Borderlands #2: It's a Family Affair (2008)
edited by Nia King
$2 USD, no trades, 1/2 size, 36 pgs, FTP.

Described as "a collection of stories about growing up in multiracial
families from mixed folks + transracial adoptees," Borderlands is one
zine I'm always excited to see in my mailbox; everyone's writing is
crisp, smart, and true in a way which feels really immediate. It's a
well-built anthology (clean layout, easy to read) with a range of
perspectives and is an ongoing project. This issue also
includes "Recommended Race Blogs" which I thought was a particularly
good choice, both to include and in the range of different blogs,
people, perspectives, and experiences. Just get this zine already.
It's worth your time.

available through STRANGER DANGER DISTRO:
http://strangerdangerdistro.wordpress.com/catalog/

"This is, above all, a zine about race, but since I experience the world not only as a mixed-race person, but as a mixed-race queer woman with an inconsistent gender presentation, you will find experiences pertaining to all those identities in this zine." I've reviewed a lot of Nia's work before and I always come away from it thinking, Yeah, this is work people need to read. Because it is. That said, I think of all of Nia's work, Ungrateful Black-White Girl is the most articulate I've seen her be in writing about her own experiences. Her work is always powerful, but there's something about this zine that is both direct like her other work and also proactive; the anger is still there, but the setting feels more external--in this zine she's starting at a new school and is in a few setting different from her other zines. Maybe that's it. Maybe this zine feels more tied to a sense of place, whereas her other work was working through specific events or certain issues. UB-WG takes the form of dated individual entries that are titled things like "How to be a better white ally"and "This is what self-care looks like." It'll make you think; it's honest and forthright, and it's evocative of some of the things that I like best about zines. Get it. It's absolutely worth your time.


$2/Digest/24 pgs
Nia Diaspora
available here:
http://strangerdangerdistro.wordpress.com/catalog/