Graffiti Grrlz

"Brilliantly countering any claims that feminism is dead and that the Hip-Hop culture & is detrimental to women and girls, Jessica Nydia Pabn-Coln has written an impeccably researched study of the grrls who have paved their way into the predominantly male graffiti culture, claiming their own space." * Street Art NYC * "The graffiti grrlz featured here know how to throw up fresh ways of re-imagining feminism, urban belonging, and world-making practices. Through bright ethnographic accounts of graffitis gendered politics and global reach, Pabn-Coln takes down assumed notions of hip-hop culture by passing the mic to a new generation of feminist graffiti artists engaged in writing and speaking on their own terms." -- Juana Mara Rodrguez, author of Sexual Futures, Queer Gestures, and Other Latina Longings "Vibrant, complex, and totally engaging, Graffiti Grrlz recovers womens presence in graffiti subcultures around the globe. In this ambitious and passionate book, Jessica Pabn-Coln amplifies the resistant and creative practices of women graffiti artists and masterfully highlights their important contributions to contemporary feminism. In doing so, she transforms and expands our ideas about the meaning of graffiti and of feminist political action." -- Jessica Taft, author of Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas "Graffiti Grrlz will change the way we think about women's involvement in Hip Hop culture and the way we think about feminist movements. Graffiti Grrlzgives us a part of the story we didn't know we were waiting for and we didn't know how much we needed. Powerful stuff, the prose takes shape like a fly graffiti backdrop and paints a picture that perfectly captures the work these women put in. Graffiti Grrlz is groundbreaking and game-changing scholarship that answers the question, where my grrlz at, with a powerful and provocative right here. This is a must read for anyone interested in Hip Hop Studies and Women's and Gender Studies." -- Gwendolyn D. Pough, author of Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere "In her groundbreaking book, Pabn-Coln explores how the graffiti subculture has been coded as male. . . Her dedication to detail and thoroughly researching is evident throughout the book. She explores over 100 women artists in 23 countries and makes a compelling case that graffiti subculture is a place where feminists come into their own." * Bitch Magazine * "There hasnt been any significant interrogation into the gender politics of the art form or culture [of graffiti] until now. Jessica Nydia Pabn-Coln has presented her work inGraffiti Grrlzin a way that is thoughtful and thorough as she asks important questions about how women navigate the world of graffiti. Anyone with an interest in the art form and the culture should do themselves a favor and read this book." * Scratched Vinyl * "Through stories from 100 womxn in 23 countries, Graffiti Grrlz examines the world of graffiti art, revealing the daily performance of feminism for the girls and womxn who write graffiti, and the spaces and subculture they inhabit." * Public Art Review * "Pabn-Coln successfully shows that women graffiti writers are fundamentally important to the development of art, despite their exclusion and omission from historic and contemporary discussion of graffiti art and practice." * Resources for Gender and Women's Studies * "A rigorous, loving take on womens empowerment in a high-risk art." * Feminist Collections * "Pabn-Colns wonderfully engaging, important new book locates itself in the midst of still-urgent questions about how we can ethically and effectively 'face' our shared publics. More than 15 years in the making and colored brightly by Pabn-Colns own experiences as a writer in feminist hip hop gr

Jessica Nydia Pabn-Coln is an interdisciplinary Latina feminist performance studies scholar from Boston, MA. She is Assistant Professor of Womens, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at SUNY New Paltz.