Programs & Events
Hello Barkada is proud to be community-made, and strives to provide free access to its content and programming as much as possible. When free access isn't possible, our goal is to keep entry fees as low as possible.
Our ability to provide free or low-cost community events and programs is made possible in part to backers of our Barkada crowdfund. Please consider a contribution of $4 on a one-off or monthly basis in support of our work! Contributions offset costs related to art supplies, printing supplies, and mileage to/from events.
Afroindigenous animator, illustrator, and sequential artist buttercup joined Christine Pasalo Norland to talk about about their webcomic UM and their campaign with Radiator Comics to collect the first six chapters into a print edition called UM Volume One, which will debut in September 2024 at Small Press Expo.
Allowed is Hello Barkada's livestream interview series in which artists and writers share aloud the influences and intentions behind their work. Be sure to follow @HelloBarkada on Instagram and turn on "Goes Live" notifications to join each IG Live once they begin. To watch past episodes of Allowed featuring Trinidad Escobar, Steenz, MariNaomi, Jamila Rowser & Robyn Smith, Nicky Rodriguez, Karen Alleluia, Rina Ayuyang, Amanda Meadows, Kiara Valdez, and Jamila Rowser, and Lawrence Lindell, visit Hello Barkada's IG Reels.
If you enjoy our Allowed series, please consider leaving a $4 tip via our crowd fund in support of future programs and educational panels.
WATCH THE PLAYBACK ON INSTAGRAM
Follow @JonitaLDavis and @HelloBarkada on Instagram! In episode 3, special guest Lacey Vorrasi-Banis joined Jonita Davis and Christine Pasalo Norland to discuss the coverage of Disney's Turning Red, how the CinemaBlend review of the movie exposes systemic problems in mainstream entertainment journalism, and how talent and PR teams can help reset the film-review landscape to include more reviewers from historically marginalized communities.
The Call Out is based on Davis' Medium Essay, "Why I Am Calling Out All Colonizer Criticism and What That Means for You."
If you enjoy The Call Out series, please consider contributing to Jonita's GoFundMe, and leaving a $4 tip via the Hello Barkada crowd fund in support of future programs and educational panels.
Jade Seaberry of DiverseToons hosts Hello Barkada Founder Christine Pasalo Norland for a Instagram Live series about bringing panels to pop culture conventions, including WonderCon Anaheim and Comic-Con International.
COMPRESSED: A ZINE & MUSIC FAIR
SAT, AUG 10, 11:00AM–5:00PM
SHILEY SUITE, SAN DIEGO CENTRAL LIBRARY
Join Hello Barkada at the 2nd annual Compressed: A Zine & Music Fair presented by Particle.FM and Burn All Books. I will wear a KN95 mask, so please mask, too, so that we keep each other safe and ready to keep organizing and mobilizing.
Available at my table will be copies of my poetry zine/chapbook MAYBE THIS TIME, which has raised $250 for Gaza Sunbirds to date. Stay tuned for details on other zines and tings I'll be vending at my table!
20% of profits earned from this event that do not fundraise for self-determined mutual aid actions in Gaza, Sudan, and the DRC will be given to Indigenous Regeneration for occupying and operating on Kumeyaay land, and the remainder will support Hello Barkada's operations including upcoming community programming and the commissioning of artists and writers for future zines.
Isang bagsak!
FROM BURNOUT TO BRAINSTORM
SUNDAY, JULY 28, 12:30 P.M.
ROOM 10, CONVENTION CENTER
Hello Barkada presents FROM BURNOUT TO BRAINSTORM at Comic-Con International on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at 12:30 p.m. in Room 10 of the San Diego Convention Center.
From confronting book bans and data scraping for AI, to speaking up for the liberation of QTBIPOC from the so-called southern U.S. border to Palestine, DR Congo, and and and, we'll discuss how comics storytellers and storytelling can cultivate radical possibilities for community care, and how everyone from fans to publishers can hold and move the line for our shared humanity.
Hello Barkada dedicates this program to the people of Gaza, Congo, Sudan, Uganda, and and and, especially those who are fans of comics, books, gaming, and animation, and who dream of someday telling their stories through these media—that they will be liberated to return home and reconnect with their dreams of storytelling in the popular arts within their lifetimes.
If you're attending #SDCC, please add FROM BURNOUT TO BRAINSTORM to MySched and come through.
I will wear a KN95 mask, so please mask, too, so that we keep each other safe and ready to keep organizing and mobilizing. Isang bagsak!
