the future, but we hope that Bluesky will abandon their punitive approach to these violations and instead embrace an attitude of education, cooperation and community care– one that works to ensure people in Gaza can participate in a way that keeps their voices heard. We also call on the Bluesky community to help and support these accounts however they can. We want to continue to build a healthy community with better community members and this cannot be done if Gazans continue to be shunned. We can use this as an opportunity to show how to protect all vulnerable groups in the future. We hope that Bluesky does not follow the path of other social media platforms and instead forges ahead with a different philosophy. After all, that is the reason so many of its users are there. Bluesky's ethos of "No Caesars” should apply to all members of its community. [To add your name to the list of signatories, click here.]

We were hoping that this letter to @bsky.app could first be shared by a Gazan, but we were too worried that doing so would get their account deleted so we are sharing first.

You can sign on to the letter about the unfair treatment of Gazans on Bluesky here:

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

personally, im really good at what i do, professionally, and on the rare occasions im allowed to actually do what i do best, it's generally pretty cool

This is so so so important and it applies to so many sectors and just life in general.

that moment when you get home and you think to put a record on, but they’re already DJing for you outside

Chicago, come talk with us on 5/22 about why you should be making zines in 2025: whyzines2025.eventbrite.com - make sure to RSVP so I know how much food to have on hand.

The #BlackZineFair was a wonderful success. We'll have more to share when we've had a chance to recover. Something both @netabomani.com and I wanted to do when we conceived the fair was to offer space for connection, creativity & fun. We did that last year and again this year. Gratitude to all.

post bzf: i need a massage 😭🫶🏾

The vibes were impeccable at the #BlackZineFair. I am home now with a heating pad on my back. Everyone showed up beautifully today: the exhibitors, the volunteers, the partners, the presenters and especially my co-organizer and friend @netabomani.com. Grateful also to all participants. What a day!

im so locked in on zines for the bzf nxt saturday i havent even posted pics of tues since she turned 1 year old 😭

my apartment might be a mess but all my zine projects are superbly organized a win is a win

Black Zine Fair

Black Zine Fair is next Saturday. Hard to believe we're in the home stretch: blackzinefair.org

A website is a poem that is already in everyone's pocket, a house built from photos of other houses, a book where every chapter is another book where every chapter is another book.

stumbled onto TLOU2 fandom and me and tues are both upset about alice’s death

A promotional poster for "Who Can Publish? A [Short] History of Black Women (Self) Publishers" featuring a photo of Pauline Hopkins, event details, and names: Sojourners for Justice Press and Mariame Kaba.

I'll be at the Free Black Women's Library tomorrow from 3 to 5 pm to talk about Black Women Publishers and Black Women who Self-Publish. www.eventbrite.com/e/who-can-pu... #CountDownToBlackZineFair

Black Zine Fair will be THE event of the Spring in NYC, if I say so myself :)

your work ethic is UNMATCHED 😭🙌🏾

it was nearly impossible to find a quiet spot at prospect, we’re already overheating and it’s only end of march 🤪

so sad the st marks location closed though, its much more convenient for me to get to 🥲 but i figured i’d do my little sound walk by the river anyway

LOL i know i meant 11th ave! im heading towards chelsea rn