Migrant Zine Collective is an activist-based zine collective aiming to amplify, celebrate and share the voices of migrants of colour in Aotearoa (New Zealand). The collective was founded in 2017 upon the release of
GEN M (short for “Generation Migrant”), a zine collated and self-published by Helen Yeung in the hopes of celebrating her Hong Kong-Chinese diasporic background, along with the personal stories of other migrant youth in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). The collective is currently co-organised by a passionate group of women of colour, and has since expanded its work to a range of zine workshops, community events, pop-up libraries and digital collaborations both locally and around the globe.
Migrant Zine Collective offers a space that is critical of the white-dominated power structures that govern our lived experiences as people of colour. We aim to open up a space where people of colour are able to unapologetically speak up, discuss and unpack critical issues in mainstream society such as sexism, racism, classism and other forms of inequality. This means individuals that come to our workshops, events or submit to our zines are free to express themselves in whatever way they see fit, whether this be language, emotion or tone. Our work is not intended to be palatable to a white audience or dominant groups, therefore we do not encourage any tone-policing of sentiments shared by participants and contributors. Furthermore, as tauiwi (non-Māori) people of colour living on colonised land, we recognise and are committed to confronting the ongoing legacy of colonisation, systemic racism and racial politics that are specific to Aotearoa.