Many initiatives are underway to celebrate the 100th birthday of Route 66, including an event at the International District Library in Albuquerque, located right on the Mother Road. Organized by Together for Brothers, a Zine-making event will be held on Tuesday to document the history of queer culture on Route 66.
Zines are handmade booklets that can feature art, writing, collages, or practically anything. They exist to express whatever you feel like, there are no rules.
Christopher Ramirez, strategic advisor at Together for Brothers, said that’s why he thinks this could be the perfect way to have people express and record the queer history of Route 66.
“Everybody can make a zine. I've done a zine on the back of my PNM bill,” Ramirez said. “I love that informality of ‘here's a place, or a person or a story that I think you should follow up with.’ We can figure out how to tell our stories in any way we can.”
Albuquerque’s first Pride parade was 50 years ago. That time frame, plus the HIV/AIDS epidemic, means stories and history are at risk of being lost.
Ramirez wants to prevent that.
“The idea of this community project from the beginning, is co-creating, co-imagining what it would be to document and share our stories here in New Mexico,” Ramirez said. “Because there's so much to share, and what we don't want to do is, we don't want to lose those stories.”
The event is part of a larger initiative to collect queer stories on Route 66 and in New Mexico. This includes discussions for markers of historic locations related to the New Mexico queer community.
Community members who come to the event can share their experiences of queer culture on Route 66, as well as suggest locations for historic markers.
The Zine making event will be onTuesday, July 14 at 5:30 at the International District Library, 7601 Central Ave. NE.
