Nia King

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Nia King is a mixed-race woman of Black/Lebanese/Hungarian descent, queer, art activist, multimedia journalist, podcaster, public speaker, and zine maker.^[1]^[2] She lives in Oakland, California. Within her podcast, "We Want the Airwaves," Nia interviews queer and trans artists about their lives and about their work.^[3] The title of her podcast was inspired from a Ramones song and played as a demand for media access and an insistence on the right for marginalized people to take up space.^[4]

Early life

King graduated from Mills College in 2011. She is originally from Boston, Massachusetts.^[2]

Career

King has created various zines covering topics such as race, self-reflection, and sexuality.^[5] About her artwork, King has stated, "I want to be an artist for the movement."^[6] She co-edited the book Queer and Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives^[7] (2014) with Jessica Glennon-Zukoff and Terra Mikalson. This collection was based upon the first year of the podcasts she created, which primarily focuses on experiences of Black and Latin persons.^[8] The book includes King's interviews with Ryka Aoki, Van Binfa, Micia Mosely, Yosimar Reyes, Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Lovemme Corazón, Fabian Romero, Magnoliah Black, Kiam Marcelo Junio, Miss Persia and Daddie$ Pla$tik, Virgie Tovar, Julio Salgado, Nick Mwaluko, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, and Janet Mock. The Advocate listed this book on its list of the Year's 10 Best Transgender Non-Fiction books in 2014.^[9] Her second book, Queer and Trans Artists of Color, Volume 2^[10] is a collection of interviews discussing race, sexuality, and systematic oppression. King self-publishes her own work, and said in an interview with the Barnard Center for Research on Women this was because "my work is not mainstream enough for institutions or organizations to want to resource my work in a meaningful way." Her goal is to share the stories of queer and transgender activists.^[8]

King is host and producer of the podcast We Want the Airwaves in which she interviews queer and trans artists of color, such as: Suzy X, Kyle Casey Chu and Gabby Rivera. Nia King said in an interview with KQED Arts that the title of her podcast is "from a Ramones song, which goes back to my punk rock roots. It's also a demand for access to the media and an insistence on the right for marginalized people to take up space."^[11] In an interview with Christopher Persaud on Ideas on Fire, Nia discusses how self-publishing is more accessible than traditional publishing to marginalized authors.^[12]

King's illustrations are featured in Voices of Mixed Heritage: Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations, a curriculum kit for grades 6–12 published by Brooklyn Historical Society.^[13]

Selected works

Art School is Hell (2013)^[14]
Angry black-white girl: Reflections on my mixed race identity^[15]
MXD zine!: True stories by mixed race writers,^[16] a collection of poems and articles about being a mixed race person in the United States
Borderlands: Tales from disputed territories between races and cultures^[17], a sequel to MXD zine!
Borderlands 2: It's a family affair^[18]
We Are Not White Lesbians,^[19] a collection of comics about Nia King and her boyfriend, a transgender man

References

^ "Oakland-based Artist and activist". Nia King. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Buth, Amanda (December 6, 2016), Queer author, activist Nia King promotes LGBTQ artists, University Wire, ProQuest 1846120102
^ "Queer & Trans Artists of Color: Volume 2!". Indiegogo. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
^ "Nia King's Urgent Message: "We Were Here and Our Lives Matter"". KQED Arts. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
^ "Nia King". Artzines. July 8, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
^ "Nia King: Queer Comic Zine Culture". Lambda Literary. October 2, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
^ King, Nia; Glennon-Zukoff, Jessica; Mikalson, Terra (January 1, 2014). Queer and trans artists of color: stories of some of our lives. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1492215646. OCLC 891147387.
^ ^a ^b ""Taking Up Space and Making Art": An Interview with Nia King". Barnard Center for Research on Women. March 8, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
^ "The Year's 10 Best Transgender Non-Fiction Books | Advocate.com". www.advocate.com. November 17, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
^ Queer and trans artists of color. Volume two. King, Nia,, Rose, Elena. [Place of publication not identified]. 2016. ISBN 9781988139005. OCLC 965830537.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
^ "Nia King's Urgent Message: "We Were Here and Our Lives Matter"". KQED Arts. May 27, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
^ Persaud, Christopher (September 6, 2017). "Imagine Otherwise: Nia King on Supporting Queer and Trans Artists of Color". Retrieved February 22, 2020.
^ Miller, Heather; Pryor-Ramirez, Judy. "Voices of mixed heritage : crossing broders, bridging generations" (PDF). bklynlibrary.org. Brooklyn Historical Society. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
^ King, Nia (January 1, 2013). "Art School Is Hell". Art School is Hell. OCLC 893237463.
^ Diaspora, Nia. Angry black-white girl: Reflections on my mixed race identity. Place of publication not identified: Nia Diaspora. OCLC 317593021.
^ Diaspora, Nia; Martin, Lauren Jade. MXD zine!: True stories by mixed race writers. Place of publication not identified: Nia Diaspora. OCLC 317593024.
^ Diaspora, Nia (January 1, 2008). Borderlands: Tales from disputed territories between races and cultures (sequel to MXD: True stories by mixed race warriors). Denver, CO: Nia Diaspora. OCLC 317593027.
^ Diaspora, Nia; Abou-Karr, Nadia (January 1, 2008). Borderlands: It's a family affair. Denver, CO: Nia Diaspora. OCLC 319679865.
^ King, Nia (January 1, 2013). We are not white lesbians. OCLC 880681900.