#BlackAltMag

Not me, but if you know who this is, share! (Image source: iStock Photos)
I originally started this blog in back 2009 to promote my writing, but over time it evolved into something entirely different. Using the theme of an online bar, it nabbed over 2.4 million views in its heyday.

The blogging era as I knew it eventually ended, my offline life got more hectic, and once I shut this page down, I swore I'd never bring it back.

And in a way, I've kept my promise to myself. This time, I'm bringing back only one aspect of the blog back, one that I didn't get to fully explore before, but that means so much more to me than all the other stuff.

I've been a member of the alternative subculture since the 1990s. I was a scrawny Black girl growing up in West Virginia (of all places) and I drowned the persistent unhappiness of my youth in grunge and later the goth scene.

I'm forty now. I'm still a goth.

And as a Black goth, I've noticed that while alternative POC in general have come a very long way, we still have such a long way to go.

Part of the problem is that our respective communities don't "get" us, so they're not really supportive of who we are and what some of us do. And that's where this blog comes back in.

Black Alt Magazine is just what it says on the tin: an online zine focused on Black alternative artists. I've also republished some select posts from years ago to set the mood. In the meantime, feel free to contact me for to suggest artists or request interviews directly, and follow me on IG @mileenaxyz.