Race Riot! POC Zine Project Tour

Well folks-

I'm having an amazing time on the Race Riot! Tour. I don't have instagram and I barely use tumblr or twitter so I'm going to try and document a little bit here with other peeps' photos. So, photo credit to all the coordinators with awesome cameras and social media prowess.

I hopped onto the tour in Austin after the kickoff in New Orleans and a few events in Houston and College Station.

Puro Chingon Collective hosts us in Austin, TX

Our Altar 

 

Me reading a piece about "Food Forests" historical racism and the displacement of POC in Austin

More Photos HERE.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

 Above: Me, Jodi, Anna Vo, and Chula Doula/Pati Garcia
Tabling at the Tannex

 Me reading "The Thing about Poverty" and "Post-Racial Who?" from Notes from an Afro-Genderqueer 2

On the way to Tucson...

    Anna Vo and I play Afro-Speed with Afro-centric playing cards. 

Driving through Texas took forever and a day and we experienced much racism during the few stops we took. I can't say I felt much pride in my state. But then, there are very few moments when I do anyway.

The first morning in New Mexico a white man in a huge red truck saw me from the highway access road and turned in as he saw me walking through the motel parking lot to our trailer. He knocked on the door and another tour member answered since I was in the back and he said..

"I know this might seem crazy but the Lord gave me a message for you..."

And they slammed the door on the man. I can't help but think about how many times this is how people get assaulted, kidnapped, etc. We beefed up on security a bit (asking our driver to defend us with some of her top secret weaponry) and headed out to Albuquerque.
I can't believe how cold it gets at night.

The Tannex hosted us and it's a really rad space with a zine library. The local performers were amazing. Waylaid was a percussion-y-zapateando-y-singing/poetry trio experience. Then this badass chicana feminist from the border took the stage and just lit it on fire with her poems. Her name's Jessica Helen Lopez and she is the founder of La Palabra- The Word is a Woman, a female writer's collective that celebrates and empowers femininity through creative endeavors. She's also author of the book of poetry "Always Messing with them Boys" (on West End Press) which we had the pleasure of hearing her read from.

Anna Vo read from her Fix My Head zines and Chula Doula let us in on the literature (Hot Pants, Radical Doula and Freeing Ourselves) she's selling for different groups/organizations. Last up was the founder of the Tannex and the Albuquerque Zine Fest, Marya Errin Jones, who read from her zine about the first black female pilot-Bessie Coleman.

What an honor to be a witness to the performers in Albuquerque. We just got into Tucson late last night with no qualms at checkpoints. We avoided I-10 like the plague and here we are after a frosty night, basking in the sun and catching up on our blogging/writing/rest. We have 2-3 events here in Tucson and then we're off to L.A. next week!

Stay tuned for more...

and find out more about our tour dates here.