Indie Culture, Unfiltered. Since 2004
We’ve been making noise for a minute.
TRIBES is an independent, ad-free magazine documenting the people, art and ideas making noise in our communities and shaping what’s next. We’re interested in the originals. The artists, filmmakers, musicians, photographers, writers, thinkers, troublemakers, neighborhood legds and beautiful ones creating their own lanes. View Past Issues
TRIBES started in 2004 in the Triangle, back when we were running around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill chasing black and brown stories from the underground. Music. Art. Poetry. Film. Politics. Photography. Nightlife. Culture.We went looking for the people nobody else seemed to be paying attention to. The artists playing local clubs before anybody knew their names. The poets packing rooms. The filmmakers making something out of nothing. The people creating their own scenes because the scene they wanted didn’t exist yet.
In 2010, creator Leslie Cunningham took TRIBES magazine digital. As stories traveled and our audience grew, TRIBES began connecting with independent artists, creatives and communities across the globe. And somewhere along the way, people started paying attention.
TRIBES was named Best Online Zine by the Black Web Awards in 2009 and Poetry Magazine of the Year by the National Poetry Awards in 2010. Over the years, we’ve shared our cover with some pretty big names, including Tyler Perry, Damian Marley and KRS-One. We’re proud of that. But the big names were never the whole story. The heart of TRIBES has always belonged to the independent ones making noise in their communities.
Then life happened. TRIBES got quiet for a while. But after a long hiatus, we’re back. Older. Wiser. Still curious. Still independent. Still making noise. And we’re still looking for the people doing the same. Some of the people in these pages you’ll know. Some you should’ve known a long time ago. Others you’re about to meet.
NEW FORMAT COMING SOON: No ads. No chasing clicks. Just bold images, real voices and good stories about people worth knowing.
Past team:
- Cassandra J. Freeman (Co-founder, Executive Editor, Writer)
- Alana A. Jones (Executive Editor and Writer)
- Nichole Martin (Editor and Senior Writer)
- Dasan Ahanu, Contributing Writer
- Dialo Askia, Editor, Writer
- Brett Chambers, Writer and Contributing Photographer
- Emanuel Cole, Staff Photographer
- Patricia Corbett, Executive Editor
- Carl Kenney, Writer
- Keith Davis, Contributor
- Gabriel Rich, Contributing Writer
