to love

Hey, I made a new zine, that I worked on for years.  It’s to love: abusers in radical spaces.

It’s about harm, prevention, feelings, shunning, bullies, safer spaces, and what love actually is.  Boundaries, being misperceived, some common errors people make about behavior and identifying what’s being done to them.

There are examples, a poem of questions, interviews with two experienced activist elders, and cute drawings.  Like all my zines, it’s bound with thread and made with a lot of love.  Written well, I think–serious but not dry, insightful, enjoyable to read, I hope.

It was intense to make, because the subject matter is emotional and close to my heart.  I talk about some painful stuff!  Accusations, cruelty, a favorite organization almost being destroyed by an abuser and how we responded to him.

But it’s really important to talk about.  And it’s actually hopeful, reaching for connection, honesty, collaboration on what to do with this huge problem.

First I wanted to make a book about abusers in radical spaces, but I got overwhelmed and frozen by the gravity of bookness.  Felt like too big a deal, and I didn’t make progress for a while.  Zines are more my style–lower stress, lower investment, shorter, and needing less involvement from others.

Took so long, maybe the elders I interviewed forgot about it or thought the project would never happen.

I believe in this subject matter and need to share these ideas.  I hope a lot of people read to love and are nourished.  Definitely I hope for subsequent issues, and ideas from other people.

Happy to trade–please contact me to set it up.  Thank you to Ming for proofreading, hole punching, and helping it happen all around.  I love you.