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It Starts with Anger: A Punk Beginning. An Afropunk Ending
From the award-winning filmmaker and graphic novelist, comes the untold origin story of the multi-million-dollar AFROPUNK festival—beginning not with big stages or brand sponsorship, but with one mixed-race teenager’s search for belonging in the nineties New York City punk scene.
In 1991, fifteen-year-old James Spooner arrives in New York’s West Village, hopeful that he’s finally escaped the extremist racism of his Southern California desert town. Still, a question looms large over his cross-country What will New York City make of this tartan plaid-and-leather-clad, mixed race, Black kid with a mohawk? Will he find his people? Thus begins Spooner’s insider’s account of the nineties downtown New York punk and early aughts pre-Giuliani nightlife scenes. In the city’s legendary rock clubs, squat basements, and DIY art spaces, he finds his way to creating zines, starting a record label, and promoting parties, while falling further in love with punk rock’s distorted guitars and politically progressive lyrics. Happy to have left a world of Nazi skins behind he must still navigate the casual racism and bigotry of a seemingly all-white echo chamber; a world stubbornly resistant to his Black/punk identity.
Intent on carving a space for young, Black, politically radical punk rockers like himself, Spooner undertakes a whirlwind tour of the country, collecting the stories that will become his acclaimed documentary, Afro-Punk, and eventually lead to the wildly successful music festival of the same name. But what begins as a way to chronicle the joys and heartaches of being Black and punk rock soon spirals into a multimillion-dollar corporate endeavor. Spooner is forced to ask In setting out to galvanize an underground movement, has he in fact given rise to the least punk rock thing of all—a brand?
Illustrated with a vibrant mix of comics, spot art, and punk ephemera throughout, It Starts with Anger is at once a coming-of-age story about found family, a compelling capitalist cautionary tale, and a raucous celebration of the indelible, rebellious spirit of Black punks.
In 1991, fifteen-year-old James Spooner arrives in New York’s West Village, hopeful that he’s finally escaped the extremist racism of his Southern California desert town. Still, a question looms large over his cross-country What will New York City make of this tartan plaid-and-leather-clad, mixed race, Black kid with a mohawk? Will he find his people? Thus begins Spooner’s insider’s account of the nineties downtown New York punk and early aughts pre-Giuliani nightlife scenes. In the city’s legendary rock clubs, squat basements, and DIY art spaces, he finds his way to creating zines, starting a record label, and promoting parties, while falling further in love with punk rock’s distorted guitars and politically progressive lyrics. Happy to have left a world of Nazi skins behind he must still navigate the casual racism and bigotry of a seemingly all-white echo chamber; a world stubbornly resistant to his Black/punk identity.
Intent on carving a space for young, Black, politically radical punk rockers like himself, Spooner undertakes a whirlwind tour of the country, collecting the stories that will become his acclaimed documentary, Afro-Punk, and eventually lead to the wildly successful music festival of the same name. But what begins as a way to chronicle the joys and heartaches of being Black and punk rock soon spirals into a multimillion-dollar corporate endeavor. Spooner is forced to ask In setting out to galvanize an underground movement, has he in fact given rise to the least punk rock thing of all—a brand?
Illustrated with a vibrant mix of comics, spot art, and punk ephemera throughout, It Starts with Anger is at once a coming-of-age story about found family, a compelling capitalist cautionary tale, and a raucous celebration of the indelible, rebellious spirit of Black punks.
- GenresNonfictionMusic
384 pages, Hardcover
Published August 4, 2026
About the author
James Spooner
4 books70 followersJames Spooner is an award winning graphic novelist, filmmaker and tattoo artist. His debut graphic novel, The High Desert was named “Best of 2022” by Publishers Weekly, The Washington Post and The New York Public Library. The High Desert is the 2023 recipient of the American Library Association's Alex Award and the Cartoonist Studio Prize.
Spooner co-edited an anthology of Black punk writers and comic creators entitled, Black Punk Now. Available now, the book was named in the top 10 Music Books of 2023 by Pitchfork and received a Kirkus star. Pantheon has recently acquired his forthcoming second memoir, set for publication in 2025. He was recently commissioned to adapt a story by the Scottish Book Trust and is regular contributor to RazorCake Magazine.
Spooner directed the seminal documentary Afro-Punk which premiered at national and international film festivals, including Toronto International and The American Black Film Festival. James also co-founded the AfroPunk Festival, which currently boasts audiences in the hundreds of thousands around the world.
Spooner’s work has been recounted in various publications, including NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Vice, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, MTV, NBC News and Variety. He was a recipient of the ReNew Media Rockefeller Grant. He is an ongoing guest curator for the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, and previously programmed for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
James continues to screen Afro-Punk around the world, giving talks on punk, comics and Black identity.
Spooner co-edited an anthology of Black punk writers and comic creators entitled, Black Punk Now. Available now, the book was named in the top 10 Music Books of 2023 by Pitchfork and received a Kirkus star. Pantheon has recently acquired his forthcoming second memoir, set for publication in 2025. He was recently commissioned to adapt a story by the Scottish Book Trust and is regular contributor to RazorCake Magazine.
Spooner directed the seminal documentary Afro-Punk which premiered at national and international film festivals, including Toronto International and The American Black Film Festival. James also co-founded the AfroPunk Festival, which currently boasts audiences in the hundreds of thousands around the world.
