Free Association

Free Association was a newsprint zine written by Twin Cities high school students. It was published quarterly by Youth Against Militarism, a local activist group. The editorial collective later changed its name to Youth Taking Action. Several thousand copies of the comic book-sized zine (6 5/8" x 10 1/4") were distributed for free in Minnesota high schools.

Calling itself "a rag for alternative youth," Free Association straddled the line between traditional underground newspapers and zines. The content was explicitly political, and included coverage of Gulf War protests, the Central America solidarity movement, anarchism, black power, Native treaty rights, and radical environmentalism. The zine also published poetry and comics.

Free Association received funding (and office space) from Friends For a Nonviolent World, a Quaker organization. It was also funded, in part, with a grant from the RESIST Foundation. The paper had two paid staff members, who acted as adult advisors to the high school-aged youth.

The first issue was published in the fall of 1989, and the last issue appeared in 1993. The newspaper imploded after an ill-conceived attempt to fire the adult office staff, at the same time that the current editors were leaving for college.