It's been just a little over a month since malintZINE hit the internets. In 40 days it's already garnered more than 14,500 views. By the time you read this, it could easily be close to 16,000. That's how fast it's taken off.

The blog describes itself as a "an online zine by radical women and queer people of color." From the blog, its grown to have a presence on Facebook, Twitter and tumblr. If you're new to the blog, start from the bottom up to understand why it started — in reaction to an effort by some members of TUSD's Mexican-American Studies movement discouraging discussion on domestic violence and the arrest of a former MAS leader.

MalintZINE aims to highlight sexual and gender violence issues front and center, rather than force women and others to be silent. Social movements don't grow and evolve unless they are called out on their bullshit and that's part of what this blog is doing. But it also features posts on Chicana feminism, gender identity, and poetry that reacts to what is taking place in Tucson right now.

Members of the collective have received a lot of unfounded criticism. Some complaints focus on the fact that most of the posts don't have bylines. Perhaps this newest post offers an explanation:

Why do (some) people keep complaining that those of us writing original work for this blog are choosing to remain anonymous? Why are you so uncomfortable? Is it a problem because we don’t need credit for our words? Are you disturbed because our egos don’t need stroking with pats on the back and high-fives? Does it bother you to not have a specific target to aim at when you disagree? Are you afraid that it’s your sister, your girlfriend, your mother who’s writing—and you don’t know?

We speak collectively because of our politics. We do not claim authorship for each individual piece because our experiences are shared by many women. We are creating safety for ourselves and our sisters by speaking our truth. We are unnamed because we are everywhere. You should assume that every single piece that has been published so far was written by a different woman. That’s a lot of voices rising in unity!