Spooner’s work has been recounted in various publications, including NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Vice, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, MTV, NBC News and Variety. He was a recipient of the ReNew Media Rockefeller Grant. He is an ongoing guest curator for the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, and previously programmed for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
James continues to screen Afro-Punk around the world, giving talks on punk, comics and Black identity.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 11, 2026
It Starts with Anger: A Punk Beginning. An Afropunk Ending Book Review
James Spooner's It Starts with Anger is more than a memoir about punk music. It is a story about identity, belonging, resistance, community, and what happens when an underground idea grows far beyond its original intentions.
The story begins in 1991, when a fifteen-year-old Spooner arrives in New York City searching for a place where his mixed race Black identity and love of punk can coexist. Instead of finding an uncomplicated refuge, he encounters another set of challenges: a largely white scene where racism and exclusion remain difficult realities.
That tension becomes the foundation for a remarkable journey. Spooner immerses himself in New York's punk and DIY culture, creating zines, working with music, promoting parties, and building connections within an alternative community. His search for belonging gradually becomes something much larger.
The evolution from those early experiences to the documentary Afro Punk and eventually the AFROPUNK festival gives the memoir an unusual cultural significance. Readers aren't simply witnessing one person's coming-of-age; they are seeing how an individual's attempt to document and connect a marginalized community can develop into a movement.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book, however, is its willingness to question the success that follows. When a movement born from underground resistance becomes a multimillion-dollar enterprise, what happens to its original spirit? Spooner's confrontation with that contradiction gives the memoir a thoughtful capitalist cautionary dimension alongside its punk energy.
The illustrations, comics, artwork, and punk ephemera further reinforce the book's DIY character and make the experience feel deeply connected to the culture it describes.
For readers interested in punk, Black cultural history, independent art, entrepreneurship, identity, or the complicated journey from underground movement to mainstream recognition, It Starts with Anger offers a fascinating and energetic story.
At its heart, this is a book about creating the community you cannot find and then discovering what happens when everyone else wants to join it.
James Spooner's It Starts with Anger is more than a memoir about punk music. It is a story about identity, belonging, resistance, community, and what happens when an underground idea grows far beyond its original intentions.
The story begins in 1991, when a fifteen-year-old Spooner arrives in New York City searching for a place where his mixed race Black identity and love of punk can coexist. Instead of finding an uncomplicated refuge, he encounters another set of challenges: a largely white scene where racism and exclusion remain difficult realities.
That tension becomes the foundation for a remarkable journey. Spooner immerses himself in New York's punk and DIY culture, creating zines, working with music, promoting parties, and building connections within an alternative community. His search for belonging gradually becomes something much larger.
The evolution from those early experiences to the documentary Afro Punk and eventually the AFROPUNK festival gives the memoir an unusual cultural significance. Readers aren't simply witnessing one person's coming-of-age; they are seeing how an individual's attempt to document and connect a marginalized community can develop into a movement.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book, however, is its willingness to question the success that follows. When a movement born from underground resistance becomes a multimillion-dollar enterprise, what happens to its original spirit? Spooner's confrontation with that contradiction gives the memoir a thoughtful capitalist cautionary dimension alongside its punk energy.
The illustrations, comics, artwork, and punk ephemera further reinforce the book's DIY character and make the experience feel deeply connected to the culture it describes.
For readers interested in punk, Black cultural history, independent art, entrepreneurship, identity, or the complicated journey from underground movement to mainstream recognition, It Starts with Anger offers a fascinating and energetic story.
At its heart, this is a book about creating the community you cannot find and then discovering what happens when everyone else wants to join it.
August 16, 2026
I did not have the time when this arrived on my front steps. Over my quick skim through I went from wanting to work on my zine to having the first two issues 3/4 done, third issue half, fourth 2/3rds done. s
_IT STARTS WITH ANGER_ reads like a memoir zine that grew to fill the space of a book. .The art and photos are integrated into the text flaelessly, you don't have to search for what the pics relate to.
When Spooner namedrops lists of names I have to wrack my brain to figure if I have any connection to them. When he mentions venues I was counting them on my fingers.
I won a copy of this book from the firstreads giveaways. Actual people can win even after the bots found out how to enter drawings.
_IT STARTS WITH ANGER_ reads like a memoir zine that grew to fill the space of a book. .The art and photos are integrated into the text flaelessly, you don't have to search for what the pics relate to.
When Spooner namedrops lists of names I have to wrack my brain to figure if I have any connection to them. When he mentions venues I was counting them on my fingers.
I won a copy of this book from the firstreads giveaways. Actual people can win even after the bots found out how to enter drawings.
August 19, 2026
Reading this voice felt so familiar. I had memories of the slightly older punk siblings of friends flash in my head as I read about the 90s vegan straight edge movement. I absolutely have so much drive to get back to basic communication - zines, mailing letters, message boards. It was inspiring to read the humble moments, the written-down confirmation that the goal should not be to expand and claim as much as possible, but to sustain and cultivate the core of your idea/community - you can still inspire others to share beyond your reach. The 1979 Village Voice article he mentions is a great follow-up read and absolutely watch his documentary if you haven't. You cannot support those around you without first listening to their experiences.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews