Cyclista Zine

The Feminist Response To The Cycling Industry

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July is International Zine Month. As always, zinester Alex Wrekk has devised 31 things to make and do throughout the month. Take a look.

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Join us today as we go live on IG at 4Pm CT with @renay.h as we celebrate IPD in a discussion of land acknowledgement, Indigenous representation and recreating in the outdoors.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today is about more than just honoring and respecting Indigenous people, which we should do everyday. Today we explicitly question and counter the story that conquering land gives you a right to it, that Native people only exist in the past, and that the future is inevitably a colonial one. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Outdoorspeople have long been avid tellers of this story. We love to use colonial and Columbian metaphors to describe what we do. Adventure. Discover. Conquer. Explore. #NeverStopExploring, right? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Today, and everyday, let’s unequivocally reject this celebration of Columbus and the 528 years of violent exploration and adventure he represents. When we hike, when we climb, when we paddle, when we cycle, when we take and post pictures, whether in National Parks or in urban spaces, we must #StopExploring and acknowledge the lands original stewards. Language is part of the struggle, part of defining who we are and what we do, so let’s be intentional. Stop exploring and learn to fight for an indigenous future. #publiclandisnativeland⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 📍Door County, homeland of the Potawatomi, Miami, and Menominee Nations.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ •⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ RP @indigenousgeotags

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Oldie but goodie. We have a syllabi on Indigenous Mobility and Urban Justice perspectives over on Patreon, where we share podcasts, books, journals, videos, and articles to educate you on topics related to cycling advocacy and mobility justice. . The land we live and cycle on in so called US belong to Native peoples and 75% of Native peoples in the U.S. live in cities are often erased from the mobility-environmental-climate justice and planning process. . When I look at panels even when it comes to diversity and inclusion in cycling or planning, I see no Indigenous people sharing their stories, knowledge, and hopes for the future of sustainable cities, transit, cycling sport and more. Even as a student in sustainable urban development, I did not read or see Indigenous perspectives on "land relationship planning", a concept I learned from reservation visits. What most planners were not taught in school is that planning has been an apparatus of colonization of the "New World". . So much of what we know about protecting land and sustaining resources has come from Indigenous peoples and yet their movements are highjacked or ignored in the outdoor industry and environmental advocacy. There is no social justice, no mobility justice, no environmental justice without their involvement. And who better to learn from than Indigenous people. . While I am sharing this on Patreon for free, I am asking folks to consider supporting us because knowledge production takes time, energy and emotional labor which is often uncompensated. Indigenous feminist decolonial theories are often unfairly expected to answer to whiteness and patriarchy to non-native relationships to land and the future for free without realizing the wounds we are opening up. . Head over to our Patreon in link in profile.

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - cycling community, this is something we encourage you take steps on at your events, meetings, posts, and group rides.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ RP @nativelandnet:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "An active area people ask us for guidance is how to ‘properly’ do land acknowledgements. With Columbus Day (Indigenous Peoples Day) being next Monday, we especially feel it’s important to keep spreading the message of authentic and systemic practices that counter colonial habits. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As Indigenous and Non-Indigenous folks, together we can make a choice to publicly develop new normals, such as Land Acknowledgements, in recognizing the history of colonialism and the need for change. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ On our website (https://native-land.ca/), we offer a section that can assist you in the process. It’s key to know that, while you may feel awkward or shy at the beginning of this practice, over time and with consistency you will establish the norms that our society needs and it is through this consistency that you avoid tokenism and are able to really connect with the land you are on.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Write Land Acknowledgements into your own school projects, work meetings, webinars, events and even your outgoing email signature. See our website for more information and resources: https://native-land.ca/"⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Cyclista Zine operates and exists on the occupied ancestral land of the Lenape-Wappinger in so-called New York. This acknowledgement demonstrates the commitment to the process of dismantling the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism through good relations with each other and the lands we live work and ride on. In campaigns from #namethechangeand #notyourtribe, we work with Indigenous people and learn what more we can do to help the cycling community, this is just a small part of what is asked. We have an IG live coming up to discuss this in greater depth. Keep your eyes peeled for those details to come!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #indigenous #landacknowledgement#decolonize #indigenouspeoplesday#indigenoushistory #indigenousculture#nativeamerican #native#whoselandareyouon#whoselandareweexploringon#nativeland #landback

