September 2023
Support Saturdays
Support Saturdays is a new monthly roundup in which we spotlight crowdfunding campaigns, calls to action, memberships and mutual aid appeals, and sponsorship opportunities by artists, writers, and/or art collectives and organizations. Because radical possibilities manifest when we act collectively.
Our inaugural post features 10 listings, including one crowdfunding campaign for an all-Black and all-Queer comics anthology, a call to action to stand together against book bans, four appeals for mutual aid and memberships, as well as four opportunities to sponsor or donate to cultural and art organizations in Maui, Oakland, Boston, and St. Louis.
Full, official details for each listing are available by clicking its hyperlinked title. Hello Barkada is neither affiliated nor compensated by any of the people, events, or organizations listed. Listings preceded with "++" denote listings we've added since this edition was originally published.
Turn on post notifications for @HelloBarkada on Instagram and Twitter to stay in the loop. The next edition of Support Saturdays will be published on the second Saturday of October 2023 (i.e. October 14).
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS
WE BELONG: AN ALL-BLACK, ALL-QUEER SCI-FI- AND FANTASY COMICS ANTHOLOGY
Support this project by Wednesday, September 13
WE BELONG is a comics anthology composed of 100+ pages of sci-fi and fantasy stories that center the queer Black perspective, all from queer Black creatives. Developed by writer Viktor Kerney (StrangeLore), co-edited with critic and comics creator William O. Tyler (Theater of Terror: Revenge of the Queers), and to be published and promoted by award-winning comics publisher Stacked Deck Press and Prism Comics, a nonprofit promoting LGBTQIA+ comics, comics creators, and fandom.
CALLS TO ACTION
STAND WITH THE BANNED: PEN AMERICA, ET AL. V. ESCAMBIA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, ET AL.
PEN America, Penguin Random House, and a diverse group of authors joined with parents and students in Escambia County, Florida, to file a federal lawsuit challenging removals and restrictions of books from school libraries that violate their rights to free speech and equal protection under the law.
Add your name to Pen America's open letter to government and school officials in Escambia County, Florida.
MUTUAL AID & MEMBERSHIPS
Nicky is a disabled, queer Puerto Rican comic artist, flatter, and colorist. She is the creator of the ongoing webcomic, The Unlucky Ones and the Edge of Nowhere, and the illustrator of Con Papá/With Papá, authored by Frederick Luis Aldama. She also contributed the comic "Reminder to Self" to the Hello Barkada Comics series and was a past guest on Allowed, Hello Barkada's livestream program.
According to recent posts on social media, Nicky is looking for short-term and long-term interior comics work, from illustration and coloring, and is open to commissions to earn enough income to pay medical bills and rent through the end of this year. Please consider hiring Nicky or signing up for one of her art membership tiers on Ko-Fi!
FELICE HALEY'S GOFUNDME TO SUPPORT THEIR CAREER PIVOT
Felice Haley, aka FeliceY, is a nonbinary Caribbean American artist who loves working on comic projects, social justice media, and other rad art. They are the creator of the humorous webcomic I Need to Start A Cult. They have also contributed the comic "I Just Need a Pad" to the Hello Barkada Comics series and was a panelist on the Hello Barkada panel "Give Us the Punk" that was presented at Virtuous Con: Black History Month 2023.
Felice left a management job in May to pursue a career in tattooing, which helps them get closer to manifesting their dream of having a full-time art career. Since becoming a tattoo artist begins with a months-long, full-time unpaid apprenticeship, Felice has set up a GoFundMe to help them cover living costs until they start earning income in a meaningful way through tattooing. Contributions to their GoFundMe help Felice cover medical bills, student loan repayments, rent, tattooing supplies, and getting setup as an LLC.
NDN GIRLS BOOK CLUB: BOOK WISHLIST
NDN Girls Book Club is collective and organization that brings free literary and writing workshops, Indigenous author talks, programming, and pop-ups to Native peoples, mainly Native youth and girls.
Books purchased from their book wishlist will be shipped straight to NDN for them to distribute to community members or programs they support, and proceeds from the purchases support Quiet Quail Books, an independent California Native woman-run bookseller.
THE CHEECH CENTER FOR CHICANO ART & CULTURE
Support established and emerging Latino/a/x/é artists throughout the Inland Empire! Becoming a member of The Cheech includes membership to the nearby Riverside Art Museum. Membership levels range from $35 for students, to $60 for individuals (i.e. pays for itself in 4 visits), to $125 for families of two adults and children under 18, to as high as $1000 for Artist Circle Advocates.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
NĀ 'AIKĀNE O MAUI CULTURAL CENTER OF LAHAINA: LAHAINA WILDFIRE RELIEF AND RECOVERY
The Nā ‘Aikāne o Maui Cultural Center is a nonprofit that preserves and teaches the history, practices, crafts, art, and more of Hawai'i and Pacific nations. Although the Center lost their physical location during the wildfires as well as an archive of Indigenous cultural documents, art and artifacts, Nā ‘Aikāne is prioritizing relief and recovery efforts for the community before rebuilding the Cultural Center. All one-time donations will be directed towards Lahaina relief and recovery, and monthly sponsorships will help the Center's efforts to rebuild the land, homes, spirits, town, and Cultural Center.
September 17, 2023
Hosted by the nonprofit Oakland Technology & Education Center, AfroComicCon began as a literacy project in West Oakland California in the early 2000s. After establishing in 2017, AfroComicCon is presently developing multiple community projects with the support of the City of Oakland, that will benefit the community of Oakland and the Bay Area all year long.
Sponsorships start at $3,500, but one-time donations of any amount are also welcome.
MICE: MASSACHUSETTS INDEPENDENT COMICS EXPO
September 30 & October 1, 2023
Hosted by the nonprofit Boston Comic Arts Foundation (BCAF), MICE is an annual event dedicated to the exciting and accessible art form of independent comics and graphic novels. MICE runs hands-on workshops for cartoonists of all ages and skill levels, engaging panel discussions on the craft and creation of comics, and features acclaimed special guests from around the world. They also offer mini-grants to indie artists to produce self-published comics.
Donations are made through BCAF and are welcome at any level.
Attendance to the event is free and masking is required indoors. This year's special guests include Lawrence Lindell, Breena Nuñez, Whit Taylor, Mariko Tamaki, and Jillian Tamaiki.
SLICE: ST. LOUIS INDEPENDENT COMICS EXPO
October 14, 2023
The St. Louis Independent Comics Expo (SLICE) is an exposition of zines, chapbooks, lit mags, poetry, comics, small press authors, indie publishers, and print culture. As a nonprofit organization, SLICE supports St. Louis’s small press community through workshops, artist meetups, and a yearly expo to foster independent print culture in St. Louis.
Opportunities to sponsor the event are available at three tiers—$100, $300, $500.
The organization is hosting a slew of workshops around St. Louis in the lead up to SLICE, which takes place on October 14. Attendance to the Expo is free.
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