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Revolution by the Book The AK Press Blog

Getting to Know AK: Ashley

Posted on January 25th, 2010 in About AK

Oh hey! Ashley here, the other half of your friendly AK Press shipping and receiving department. You heard from my counterpart Macio a little while ago, so I guess now it’s my turn…

In the day-to-day, like everyone here at AK, I take care of a lot of odds and ends to keep the warehouse running (I was going to say “running smoothly”, but you know). My main job for the last 2 1/2 years, though, has been helping to make sure our shelves are stocked with great new items as soon as they’re unloaded off the truck, and getting orders out to the countless bookstores, infoshops, distributors, and tablers so they can sell the hell out of ‘em and spread the word. But let me back up a minute.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley (if you just thought “so she’s, like, totally a valley girl!” you would be technically correct), growing up with all the contradictions and craziness that implies. I inevitably got into punk when I was about 13, and a budding political consciousness was swift to follow. Within a couple years, I self-identified as an anarchist, feminist, and went vegan. I started getting involved in protests of various types around the city, and ended up arrested at the DNC when it was in held LA in 2000. Much to my parents’ initial dismay, this led me to a new group of radical friends, and to become a part of AGC, an LA-based collective that organized workshops, benefits, demonstrations, and concerts for a number of years. Here I got to learn about collective process, and the power that we have as small groups of individuals to work together to raise awareness and create change within our communities. I was set on a path that I’ve followed ever since.

Eventually I moved up to Santa Cruz to attend school at UCSC, where I majored in Community Studies. Community Studies is a really unique program which, fortunately for me, includes a six month field study with a social change organization of our choice. AK Press was the obvious choice for me, and with a little cajoling, I got the collective to agree to take me on as a full-time, unpaid intern! I moved up to Oakland, packed boxes and attended meetings for six months, and eventually wrote my thesis on anarchist organizations that manifest as cooperatively-run businesses. Oh, and the thesis came with a 20-some page comic, featuring me as the narrator and main character, leading the reader though all I’d learned. Did I mention I draw self-indulgent autobiographical comics, and make zines, too? More on that in a second.

After my internship ended, I couldn’t bear to move back to Santa Cruz, so I stayed in Oakland volunteering at AK and working part-time elsewhere until a few months later a shipping and receiving position opened up and I got hired. I’ve been here ever since, still packing boxes and trying to get a handle on running an anti-capitalist business.

Back to the comic and zine-making, I’ve been doing a vegan cookzine called Barefoot and in the Kitchen for a bunch of years now. It’s actually available through AK, if you want to check it out for yourself. Or, if you’re of the go-big-or-go-home mindset, you can wait a little while and buy Barefoot when it’s a real, live, actual book. I’m busily working on creating and testing tons of new recipes, and doing all sorts of comics and other art for the new and improved Barefoot and in the Kitchen book, which is forthcoming from our good friends at Microcosm Publishing in 2011. It’ll be my first book, and it’s really exciting to be in such great company (Microcosm has produced some classics, ranging from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah to DIY Screenprinting and the Chainbreaker Bike Book), and extra exciting to know that when it comes out, AK will have it!

When I’m not packing boxes or trying to write a cookbook, I’m baking for my side-project, Fat Bottom Bakery. We’re an all-vegan baking company, currently selling at events around the Bay Area and taking special orders. I’m also a co-organizer of the recently formed East Bay Vegan Bakesale, which is held in Oakland every other month to benefit a variety of human and non-human animal organizations.

And that’s pretty much it, I guess. Oh, except for my energy drink collection! I also collect bizarre energy drinks (not to drink! Just to look at), mostly from the little corner store down the street from the warehouse. They have some real gems, as you can see in my picture here. Hey, if Lorna gets to talk about her squished pennies, I get to talk about my cans.

Thanks for reading, and see you all around!