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City-planning, cycling, and the outdoors are steeped in colonial language and practices... conquer, frontier, adventure, explore, playgrounds, discover, wild, untouched, and development, all stem from ideas of Manifest Destiny that settlers not only could but are destined to discover, explore, expand and Columbus on land already home to First Nations. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As planners, outdoor advocates, and cycling enthusiasts, we know these words are often used in practice, marketing and recreation. But we also see how these words impact our thinking around recreating in our communities and the outdoors. My hope is that this awareness is channeled into action, and more so, into allyship. This is why going beyond land acknowledgment is critical.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Let’s rethink our entitlement when it comes to accessing the outdoors when we ride our bikes. What does it mean to “protect” the land if we are not consulting the people who have been stewards of it since time immemorial? Are we really “protecting” the land and creating equity if we are going out on missions to “establish” bike lanes or mtb tracks without thinking about our impact on the land and the people who have called it home? Are we not just Columbusing our way to exploit environmental justice in order to serve our selfish needs to 'opt' outside or 'explore' by bike? How can we integrate a radical responsibility to Indigenous, Black and Brown communities with an equitable lens into our practices? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Even more, why is protecting the public’s recreational use of the land more important than protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples who have always cared and been in reciprocity with the land? Why is protecting open streets more important than protecting the health of Brown/Black communities?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Non-Natives who wish to be allies in Indigenous Sovereignty can challenge attitudes and assumptions by learning about Indigenous history, culture, values, governance, and planning systems, and in doing so be able to challenge settler-colonial practices to radically change settler culture and institutions. Our lives at this point depend on it. Artist: Diné - Craig George

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Public Lands and why Indigenous people use the words “stolen” when we talk about the acquisition of Native land. The idea that Native lands - the lands of which America's ‪#publiclands‬ were carved - were won by Right of Conquest, not making it theft, is an argument we hear often and is a misconception. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ First of all, the Right of Conquest, that gave the right to the idea that territory won in war belongs to the victor is trash. Most people agree that just because you have guns or power to take something doesn't give you the right to it. Even if you accept Right of Conquest, that isn't how Native land was taken by the U.S.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Land was acquired through Treaties between the U.S. and sovereign Native nations, not through war. Legal from a technical standpoint, these treaties were coercive, misleading, or forced upon tribes. Translators and negotiators would often lie, cheat, intimidate, and even forge marks to get these treaties. On top of this, the U.S. failed to hold their side of the treaties - letting settlers on land reserved for the tribes or not providing payment promised - effectively voiding the treaties. ‪Public Lands‬ are part of the history of broken treaties. Many public lands have restrictions that result in tribes being unable to practice their treaty rights or encroaching on resource sovereignty. Military campaigns against tribes were mostly used to undercut treaties, to force tribes into signing treaties, or to 'pacify' tribes who had returned to their lands after treaties were broken. The military was used in conjunction with outright lying, cheating, and intimidation by political representatives of the U.S. to Native nations to underhandedly acquire land. This - even in its own time - is land acquisition through theft, not through conquest.” . Language and history are important. The way these lands were illegally taken has political consequences today so it's important we observe broken treaties in our land acknowledgments at our events. Repost @indigenousgeotags. Please follow to learn more on this perspective. Also follow @renay.h for more Indigenous perspectives on public lands and the mtb industry.

