our story

It all started with a dream to create a safe space to connect, share, and uplift young artists like ourselves, especially those who feel unseen in mainstream media, and those who identify as LGBTQ+, women, and non-binary people of color. Like many other youth, during 2020’s isolation and quarantine, we felt a lack of connection to others, and a desire to create and speak out about social justice issues going on at the time.

Miumi and I hopped on a zoom call in late May of 2020 and became fast friends. Writing out all our values, goals, and dreams, we were inspired by movements like Riot Grrrl, and wanted to maintain a raw, genuine expression of our experience, in opposition to the romanticization of adolescence portrayed in media. Ages only 18 and 15 years old, we launched Antifragile in June of 2020 in Berkeley, CA through a single Instagram post and a simple website stating our mission. Almost immediately, Antifragile blew up into something bigger than we could have ever imagined.

Managing an entire platform as full time students and an all volunteer staff through a global pandemic was certainly not easy. Miumi and I have spent over hundreds of hours on Zoom creating together.

In the past few years, we are so proud to have cultivated a tight-knit community of over 15,000 people from all over the world, worked with over 200 artists globally, with a diverse team of around 60 young women of color and non-binary people of color. We have published four print issues, and hosted live music, art, and community events with turnouts of over 250 people. 

Antifragile has taught us that the need for community among youth and the need for art as a means of radical change is paramount.

The feeling of making people feel seen and heard, especially those whose voices are often pushed aside, is what led us to founding Antifragile Zine in the first place. This has brought us greater meaning and purpose beyond just ourselves as artists. All that we have been able to accomplish through Antifragile is truly a dream come true, and we cannot thank you enough.

- Macey Keung and Miumi Shipon <3