People who are living in poverty face countless barriers to access the things that all people need to survive, leaving little time for creative expression or knowledge sharing. This month, Eastern Edge and Thrive are partnering up to support strategically undervalued community members in co-creating a zine! What’s a zine, you ask? A zine is a self-published work of art that could include poems, stories, visual art, radical information, or other forms of self-expression. The magic of zines is there are no rules or regulations.

Collective liberation begins everyday with small acts of solidarity and care. With this project, we aim to provide the space, time, and financial compensation to people who may want to artistically express themselves but aren’t privileged enough to do so at their leisure. An additional bonus goal of this project is to provide space for relationship building within community among people who, as a consequence of our capitalistic structures, would likely not have the opportunity to meet and share ideas otherwise.

We are hoping to raise $600 by February 20, 2025. This will allow us to compensate 10 zine contributors with an honorarium of $50 each, provide welcoming snacks at the workshop, and cover costs related to zine printing and production.