PEOPLE'S PRIDE PICNIC
HOSTED BY SD COMMUNITY CARE
SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024 POSTPONED
BALBOA PARK
SD Community Care will host PEOPLE'S PRIDE, a free, Pride celebration for the people that's COVID safe and devoid of cops, pinkwashing, and rainbow capitalism.
Hello Barkada will support SD Community Care by hosting a cozy zine picnic tent during the event, featuring a zine make-and-take and a zine and book library for reading and inspiration. I'll also give away a limited amount of free mini poetry zines uplifting QTBIPOC poets.
Folx are invited to bring-and-leave a magazine for the community to use for zine-making. They're also welcome to leave zines they've made at the tent for others to take. What's left at the end of the event will be shared/given away for free by Hello Barkada at future community events.
Event locations and the new event date will be announced soon. Follow @sdcommunitycare on Instagram for their COVID safer guidelines and all event updates, including news on more participating artists and organizations.
RESISTANCE THROUGH ART
HOSTED BY CAIR SAN DIEGO
JULY 22, 2024 • 6:00–9:00 PM • REGISTER TO ATTEND
MINGEI INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM
PLAZA DE PANAMA
CAIR San Diego hosted RESISTANCE THROUGH ART, a community arts event featuring tatreez, an art showcase, and an artists' panel. The event was hosted in Plaza de Panama, after Mingei International Museum buckled to threats from anti-Palestinian community members and contacted CAIR-SD to postpone the event to an undetermined date in Fall or Winter.
Understanding that restorative artful activities help nurture steadfastness towards Palestinian and collective liberation, Hello Barkada showed up in a KN95 mask for CAIR-SD by hosting a free zine make-and-take station during the event and a recommended reading table featuring books by artists and writers of the Palestinian diaspora. Blank pre-folded mini zines were provided, and those in attendance were invited to use the shared art supplies to each make a zine that radically imagines what liberation from empire can look and feel like, and to take photos of and look through the books on display.
RESISTANCE THROUGH ART was free to register and attend. Follow @cairsandiego on Instagram.
JUNE 29–JULY 1, 2024
I'm excited to participate in the Zine Pavilion hosted at the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in San Diego this year! Hello Barkada will table at the Zine Pavilion on the following days and times:
Sunday, June 30, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Monday, July 1, 9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Debuting at my table will be copies of the teeny zine Kaiko Haiku, pt 1, a haiku series that's part of my poetry praxis in response to a call by poet and educator Mosab Abu Toha to write and "let Gaza be a part of it." That this series takes the form of radical Kaiko haiku is inspired by the Ceasefire Haiku series by writer, artist, and educator Faisal Mohyuddin. All proftis from Kaiko Haiku, pt 1 will be donated, split between Pious Projects' Sponsor an Orphan in Gaza fund, the Sudanese American Physicians Association's #SAPAHopeforSudan campaign, and Friends of the Congo in support of the Basandja Coalition for the Rights of Indigenous People & Local Communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
I'll also bring Maybe This Time, which will be offered for free to those who visit the Hello Barkada table and donate at least $10 directly to Gaza Sunbirds (while supplies last), and issues 1 & 2 of Isang Mahal, the mini zine On Making Rice, and few more zines and tings I'll announce on Instagram closer to the event.
JUNE 15, 2024 • 11:00 AM–5:00 PM
PADDOCK AREA, DEL MAR RACETRACK
API Festival Day is coordinated by Social Artistry and features a variety of cultural performances and vendors representing communities of the AANHPI diaspora in San Diego.
Hello Barkada will host an art and reduced sensory booth, featuring a zine make-and-take table and a rad reading corner filled with not-for-sale zines, picture books, graphic novels, poetry books, and short story collections by AANHPI artists and writers.
Asian and Pacific Islander Festival Day is included in general admission to the 2024 San Diego County Fair. Fair tickets for Saturdays are $17 for people ages 6 and up when purchased in advanced, and can be reduced to $14 via a $3 discount code from Albertsons or Vons. Children ages 5 and younger are free.
JUNE 2, 2024 • 12:00–6:00 PM
Hello Barkada, in collaboration with the Convoy District Partnership, is proud to present the inaugural Convoy Zine Fest on Sunday, June 2, 2024, from 12:00–6:00 p.m. at Common Theory Convoy in San Diego! This free-to-attend community arts event will feature 24 exhibitors, free art activities, and live music and an acoustic performance by local DJ and musician Ian Curtis whose latest EP HORSE is available to stream on Last.fm, Spotify, and Apple Music.
