Honestly, the biggest and most amazingly wonderful news in our family this week comes via Hank.
I'll just let you see what he wrote on Facebook to announce it.
My big news is finally official.
I ran a zine distro in the early '00s (Xerox Revolutionaries: Paper Zines for Queer Punks) that, at one point, was the largest queer punk zine distro in the world. Granted, that's because there were maybe three in total but still.
So when I shut it down, I kept everything neatly packed into a large filing cabinet. The zine flats, stickers, posters, order sheets, catalogs, patches, correspondence, sketches, banners, everything. A big, fat archive of queer punk and zines of the era. A few years ago, I started the process of finding some way to archive the whole mess officially where it could be studied and referenced.
Y'all. Y'all. The Hank Thigpen Queer Punk Zine Archive is now officially in the collection at Cornell University. They'll digitize it and make it available to historians and writers. My legacy is a reality. I did it.
(If you've never checked out the Cornell digital archive, I really suggest it. They have one of the largest collections of punk flyers and hip hop ephemera available, among a million other things. And someday, XR! https://digital.library.cornell.edu/ for your viewing pleasure.)
I could not possibly be more proud of my son.
Congratulations Hank!
ReplyDeleteDammit. This is Debby.
Delete37paddington—that is such exciting news! Go Hank! Your legacy is secured!
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Hank! That was a lot of work. I’m so happy that Cornell realized what a treasure trove you had saved! Carol in Atl
ReplyDeleteWell done Hank.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! How fabulous!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Hank!
ReplyDeleteI didn't understand that until I looked up "Zine distro"... ...congratulations to Hank!
ReplyDeleteHow cool. And something to be infinitely proud of. Congratulations to Hank and thanks for the representation. What an accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a coup! Many congratulations to Hank, and their marvelous legacy collection. Properly acknowledged!
ReplyDeleteWell done Hank. Your collection had to be comprehensive and impressive for Cornell to take it on.
ReplyDeleteyour child is fucking amazing!!! zines and flyers like this were the things that spurred many a road trip for me as a young'n. xxalainaxx
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing. Good on Hank!
ReplyDeleteyay Hank! Made his mark on history.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Hank! That's a wonderful achievement and a good reward for all of your hard work!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Hank! You make your family proud!
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Congrats to Hank!
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo! That's amazing! Thank you, Hank, for so carefully curating and preserving an important slice of queer history.
ReplyDeleteGreat. Well deserved accolade for good work and good saving.
ReplyDeleteHell yes!!!
ReplyDeleteOh man, that is so very cool! Congrats, Hank!!
ReplyDeleteOops, that was me, Angie D...
DeleteThat’s so fantastic!! Thank you Hank for keeping all that stuff, such an important part of history ❤️ My son is a trans- my previously beautiful daughter is now my beautiful son! May the world become kinder to the whole LGBTQ community 🌈
ReplyDeleteMuch love, Rigmor🥰
I had no idea what a zine distro was so I had to Google it and look around. Through Cornell's vision, Hank has now achieved a measure of immortality. Well done Hank!
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