I am brown. I will not frown. Book / Publication / Landmark Writing

I am brown. I will not frown. is a political and personal zine by Bisaya artist, Marc Conaco, that demonstrates his journey towards decolonisation and rejecting learned histories from “the post-colonial American-style white-centric education” prevalent in Filipino schools. Released in 2016, the zine won Best of the Fest at Auckland Zinefest and has been described by Conaco as “the most important work in terms of the shifting of [his] perspectives”.

The zine builds a narrative from personal anecdotes, academic research and history, depicting both the individual and community effects of colonialism. Presented in a comics format, I am brown. I will not frown. employs a simple, but effective, cartoon art style and a black-and-white colour scheme to illustrate scenes of racism and colonial power structures. The dichotomy of dark and light shades is particularly prominent as a visual manifestation of learned colourism in Western colonial society. Conaco often uses humour, informal language, and social media jargon to discuss history and scholarly research, thus making the zine a widely accessible educational source. The use of both simple visuals and casual language is a deliberate choice from Conaco, who sees the core of his practice as “keeping stories alive and accessible for his community”.