MAKING SPACE, TAKING SPACE
MAY 26, 2024 • POINT LOMA/HERVEY LIBRARY
Making Space, Taking Space: a reading of work by San Diego Writers, Ink’s AAPI Writers Workshop was a free event commemorating AANHPI Heritage Month. Congratulations to all of the writers who shared their work, and to Thelma Virata de Castro for providing another affinity space for AANHPI writers in San Diego!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by the Hello Barkada table to chat, explore and take photos of the reading recommendations, and for purchasing zines & tings.
So far this year, those in community with Hello Barkada have given $70 to Gaza Sunbirds in exchange for a free copy of the poetry zine/chapbook Maybe This Time, and their purchases of Hello Barkada zines & tings has helped raise $20 for Indigenous Regeneration, and raised a little over $50 in support Hello Barkada's operations that includes upcoming community programming and the commissioning of artists and writers for future zines. Isang bagsak!
SDPF24: ASIAN & ASIAN AMERICAN POETRY JAM
APRIL 20, 2024 •
3RD FLOOR, HAZARD CENTER IN MISSION VALLEY
This free event was hosted during the 13th Annual SDAFF Spring Showcase as part of SDPF24/San Diego Poetry Futures 2024, a regional arts project launched by San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez. It will include poetry readings by Brandon Som, Daniela Sow, Hamsa Fae, Jennifer Derilo, and Shadab Zeest Hashmi, and an interactive poetry workshop.
Debuting at Hello Barkada's table was Maybe This Time, a debut poetry zine/chapbook by Christine Pasalo Norland that raises funds for the relief of Palestinians in Gaza. All proceeds from Maybe This Zine during this event was donated directly to Gaza Sunbirds, a professional para-cycling team in the Gaza Strip that is currently using donated funds to provide emergency relief to internally displaced Gazans, and whose main mission paves the way for amputees in Gaza and around the world to rise above through determination and excellence in sport.
FROM BURNOUT TO BRAINSTORM
MARCH 31, 2024
Hello Barkada is making space at WonderCon 2024! Join Amanda Meadows, James F. Wright, Elizabeth Ito, and Iasmin Omar Ata for From Burnout to Brainstorm on Sunday, March 31, at 2:00 p.m. in Room 211. In this ever-relevant conversation moderated by Christine Pasalo Norland, Amanda, James, Elizabeth, and Iasmin will share what's compelling them to pivot from business as usual in the comics, publishing, gaming, and animation industries, and ideas for centering humanity in the popular arts.
Hello Barkada dedicates this program to the people of Gaza, Congo, Sudan, Uganda, and and and, especially those who are fans of comics, books, gaming, and animation, and who dream of someday telling their stories through these media—that they will be liberated to reconnect with their dreams of storytelling in the popular arts within their lifetimes.
PICTURING PALESTINE: PLANTING POSSIBILITIES
SUN, JAN 28, 2024 • BEL CANTO BOOKS @ KUBO LB
“We ought to write back, to use all our efforts and pens, and promote our cause to educate both ourselves and all the peoples of the world about our cause. Telling our own tales is resistance–resistance to forgetfulness and to occupation.” - Dr. Refaat Alareer, Gaza Writes Back
As we beckon in a new year, we invite you to renew your solidarity with Palestine. What seeds will you plant for a liberated future? Which roots will you join with to strengthen our harvest? Whose Palestinian stories will you bloom so others may know them? Together, we will learn about the importance of plants and land to Palestinians through images and iconography found in Palestinian publications, as well as in Palestinian poetry. Then, we will make a zine together!
Facilitated by Rachelle Cruz, and T.K. Lê. Event made possible with the support of Jhoanna Belfer and Bel Canto, Maria Bolaños, MaskBloc-LB, and MaskBlock-LA.
WED, DEC 20, 2023 • VIRTUAL
Register today to join Picturing Palestine, a virtual, guided zine-making event and restorative solidarity action that encourages us to collectively imagine and build towards a free Palestine. The event is free to attend, but registration is required. Kids and youth are encouraged to participate!
Materials needed:
8.5 by 11 paper
scissors
pencil and/or pen
colors (crayons, markers, etc.)
There will be time during the event to learn how to fold your paper into an 8-page zine, but if you'd like to join the event with your blank zine ready to go, watch Christine's video tutorial or review Austin Kleon's step-by-step tutorial.
Those who attend will also be provided with a list of educational resources and recommended action items.