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In issue one, Our Bikes, Our Stories, L.Kling raises the question of how the cycling community can do better on finding “freedom” in the outdoors on stolen land. . Indigenous people have been raising awareness in the way the outdoor and sports industry have been key players in the ongoing erasure of Indigenous people so much that they appropriate our movements, culture, names, and persist stereotypes of Natives stuck in the past, think mascots, racist team names, and costumes. . Erasure of Native people has become so normalized, that people do not see it as racism at all. The elementary school whitewashing and stereotypes of Native people and history is so ingrained into the American psyche that it’s hard for them to see us as modern and still living. In addition, there are more ​Native depictions created by non-Natives in the media than of real Native people. This is how negative stereotypes and misrepresentations are created. This, whether consciously or not, makes it normal for Native cultures to be objects of consumption and branding. And with white man’s law, it’s further justified with copyright and legal intimidation to keep us silent to justify stealing from us - like broken treaties. It suggests it is perfectly acceptable to use Natives for event names, products, sports teams, and profit — except to the very people being exploited. . The lack of representation and inclusion of the cycling community's concerns of Indigenous representation means there is general lack of proper education and acceptance of the problematic nature and understanding of the impact of perpetuated erasure of our history in the very lands they “play” in. My goal as an Indigenous person in the cycling community, with allies, is to build a better world outside of settler systems that are rooted and perpetuated in ‘the outdoors’, as grassroots media to bridge the inclusive and representation gaps. . Indigenous representation matters. We are here, we are not invisible. Liberation comes at the costs of dispossession. Be good stewards of the land, honor the history, the people, and be in solidarity with these movements. This is why we are pushing the land acknowledgement ride.

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Who’s Streets?! Well you should text your zip code to 907-312-5085 to find you whose land you occupy and ride on. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Our campaign The Land Acknowledgment Ride ends Oct 12 on Indigenous Peoples Day aka Columbus Day. From protest rides to recreation rides, events and more, we ask that folks acknowledge the original stewards of the lands you live, work and ride through. This ride is self guided or group organized in solidarity with Indigenous people and allies to learn more about the people of the lands you live, work, and cycle on. Land acknowledgements are important for many reasons but mostly that we can’t be fighting for liberation without fighting for sovereignty of the original stewards on stolen land. They are interdependent. For the rest of this week we will be sharing content and stories related to land acknowledgment, public land, Indigenous planning, Indigenous representation on bikes, why you should not be appropriating Indigenous culture, why we need to abolish Columbus Day and more. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Between now and Indigenous Peoples Day (October 12) we encourage everyone to look into the history of the people and work to dispell colonial myths. Start by researching whos land who occupy. While all native cultures are diverse and should be treated as such, we intersect in alot of ways, and one should have a good understanding of not only Indigenous people as a whole, but the individual nations, and their histories, accomplishments, and cultures.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Indigenous people are still fighting for the land, sovereignty, and representation. We are still here. Check your local communities for any Indigenous Day of action events. More on this to come.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Image via @risingtidetor:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A mural in support of the Indigenous Land Defenders at 1492 Land Back Lane at Church and Bloor, Onatario.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #LAR2020 #landacknowledgementride#namethechange #dk200 #landback#bike

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Because this message still needs to be amplified and talked about in regards to how Black girls and women's experiences with police brutality and patriarchy.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Black girls and women have played an influential role during the civil rights, Pride, #MeToo, and Black Lives Matter movements, but their stories all too often remain invisible.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Misogynoir is a particular form of sexism that's deeply embedded in anti-blackness. Because sexism dictates how we understand violence against women, including state violence, it also dictates how anti-blackness intersects with gender-based violence.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Black girls and women are policed in ways both interpersonal and state level, all embedded in white cis patriarchy. They are policed similar to other members of our communities - whether it’s police killings, “stop and frisk,” “broken windows policing,” or the “war on drugs.” But this also includes other forms of violence - such as sexual assault by police, police abuse, profiling and abusive treatment of lesbian, bisexual, transgender women, and gender-nonconforming Black folks. 61% of Black Trans Folk have endured police mistreatment and harassment. This is a problem that disproportionately affects our most vulnerable communities, and is why supporting queer led actions, activists, and visibility is so important! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If they are not protected, valued, and amplified, our spaces as WTFNB organizations will never be able to move from patriarchy and complicity. And the failure of ALL of us to work towards the elimination of state-sponsored violence against Black WTFNB folks, and WTFNB from communities of color, would be a failure of epic proportions for the spaces and movements we are creating for gender inclusivity today.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #protectblackwomen not because it's trendy right now but do it because our spaces need to reflect it to actually play a role in dismantling the patriarchy in order to protect them and us.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Image via @afariahshotit

