This research situates the origins of zine culture in early Black magazines from the 1800s
and 1900s that laid a foundation for contemporary zine culture, reinserting Black narratives into
the history of zine production. Additionally, it tracks the historical trajectory of zine
methodology from the 1960s to the present in the United States. This progression illustrates a
shift from community to individual storytelling that allows for the increase of Black queer
sexuality expression. Content, historical, narrative, and secondary analysis is used to trace this
transition in method as well as the latent and manifest representation of Black queer sexuality in
primary Black magazines and zines. The change in zine methodology and stylistic design of zine
production from organizational series to individual zines results in an increase in self-expression
within zine production. Black Queer Theory provides the term “queering” that is used in this
research to identify the effects of Black zinesters on zine culture in opposition to the whiteness
that has been centered and popularized within it. This study asks: Has the historical shift in the
methodology of zine production, from 1960 to the present, affected the contemporary
representation of queer sexuality in Black-produced zines? I display the appeal of zines as a site
for self-expression for Black queer people while reestablishing the presence of Black people in
zine production.