Organized and presented by Maria B., Rachelle Cruz, Rema Ghassan Shbaita, T.K. Lê, and Christine Pasalo Norland, with support from Radical History Club and Bel Canto Books.
SUN, OCT 15, 2023 • BREAD & SALT
Hello Barkada is excited to return to this free-to-attend community event hosted in Barrio Logan, during Filipino American History Month! 20% of funds raised from Hello Barkada sales will be donated to the Southern California American Indian Resource Center (SCAIR)* in acknowledgement of living, working, and operating on unceded Kumeyaay lands, and the remainder will go towards our budget to commission artists and writers in 2024.
San Diego Zine Fest takes place on Saturday and Sunday, October 14–15, from 12:00–6:00 p.m. Hello Barkada will only table on Sunday, October 15. Check back in October for details about our product list for this event!
*Since the PayPal link on SCAIR's website was no longer inactive, and reaching out to the organization for information on how best to donate did not result in a response, proceeds were donated to Indigenous Regeneration.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 • CHULA VISTA CITY HALL
Save the date and times! Hello Barkada will have a booth in the Arts & Crafts Market at this inaugural, free-to-attend community event presented by the City of Chula Vista. 20% of funds raised from Hello Barkada sales will be donated to the Maui Aloha campaign operated by the Hawai'i People's Fund to help their efforts in supporting those disproportionately impacted by the Lahaina fires, including low-income families, houseless communities, service workers, people with disabilities and people who are incarcerated, Indigenous communities, immigrant communities that include Filipinx/a/o and Latiné/x/a/o communities, and communities of color. The remainder will enable Hello Barkada to commission cartoonists for the 2024 Comics Series.
Chula Vista Art Fest will conclude with a free outdoor screening of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on the City Hall Lawn beginning at 6:30 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2023 • HILL STREET COUNTRY CLUB
Hello Barkada had a great time tabling at the return of this free-to-attend community event presented by Hill Street Country Club's Papercuts Zine Club. 20% of funds raised from Hello Barkada sales will be donated to Nā ‘Aikāne o Maui Cultural Center's Lahaina Relief and Recovery fund, and the remainder will go towards Hello Barkada's budget to commission artists and writers in 2024.
SEPTEMBER 1– 30, 2023 • ONLINE AND IN PERSON
Hello Barkada presents the second annual Collectively, a month-long celebration of artists, writers, and creatives from historically marginalized communities that's hosted throughout September, Hello Barkada's anniversary month. Featuring a series of new content, including a new episode of Allowed with Lawrence Lindell on September 14 and a new edition of Hello Barkada Comics contributed by Christina Moreland, and a Hello Barkada pop-up shop on September 30 at the inaugural Chula Vista Art Fest.
JULY 2023
Oscar-winning story artist Pearl Low (Hair Love, Canvas, Craig of the Creek), illustrator and indie animator Christina Moreland (Afro Gurl), Emmy- and Peabody-winning animation director Elizabeth Ito (Adventure Time, City of Ghosts), Emmy-nominated animation veteran Natasha Kline (Primos, Big City Greens, South Park), award-winning and Eisner-nominated writer Jamila Rowser (writer, Wash Day Diaries), cartoonist and award-winning illustrator Nidhi Chanani (Super Boba Café), critically-acclaimed author and artist Victoria Ying (Hungry Ghost), writer and graphic novel editor Kiara Valdez (First Second), cartoonist and educator Marco Finnegan (artist, The Keeper), and Eisner-nominated comics editor Amanda Meadows (Oni Press/Lion Forge) joined Christine Pasalo Norland (founder, Hello Barkada) over two panels at Comic-Con International 2023 in San Diego, California.
MARCH 2023
Listen to the Hello Barkada Takes WonderCon 2023 playlist!
Hello Barkada hosted Amanda Meadows, Sandra Equihua, and Elizabeth Ito on From Burnout to Brainstorm on Saturday, March 25, in Room 300E, and Lea Anderson, Malissa White, Reyna Cervantes, Viktor Kerney, and John Jennings on Horror, Thriller, or Neither on Sunday, March 26, in Room 209 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The annual spring show and sibling event to Comic-Con International took place Friday, March 24, to Sunday, March 26.
VIRTUOUS CON: BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023
Listen to the Give Us the Punk Spotify playlist!
Comics creators Bianca Xunise, FeliceY, and Raeghan Buchanan discussed what it means to be punk in art and comics, who inspired the direction of their work, and which recent and upcoming projects they're excited about in comics, music, and beyond. Moderated by Christine Pasalo Norland. Inspired by comic artist Sharon Lee De La Cruz's panel "Punk Feminism" for the 2021 Latinx Comics Arts Festival.