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Cyclista Zine is building a virtual library! Have a pdf of your bike zine or know of bike zines that are available online? Contact us and we will put them on our website! This will be a collection of bike zines that are available online as PDFs or other digital versions. How to contribute: Have a bike zine you’d like listed in the library? Email us at [email protected] :) Please note that we are prioritizing zines that are BIPOC and WTF made. Our narratives matter! We are working hard to build this library to make available to you as a resource soon. Keep your eyes peeled, not long now. #cyclistazine #bikeriotnotquiet#bipocsonbikes #zine #zines#bikezines #diybikes #bipoczine#diybikeculture #ourbikesourstories#bikeliberation #zinelibrary#virtuallibrary

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ELECTIONS. We genuinely care about what happens politically, mostly locally. We genuinely care about access to power and the influence we as people have on it. These things shape our lives, our experiences, our futures, and future generations to come. Our health and safety on the street and in public spaces depend on it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We know that voting is not enough and that lot of us feel betrayed by the systems that have ignored and threatened our needs and human rights. A lot of us have a deep mistrust and feel valid contempt of political theatrics and processes due to the very real injustices and traumas we've endured. More so recently, folks may feel that participating in voting perpetuates and authenticates this violent state, we feel that too.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Why vote then? Because it's about showing up and being present where decisions are being made for us about us. It's about supporting our local communities and choosing representatives who can push our causes and interests.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We can vote while acknowledging that there is real work to be done to systemically change things. We will always need movements, grassroots orgs, and street protests outside of presidential elections and uprisings. Our local systems, our communities, our livelihoods depend on it. Show up for yourself as much as for the most vulnerable.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If voting is important to you, then please vote. If you are still unsure and have questions, visit https://turbovote.org/ to register to vote, to check your registration status, or to request a mail-in ballot. From there you can make sure you're registered and make a plan. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Image courtesy of @melindabeckart, we love this image!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #vote #bikethevote #rideforjustice#bikesforjustice #bikeequity#socialjustice #bikesinresistance#justicerides

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Abolishing the police is directly tied to biking and transportation, here's why:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There is an abundance of research and reporting that proves that minor traffic infractions are often a pretext used by police to disproportionately stop, question, and search Black and brown people that often end in arrests or fatalities, look up Dijon Kizzee.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ At the same time, our road infrastructure remains deadly and many fatalities are tied to behavior officers are trained to handle, like speeding and reckless driving. In L.A. alone, almost 250 people are killed each year on city streets -- the majority of those killed in collisions are pedestrians and cyclists.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Even before protests this year intensified, critics of policing had been calling for a new approach. Instead of traffic stops by armed officers, they advocate for renewed investments in street improvements, education, and alternative methods to hold drivers accountable.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ People do not associate more infractions, more traffic enforcement with increased safety, and for good reason. Enforcement doesn't address the root cause of traffic violence -- the lack of investments in disadvantaged communities, which makes streets there more dangerous in the first place.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Whether your biking, crossing a border, or a street, both individual and collective mobility is directly tied to liberation and justice. From the famed Montgomery bus boycotts to Boston’s People Before Highways movement, transportation has long been a central element in the broader fight for racial justice, and it is past time that anti-racism is placed at the heart of transportation. For far too long, the planning and development of cities and their transportation systems have furthered systemic racial inequality – often in technical, hidden, and insidious ways. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Maybe we abolish planning too.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Image @southern_caliphoto

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With warmer weather here, a lot of us will be spending more time outside. We made Ride Outside Responsibly, a mini-zine, about recreating and stewarding the land from a decolonial perspective. We made this in partnership with Indigenous advocates in our #namethechange coalition of what they'd like to see of the cycling community when they recreate on the land. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One thing we like to do is print out a few and leave them at trailheads for folks who visit. That way folks are aware of how they take up space on the land respectfully and responsibly. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This zine is available in our e-zine library and we joyfully give them out with every zine order placed for free! We also have a video on our IG reels on a how-to-fold-a-zine just in case you need to practice. Enjoy! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #RideInBeauty #RideOutsideResponsibly #BIPoCOutdoors #NativesOutdoors #OnTheLand #RematriateTheLand #LandStewarship #RadicalJoy #RevivingIndigenousLifeways #LandBack (at Native Lands) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQHAc_ABhXg/?utm_medium=tumblr

