Hello dear POMEs! There are plenty of nasty things in the world to think and talk about, but today we’re focusing on the things that bring us pride, hope, and joy. Snuggle down and get cozy for a hale and hearty Afternoon Snack.
It’s the day after Indigenous People’s Day, and we’d like to share a story from our own state of Texas, via the Texas Tribune. The Karankawa people, once said to be gone entirely, are now fighting to protect their land from an encroaching oil company.
The Karankawa Kadla community — more than 100 people who have connected through a Facebook group and a smaller council that leads community organization — is now fighting to protect a stretch of undeveloped land that juts into the east side of Corpus Christi Bay, sandwiched between a residential community and an oil company’s export terminal. The area was once a bustling village where hundreds of Karankawa people gathered each year during the cooler months to live and fish. Those ancestors left behind tens of thousands of pottery sherds, arrowheads, tools fashioned from shells, and more.
In the wake of his passing on September 21, 2021, film lovers all over have been memorializing legendary filmmaker Martin Van Peebles, who pioneered the exploitation genre. We really loved the Black Film Archive’s tribute, collecting bits of Van Peebles’s wisdom of over the years.
Boy oh boy, do we have an absolute embarrassment of riches on Kickstarter to throw your money at this week! First up: LANDBACK.ART, a billboard art project featuring Indigenous artists to build support for the growing Landback movement. Next, the Shades of Fear Horror Anthology: “A collection of subtle, psychological horror comics with a focus on vibrant, emotive color,” including such brilliant POME faves as Ashanti Fortson, Mar Julia, and Molly Mendoza! And last but definitely not least, the latest edition of Vampire Blood Drive by Mira Ong Chua, a fresh installment of lesbian vampire comics that the coven has been absolutely feral for.
Elsewhere in comics, we’re delighted to see that one of last year’s successful Kickstarters, MAÑANA, now has a public digital release – in both English and Spanish! One of the coven’s own wrote a story for it, so we’re a little biased, but we think you will fall in love with the all-Latinx SFF comics therein.