Hello Barkada tabled for the first time EVER at the 10th annual San Diego Zine Fest! Thanks to everyone who visited and purchased an item during this debut tabling event, we've raised about 75% of the funds needed to commission a second cartoonist for the Hello Barkada Comics series in 2023, and 20% of the profits was donated to the Malki Museum.
We're excited to see the work of those who took a copy of What Barkada Means to Me, a pre-folded mini-zine given away for free with purchase and made up of blank inner pages that the maker is asked to fill with their ideas and thoughts of "chosen family", aka barkada. The art can be illustrated, collage, written—the medium and method is up to them! Once filled, makers are encouraged to share their completed zines with @HelloBarkada and #CollectivelyHB.
Special thanks to Social Dropouts for their support in the making of the buttons, and to Elements Dance Space for providing the paper for What Barkada Means to Me.
VIRTUAL & IN-PERSON
Hello Barkada presents the first annual Collectively, a month-long event made up of a series of programs and publications hosted throughout September 2022, Hello Barkada's anniversary month.
COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO 2022
Deb Aoki (The Mangasplaining Podcast), Jamila Rowser (Black Josei Press), Dr. Shamika A. Mitchell (WinC Magazine), Jessica Tseang (The Kaiju Podcast), and Laura Neuzeth (YouTube and TikTok manga vlogger) discussed the appeal and impact of josei manga, and the creators they're following from and beyond Japan for comics from the lens of, and for, women and femmes. Panel idea developed with Jamila Rowser. Moderated by Christine Pasalo Norland (founder and president, Hello Barkada).
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SEE THE PANEL RECORDING • Subscribe to Laura Neuzeth's YouTube Channel
COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO 2022
The pace and pay structure of publishing has it so that writers and cartoonists take on multiple comics and book projects with other work to earn a living wage. Writer Jamila Rowser (Wash Day Diaries, Ode to Keisha, Wash Day), cartoonist Amber Padilla (The Secret Garden on 81st Street), writer Regine Sawyer (WinC, Lockett Down Productions), and writer Amy Chu (Turning Red: The Graphic Novel, Poison Ivy, Red Sonja) discussed the mental, physical, and financial impact of these practices, and raise ideas for enabling storytellers to have a long career doing what they love and what fans love reading. Moderated by Christine Pasalo Norland (founder and president, Hello Barkada).
VIRTUOUS CON: BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2022
Our first livestream program of Virtuous Con weekend focused on counterculture and featured Bianca Xunise ("Six Chix"), Steenz ("Heart of the City"), Lawrence Lindell (Couldn't Afford Therapy, So I Made This), Breena Nuñez (Fonny Phases), and Sharon Lee De La Cruz (I'm a Wild Seed). Inspired by De La Cruz's panel "Punk Feminism" for the 2021 Latinx Comic Arts Festival.
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WATCH A 15-MINUTE CLIP • Become a Virtuous Con Power Pass Patron to watch the full playback
VIRTUOUS CON: BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2022
How do we reset and reclaim conversations around film? Independent film critics Jonita Davis (The Black CAPE Magazine), Starr Rocque (Bloggers Can't Be Trusted), and Jeandra Lebeauf (BadCulture TV) shared their insight and ideas in this discussion that called back to the work of bell hooks and Toni Morrison on cultural criticism. Moderated by Christine Pasalo Norland (founder and president, Hello Barkada).
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WATCH A 15-MINUTE CLIP • Become a Virtuous Con Power Pass Patron to watch the full playback
VIRTUOUS CON: BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2022
In our final panel of the weekend, iconic cartoonist Barbara Brandon-Croft ("Where I'm Coming From") and comics curator Tara Nakashima Donahue (Medialia Gallery) shared the story behind their exhibit centering Brandon-Croft's work alongside the work of her late father Brumsic Brandon Jr., the cartoonist behind the comic strip "Luther." Moderated by Christine Pasalo Norland (founder and president, Hello Barkada).
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WATCH A 15-MINUTE CLIP • Become a Virtuous Con Power Pass Patron to watch the full playback
WOMEN IN COMICS COLLECTIVE INTERNATIONAL
Playback link in the article! Hello Barkada and Women in Comics Collective International (WinC) present "Celebrating Jackie Ormes," a free virtual panel that took place on Thursday, October 28, 2021 and features cartoonists Barbara Brandon-Croft, Bianca Xunise, and Steenz.