- ASM0449
- Collection
- 1991-2010
The Erica Dawn Lyle papers offer a rich history of Miami’s countercultural art and music scenes and grassroots political activity from the 1990’s to the present. Writing under the name Iggy Scam, Lyle has produced a series of classic underground fanzines, called SCAM, that are known internationally in the punk rock scene. Lyle’s writing and archive also provides a fascinating back story to some of the political activity Miami is now known for. With the current wave of home foreclosures that has spread across South Florida, has come a resurgent wave of housing activism. The most well-known activist group in Miami today is Take Back The Land, a group that has gained national media attention for their tactics in helping homeless families move into and squat homes that have been foreclosed across Miami. The Lyle papers show a pre-history of an equally militant though far less organized and coherent group of South Florida squatters and anti-gentrification activists who were attempting similar tactics a generation ago. The papers also document the formation of the city’s first Food Not Bombs, a group that is still active today. The collection of zines, journals, sketchbooks, ephemera and original art work depict contemporary social history as well as Greater Miami’s issues of urban planning, property and housing rights and the responsibility and role of art. Also well documented are Lyle's travels through unconventional methods such as hitchhiking and train hopping.
Dawn Lyle, Erica