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A 👀 inside Issue 3 “Bike Liberation”. We hope those who already received their zines are on cloud nine with this issue! WE ARE! Also, a reminder to Patreon subscribers to update your addresses so we can send you your copies 🥰 there’s is still time to join our Patreon if you’re into supporting diy cycling media made by BIPOC + WTF folks. We have plenty of issues 1, 2, and 3 available, all available in link in profile. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFslyFEpFOW/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Protect Black Women.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Without introducing intersectionality into the conversations of race and gender, not everyone will be able to obtain the freedom that we all so justly deserve and yearn for. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Therefore, say it again. This time for the people in the back. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Protect Black women. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Because until they are all free, none of us are free.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ image via @blakedixon⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #BlackWomensRide #NewYork #Brooklyn #protest #bike #riders #riders4rights #bikeequity#cycling #bike #bikelife #toolsofresistance #bikesaretoolsoffreedom #decolonizebikes #bikeprotests #bikesinresistance #justicerides https://www.instagram.com/p/CFr6c0RHdHU/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cyclistazine]

It’s been a week since our third issue “Bike Liberation” launched. And honestly, this week has made it difficult to talk about it when I really want to burn it all down.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ While we mourn and continue to seek justice for Breonna Taylor, I’m reminding myself not to cave into apathy and dismay. That would be too easy and resistance is a long road. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m also reminded that we must keep pedaling and seek to dismantle the policies and establishments that uphold the systems that allows the injustices of white supremacy and patriarchy to prevail. We must continue to create spaces and tables for us, by us, and work towards challenging a future where white supremacy, colonization, and patriarchy are non existent - that work starts inside each of us.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I am not perfect and do not have all the answers so please do not put me on a pedal stool. I am always learning and I promise you alI that I will do what it takes to keep our message radical and to kill the cop in my head and burn the fucking system down so you can breath.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I encourage you all to carry THEIR NAMES with you when you ride, say them with every breath as you exhale and pedal. We must not fail them and future generations.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This issue means more to us than you can imagine, the collaboration, words, stories, and purpose behind it means something. Your support for this zine goes to building our tables and supporting BIPOC communities in need of funding. This one particularly goes to building a BIPOC event for us, by us. 10% of all our zine sales go to supporting a BIPOC bike led org. This work means more than zines, it means building what we need after we burn the shit that doesn’t serve us down.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #cyclistazine #bikeriotnotquiet #bipoccyclist #resistance #shredthepartriarchy #zine #zines #bikezines #diybikes #decolonizebikes #bipoczine #diybikeculture #ourbikesourstories #bikeliberation #bikesforjustice #ride4justice https://www.instagram.com/p/CFkFUJsHy15/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cyclistazine]

The uprise against police has forced the unthinkable question: What would society be like if we abolished, or profoundly diminished, the police presence in communities?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Surely the discourse around policing is disorienting. A life without police? What about the murderers and other violent criminals? Forget possible, is a world without the police even desirable?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The chaos of recent days is a rare and traumatic blow to many, for sure. But this is useful in at least one respect: It provides a very small sense of the aggression, brutality, and callous disregard for human life that police are capable of enacting. It has helped many to more viscerally empathize with the outpouring of anger and sorrow finding expression in big cities and small towns across the country. But it is one thing to consider police violence over the past months and another to consider the long history of pestering, plunder, terror, and killings committed by police against the Black community. As Jelani Cobb wrote in 2014, following the non-indictments of the officers who killed Michael Brown and Eric Garner: “A democracy of grief binds those of us who survive people who were violently dispatched from this life — those who die at the hands of civilians, those who die from the wrongful actions of people empowered by the state. The sole difference between these deaths is that only with the former do we already know it’s a crime.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Months ago, I'm sure many could not imagine a world without police. In many ways, you probably still can’t. The reactionary resistance to abolition will be fierce, but the convulsions of this moment in history have widened the horizons of possibility. We need not create an entirely new world. We know what a world unencumbered by the unwanted presence of law enforcement already looks like.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Abolition teaches us what that world could be.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Image: @nikita_payusov https://www.instagram.com/p/CFiCv_6h2yo/?utm_medium=tumblr